10 Thing to Avoid – (Expert’s Guide to Used Boots)

so I've cut pretty close to 100 pairs of boots and 
shoes apart over the last year and a half and so   I feel pretty confident in my ability to judge a 
pair of boots especially used pair of boots that   I don't know anything about so I thought I would 
make a kind of an expert's guide to judging a pair   of used boots or thrifted boots so that if you've 
got a little bit of a thrifting problem like I do   you won't waste as much money and you'll find the 
higher quality stuff and be more happy with your   horrible addiction so over the last week or so 
I scoured all pretty much all the shops and the   thrift stores and vintage stores throughout salt 
lake valley and picked out these 10 boots or so   of some good some bad and some ugly so that we've 
got a variety to show you a bunch of different   examples and a few different things here and there 
to to be so this videos as informative as possible   and we're also going to talk about some brands you 
might want to avoid and this video is sponsored   by karma it's an app and chrome extension that 
uses clever tech to ensure that you never miss   a price drop or a coupon code because if you're 
thrifting boots you're probably going to want to   find discounts online they're always expanding 
their capabilities and their new name karma   it represents the good karma they're putting 
forth by helping you shop smart they used to   be called shop tagger but change their name we 
have it installed on all the computers in the   shop because anytime we're preparing a video we 
always check karma before we purchase something   because we end up saving a little bit of money 
here and there by just finding those coupon codes   and those discounts because why leave money on the 
table when you can just install that little app   and really all you have to do is just go on 
your computer click the link in the description   download that button onto your chrome browser 
or whatever you're using now every time that you   go to your favorite website all you have to do 
is click that little side button it'll open up   and it'll check for discount codes and the really 
cool thing is you can have it send you updates and   new discount codes and notifications for certain 
things that you're looking for or you're waiting   for the price to drop and you can earn cash via 
PayPal when you shop from select retail partners   now more than ever it's important to get max 
value so just take a second and click the link   in the description it just takes a few minutes 
to download and set up it's going to save you   some money and it helps me out by helping out 
these sponsors because they sponsor the video   it's a good one it's an easy sponsorship just 
check them out it's in the description thanks and   before we even begin why would you even consider 
buying a used pair of boots a lot of people are   turned off by that idea a lot of times you can 
find some really good boots for 10 bucks that you   might be spending 200 bucks 300 bucks on to to buy 
the brand new equivalent and you and you can find   some really cool boots like these are some vintage 
whites that are probably like 30 years old that   are really cool and some people they just they 
don't like the environmental impact of brand new   boots and on that note of environmental impact 
I know what you're thinking we're not cutting   any of these in half the really nice ones and some 
of the more rare stuff we're going to actually   restore on the channel and the rest of them that 
we don't necessarily want to do anything with   we're going to be donating to the dumpster in the 
back just kidding we're not going to do that we'll   donate him to some like local uh homeless shelter 
or re-donate to the di or whatever we end up doing   uh or we'll use them as bait for the guy 
that stole my trailer at the back of the shop   um so now we got that kind of preface out of the 
way let's start going through this thing I think   the way that we're gonna structure this video to 
make it as consumable as possible rather than go   through all these and point things out we're gonna 
break it down into five parts of the boot that   you're gonna be looking at and do some pros and 
cons some do's and don'ts for each part of that   so let's get started with the outsole so one 
of the easiest ways to tell the quality of an   outsole is is it a Vibram outsole or Vibram if 
you're fancy like these Danners so these Danners   you see that big yellow Vibram sign these whites 
big yellow Vibram sign and there was one oh the   the Rockies big yellow Vibram sign Vibram is is 
kind of the industry standard for a high quality   outsole is it the only good also out there 
no but a lot of brands use them and they're   a little bit more expensive than the the stuff 
that brands make by themselves and it's it's   it's just a good indicator of a quality boot 
because if they're willing to spend the money   on making their boots with a Vibram outsole 
usually they're already paying a little bit   more for quality leather and everything else 
that goes along with it and there's other   outsole manufacturers that are just as good you 
know there's like cats paws day night there's uh   but you're gonna be surprised at how many 
Vibram outsoles are out there in the wild   and it's just a it's a good simple indicator of 
quality and another thing you want to look for   is tread depth because you know this this white's 
boot yeah it's a Vibram outsole but we are like   razor thin on the the heel cap here or the the top 
lift so you know this is a Vibram outsole but it's   pretty worn out and spoiler alert the next video 
is going to be a restoration of this but we're   going to put a new top lift on and I'll show you 
how to do it at home if you happen to find a boot   like this where this part is good and your top 
lift is bad so that's kind of the good things to   look for some of the bad things to look for when 
it comes to outsoles a lot of times if a brand is   it's kind of a clothing brand or a lifestyle brand 
they don't specialize in boots a lot of times   they're going to have their own outsoles or their 
brand their own branded outsoles and it's because   they're a cheaper brand or a cheaper quality and 
they've had them made in some factory and instead   of bringing in Vibram or some of these other 
better quality outsoles they just slap their name   on the cheap ones that the factories are making 
like these lucky brands and these banana republics   and whatever these no name lady dude 
sorry but that doesn't necessarily mean   that if a company makes a boot and they have their 
own name on the outsole that it's a bad household   for instance these yellow bean boots that we got 
for like five bucks the nice thing about l bean in   particular is if you find a pair of these for five 
bucks and the outsole is worn out but the upper   leather is fine you can send these back in and 
I'll put how much a resole job from l bean costs   some other examples is like red wing they they're 
they're more of a vertically integrated business   and they are a boot specific brand and they have 
their own outsoles so I trust red wings outsoles   it's just some of these other smaller fashion 
brands that I I don't trust another thing I   try to stay away from is foam outsoles or TPU/PU 
outsoles like in blood stones and I want to talk   about bloodstones but it's going to clog up this 
video so we're going to talk about bloodstones   and the two things you have to look out for when 
buying used Blundstone's at the end of the video   just to keep this video concise as much as I can 
and that leads us to the next part of the next   point to look for which is the construction and 
the resell ability so let's start with the good   again so there's basically three general types 
of boot constructions there's more but for the   most part you see three there's Goodyear welted 
boots there's stitch down boots and there's   cemented boots so what is a Goodyear welted boot 
a Goodyear welted boot or how do you identify it   around the at least the vamp of the boot which is 
this part of the boot you're gonna see a little   strip of leather that has stitching on it and that 
little strip of leather is the welt the welt is   basically the strip of leather that connects 
the upper of the boot to the outsole of boot   okay why do I like a Goodyear welted boot it's the 
classic way of making boots a lot of the high-end   boots and shoes are Goodyear welted they're easily 
resolvable and they last a long time so it's   sister construction is the stitched down 
construction a stitched down construction   is basically the same thing but instead of 
having an extra piece of leather that wraps   around the boot they take the upper of the boot 
and instead of tucking it under and sewing it to   the welt they flange it out and stitch that to the 
outsole so it's a little more simple construction   a lot of people don't like it there's some pros 
and cons associated with it but either one of   those I I like you know and I'll maybe I'll make a 
video in the future comparing the two and kind of   my opinions on it and the third style of building 
a boot is cemented like blunt stones and uh like   these are RJ Colts and cemented constructions is 
exactly what it sounds like they just glue with   contact cement the upper to the outsole there's 
a lot of really good cemented boots out there but   the problem with it is you only have glue holding 
the boot together unlike a Goodyear welted and a   stitch down boot where you've got stitching and 
glue holding them together so when it comes to use   boots a lot of times I'll stay away from cemented 
boots just for the simple fact that I don't   know what the history of the boot is of how long 
they've been left in the sun and the heat I don't   know how long it's going to take to delaminate and 
fall apart so a lot of times I'd stay away from   cemented boots unless all these other things that 
we're talking about are checked off the list and   that's the last thing and I'm willing to take a 
risk on it and then on to onto the bad we kind of   already talked about some of the negative aspects 
of a cemented boot but one thing that is really   tricky and boot makers are really sneaky with is 
a lot of times you'll find a pair of boots that   has a Goodyear welt stitch around the outside 
you can see that it's leather it looks good   but the problem is a lot of brands will fake a 
Goodyear welt stitch so this brand or this this   pair of banana republics this has the leather 
well it has the real stitching best way to tell   if it's a real Goodyear welted boot or just 
a fake Goodyear welted boot you can kind of   pull the upper of the boot away from the sole 
not ripping the boot apart but just enough that   you're looking for a little bit of stitching 
in here and if you look closely on this one   if I pull it back enough you can see there's 
no stitching connecting it and it's just glued   same with this ladies boot I'm pulling that 
apart and all I see is a glue seam right there   versus a Goodyear welted boot I pull apart these 
these iron rangers and you can see just a little   bit of stitch not the welt stitch but this there's 
a stitch holding the upper to the welt and you   don't want to tear apart the boots at the thrift 
store or the vintage door but it's it's worth just   double checking that there's actually stitching 
going on there and it's not a fake welt stitch   and speaking of stitching that brings us to 
the third point which is the upper stitching   and this is this one's pretty straightforward 
it's pretty short but it is something that's   really important because you might find a pair of 
boots that's the leather is good the construction   is good the outsole is good but if you've got 
some stitch lines that are really worn out   that boot's gonna fail before anything else is 
gonna fail and you might end up wasting your money   basically all these boots look pretty good except 
for these super worn out thorough goods if you   look closely at these thorough goods some of 
the key points around the counter and around   the toe that thread it's still there but it's 
pretty worn out and it's only a matter of time   before that fails so just pay attention to it 
then to the fourth point to look for which is   the leather and to me one of the more important 
aspects and this one can be really tricky because   fake leather can be really convincing I've 
even been fooled a few times in some videos   but what I do when I'm trying to identify if it's 
real leather fake leather is I look at the cross   section because pretty much any boot you're 
looking at will have some exposed raw edges   and if you look really closely you should see some 
of those little leathery fibers kind of poking out   and what I do sometimes if I'm not sure is I'll 
just take my fingernail and scratch it and see if   I can pop some of those fibers up and if you see 
those those leathery fibers it's probably leather   you have to be careful though because some of that 
fake leather is has a felt backing and those felt   fibers can look similar to leather so we'll add 
some some images of the difference between felt   fibers and leather fibers and if you're still 
not sure there's a couple other ways to tell   you can just look the boot up and see if 
it's if the manufacturer says if it's leather   you can also sometimes find on the boot it'll say 
a full leather upper or leather components or you   know some signifiers sometimes on the sole or on 
the tongue and maybe the easiest way to tell is   I think most boot companies have to declare what 
their boot is made out of sometimes it's on a   sticker sometimes it's on a tag but I'll put a 
little chart up here decoding chart of what each   symbol means but basically you're just looking 
on the inside of the boot and looking for those   symbols there's I'll just I'll put it up here it's 
just going to be easier to show you rather than   explain it all but if it looks like that leather 
symbol and it's pointing to the outside of the   boot it's probably leather and then to the bad 
stay away from fake leather because the problem is   like in these cheap lady boots that fake leather 
coating that plastic coating or polyurethane   coating on top eventually starts flaking off 
that's another thing you can look for when you're   identifying if it's real leather or not real 
leather is not really going to flake off like   that and I don't like fake leather because it's 
it doesn't breathe like real leather it's not as   durable as leather it doesn't patina like leather 
and for those of you that are environmentally   conscious it's to me I would rather put leather 
back into the ground that's going to biodegrade   rather than plastic a few ways that you can also 
identify fake leather is look at the cross section   if it looks like it's felt it's probably felt 
if it looks like there's foam inside of there   it's probably foam and the last thing I 
want to cover about leather in this video   is it's kind of in between the good and the bad 
just be aware of the condition of the leather   when it comes to scratches and gouges and more 
importantly the dryness of the leather because   sometimes you get some of these 50 year old 
boots like these iron rangers they haven't   been worn they haven't been conditioned in several 
decades and so that leather is completely dry   and if you took these out and started wearing 
them without conditioning them they're going to   wear out pretty quickly and start splitting and 
start flaking off and really all you have to do   to revitalize these and bring some life back into 
them is just add some conditioners there's there's   two conditioners I really like that don't really 
change the the color of the leather maybe slightly   especially if it's really dry I like chamberlains 
and bickfore I'll put the links in the description   to the ones that I buy but if you're not concerned 
about the leather changing colors or you really   want to prioritize the longevity of the leather 
get some mink oil slather these babies up with   a few coats and it'll really saturate into the 
leather and really bring that suppleness back and   lubricate those fibers because that cross because 
leather is just a bunch of fibers intertwined   and if it's really dry every time you bend it 
it's just going to crack and break them but if   they're lubricated with some oil they're going 
to just move more fluidly and it's going to be   more comfortable and they're going to last longer 
but conditioning boots is always scary because   you don't know what color they're going to end 
up so just find a spot on the boot try a little   area that you don't mind if it is discolored 
make sure you're okay with the color and   condition your boots just kidding there's one 
more thing that I want to talk about about leather   um so sorry if this video is 20 minutes 
long I think it's important information   so when you see a boot sometimes you're going to 
look at a boot and you're like oh this must be a   quality boot we've got some good materials 
we've got a leather heel stack on the hill   you know like these RJ Colts in these lucky 
brands but it is leather but it's not leather   all the way through it's just a thin leather 
veneer that wraps around the outside of the heel   and on the inside it's just a cheap rubber heel 
and it's really hard to tell sometimes like when I   first picked up these lucky brands that's a that's 
a pretty convincing leather heel stack and one of   the best ways to tell if it's real leather or it's 
not real leather like if you compare these whites   packer boots to this lucky brand boot you can see 
on these whites boots that leather is compressed   in different ways it's kind of splitting it's open 
and there's fibers coming off of it and it's it's   not as perfect looking as these lucky brand boots 
if you look at these RJ Colt boots right at the   corners you can see it's starting to peel up and 
maybe don't do this at the thrift store or the   vintage store but you can you can kind of kind of 
scratch at it and pull it back just don't do it   but if they're your own you can do it now to 
the fifth and final aspect before we talk about   what to look for in bloodstone so you don't waste 
your money is the fit fill and look it sounds   obvious but it's it's the one that catches me the 
most because I'll look at a pair of boots and I'm   like these check all the boxes except they don't 
quite fit me right or they like the lumpy under   my foot or the guy that wore before like in these 
packer boots whatever old cowboy was wearing these   before me had a severe outward pronation probably 
from sitting on a saddle assuming he was an old   cowboy and when I put these on it feels like 
my ankles are rolling and so I wouldn't want   to wear these boots around all day every day 
because it would really after a few miles you   you start kinking your knees funny you start 
to get some knee pain some hip pain and it can   be really bad for you so just make sure it feels 
good underneath your feet unless you're wanting to   resole them a little bit like we're doing with 
these so now let's talk about blood stones and   what to avoid because this is one that gets tricky 
you might find a pair of blunt stones you're like   these are perfect they're blunt stones they're 
like they're my size everything's great but   there's two huge issues you need to watch out for 
with used blunt stones the first one is just the   general structure of these boots there's a harder 
TPU basically a rubber outsole but then there's   lots and lots of foam all through the midsole but 
and the problem is if you start wearing through   the outsole like on these pair of blonde stones 
you hit that foam layer and it absorbs water it   wears really quickly it starts chunking off 
and they don't have much life left in them if   if you're if they're really cheap and you're just 
wanting something to kick around the backyard with   it's probably okay but just watch out for it 
and the second thing which is probably the most   important thing to look out for on bloodstones 
and be really careful when you're buying   bloodstones online that doesn't have this 
a little thing called hydrolysis happens   to bloodstones where if you don't use your 
blood stones all the moisture in the air   gets stuck in the little air bubbles in the foam 
of the midsole and the outsole and it slowly   kind of melts and makes the outsole crumble and 
makes them really really sticky and so you get   to a point where once that hydrolysis has taken 
place you can literally I could rip this apart   like and just take chunks off of it because it's 
so broken up so just be careful with blonde stones   they're a really risky one when it comes to used 
boots now I want to quickly go over the do's and   don'ts of each of those five things so you have 
a short concise 30 second clip and you can take   a screenshot of these lists so do get a Vibram 
outsole or some of the higher quality outsoles   don't get the cheap clothing brand outsoles do get 
a Goodyear welted or stitched down construction   boot don't get a cemented construction or at least 
be really careful and be pay close attention to   the cement constructions do get a boot that has 
good stitching that's solid stitching all through   the upper don't get a boot that has really worn 
out stitching especially in some of the vital   areas do get a leather upper that's higher quality 
that's not crack that's not split don't get a fake   leather you're gonna regret it and finally do get 
a pair of boots that you're going to wear that's   going to fit you right that doesn't have any lumps 
it doesn't have any pronation that's not worn out   and don't get a pair of boots that's not fitting 
you right that you're never going to wear because   you're you're gonna fall in the same trap that 
I fall into every time I go to the thrift store   so that wraps it up is it a perfect guide no 
there's I could talk about this for hours and   give you a really in-depth thing but this is 
a pretty solid list to go out to the thrift   stores and at least get you right nine times 
out of ten you're still gonna miss some but it's   it's all the important stuff that's the most 
vital parts of the boot that are gonna give   you the longevity and the quality that you're 
looking for if there's something I missed just   add it to the comment section because the comments 
section fortunately on my channel is pretty civil   and everyone's really nice and helpful so the 
comment section will be a really good resource   for this video for the stuff that I didn't have 
time to cover or forgot about so thank you guys   so much I'm on the men from corona apparently I 
got corona I think the last time I had coronavirus   was a false positive because I wasn't really 
sick and this time I was out for three weeks   so we're back to full steam actually that's a 
lie I'm going bear hunting next week but we're   almost back to full steam ahead we got some cool 
stuff coming down in the future that I'm really   excited for and um yeah thank you guys so much 
for everything you do if you have not subscribed   just do me a favor and click the subscribe button 
that's the number one thing you could do it   it's free and it makes all the difference 
in the world so thank you guys so much   and I didn't realize toaster was maybe 
blocking all the boots sorry about that

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