sort of like republicans
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First problem these are not work boots. No government decal approved for work environment. No steel toe and or plate. No heel and not slip resistant.
These boots are for fashion while bar hopping or clubbing.
While Carhartt is made in China the line does have dependable work wear namely coveralls. My uniform at work, I weld aluminum. is Carhartt fire resistant shirt and pants supplied by the company.
Alternatively Dickies work wear manufactured in Mexico is less expensive and equally durable.
Edit to add, while these boots in the video are of substandard value, the over value price tag is due to the retailer and not the manufacture. IMO.
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Band Name, or Cyberpunk Gang Name; or both!
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I am not such an expert in work boots, or boots in general, that is what the guy in the video said. Though I would expect you would want to get pretty tough materials for your work boots or they might wear out in weeks.
Regarding your boots, I think that was his point, you could buy actual good boots for that money.
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This is called “Brand Capture” or a Vampire brand in marketing lingo. What you do is find a quality product that is going out of business and buy it just to get the brand name. Then you make a cheap piece of shit, put this brand name on it, and milk it for all it’s worth. Most times the brand name alone is worth far more than the factory, and all the other assorted stuff that the once proud company owns. In fact, if it’s not, nobody buys it…
When you see a niche name brand product at Walmart or Target - it’s a virtual certainty that this has happened. Herman boots were super high quality and commanded quite a premium. But they were too small, so this happened and now you can buy them at Walmart. (at least you used to be able to - the brand name might be too far in the past so nobody knows that they used to be good…and Walmart has moved on to the next brand)
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Are combat boots still any good? Mine lasted quite a while.
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Obenauf’s is great! I use it on basically everything 
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In the case of Walmart and outlets, the original quality brand may exist but it also produces a lower-quality line specifically for the chain.
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It’s getting more and more difficult as companies merge, contract manufacturing is outsourced to China, and the brands of said “companies” are worthless. For example, here is the list of manufacturers, excuse me, shell companies, that are selling pulse oximeters on Amazon (I guess a popular item):
Zacurate
Innovo
Facelake
mibest
ANKOVO
LPOW
Wellue
ONTEC
Santamedical
Artnaturals
Concord
Metene
Beurer
Roscoe
CHOICEMMED
ClinicalGuard
CKeep
Alcedo
How can we tell which is a quality item? My guess is NONE of them.
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This is especially true of big box stores in general. The faucet you find in the supply house will be high quality, made of solid brass, with a line of replacement parts available for decades after the sale. Whereas the version made for Lowes or HomeDepot will look similar, but is made as inexpensively as possible with inferior materials.
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I have a pair of American-made Rocky S2V boots that have vibram soles. Wore them until there were holes in the soles. For me they’re just work boots and walking around boots, but they’re comfortable, durable, and the soles are both glued and sewn on.
Combat boots are really different now than they used to be. You’re probably thinking of the old style leather boots or the leather/canvas jungle boots. Now they more resemble a hybrid work/hiking boot.
@nixiebunny I’m sad to hear that about Docs. I have owned many pairs now and love them. Now I make a point of buying only the ones still made in England, wishfully thinking there might be extra quality there. Guess I’m wrong. frownyface.gif
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I would argue that it’s not impossible to find quality goods, but it’s quite difficult to find quality products for the same types of prices we’ve been conditioned to expect from the sweat-shop, disposable junk price point.
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I remember (80s) when Reeboks went from being comfortable wear that lasted a couple years of solid use, to paper-thin leather and then plastic uncomfortable crap that would fall apart in six months if you looked at it cross-eyed. The price skyrocketed.
Now I have serious walking shoes that last forever, and for around the yard and hops to the store, I have $15 no-name beaters from Walmart that do fall apart in six months.
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Thankfully, people who do know quality will do in-depth breakdowns like this. There are enough people in the “buy it for life” crowd to support quality products.
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My first pair of Blundstones were absolutely wrecked, but I couldn’t afford to replace them. Every day my feet are soaked in hot water, alcohol and various other fermentation compounds (acetone, propanol, etc) Huge cracks in the leather and stiff as cardboard. One treatment of Obenauf’s softened them to nearly glove-like suppleness. I had tried silicone and natural oil based products like mink oil and they all sucked. The only reason my second and third pairs were ruined was because I was too lazy to treat them early enough, but they still lasted twice as long.
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Huh? 150$ for this junk?
Work boots of good quality start around 90-100$ where I’m from.
150$ for a pair of boots- unless they’re Rocky’s, the quality can’t be justified for that price
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Challenge accepted.
Made in America:
Check the warranties and returns policies. If the seller doesn’t have a iron-clad guarantee re customer satisfaction, either their product is crap, or their corporate management is crap, or people have been abusing their previous standing policy (see changes made to REI, LL Bean, etc.return policies).
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Apart from Rockys, what brands are your boots?
I work outside a lot.
I have work boots. Texas has a lot of rocks and snakes and stuff.
I have yet to find a decent pair that was even close $150, sorry but no–can’t get away from POS construction of or materials in good boots unless I spend serious money or get lucky finding something on clearance or factory-seconds.
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I wear a lot of Keen now a days. I will even wear the non US made, but I try and get from the US factory.
Nothing stays as waterproof as Keens in my experience walking several miles a day for years.
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Meanwhile, I’m resigned to my sneaks wearing out within a year. Ultralights just aren’t that durable.
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