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if you watch my blendstones review then you already know i'm not a huge fan of this boot i think for the price there are much better options and in this video i'm going to cover my five favorite blendstone alternatives let's get into it to me the best alternative to a blendstone is the thursday legend and i'm going to cover a couple reasons one why if you didn't watch that video about why i'm not a huge fan of blind stones i'm going to tell you right now and i'm going to tell you exactly why the thursday legend basically addresses most of those issues bloodstone uses a genuine leather upper which isn't as high quality as a full grain leather upper they also use a mold injected sole that they just cement onto the upper so this when there's water nearby water can easily leak into that cemented sole once if there's like a little part that breaks down the basically glue that's what it is if a little part breaks down then water can get right in there lastly this is not blind at all so it is just the leather it's got a little bit of fabric in there but that fabric is going to wear off especially like my big toe wears on the inside of my boots all the time so that would just wear that fabric down within months so why i think the thursday legend basically solves all of those problems why i think it's the best alternative to a blunt stone out there one the look is pretty similar this is definitely a more stylish boot then uh it's a little more slimmer narrow i got some other boots on here that are more for durability for work that kind of thing this is definitely the most stylish on the list so if you're looking for a blendstone for style then this would be a really good alternative there but this uses a goodyear welted construction if you're not familiar with that what that is that is basically the gold standard of boot construction the reason why is there is a piece of leather that is stitched into the midsole which is then attached to the outsole so basically you're getting way more weather resistance you're not just relying on glue to keep you know the two pieces together you have a full stitch there you also have some glue as well but it basically has an extra layer of protection in there another piece of leather a stitch and some cement in there that's going to help make sure that this boot the leather doesn't come separated from the sole and it also is way more water resistant than the blunt stone the thursday legend is also a lot more comfortable so it has a poron insole and a cork midsole so the blunt stones they're synthetic all the way through insole midsole outsole all the way synthetic but this does use cork in the midsole which basically will mold to the shape of your foot over time so it's comfortable right out of the box but it continues to get more comfortable over time lastly the leather on the thursday legend is just much better than blendstone it uses a full grain leather it has a full leather lining for a total of three millimeters of leather in the upper and the lining when you combine those together it is thursday's rugged and resilient which has got a little bit of a nap to it so it also resists scratches a lot that's one thing that a lot of people i saw researching they complain about their blonde stones because they get deep scratches and it's hard to fix because with the blendstones they're not dyed all the way through once you scratch the top that natural leather color comes through and so it just makes the scratch look massive that you're not going to run into that issue with the thursday legend and so that is a final reason because the thursday legend and the blindstone are basically the same exact price this is just such a better boot now i know a lot of people use their bloodstones for yardwork and they use them in really rugged situations again i've kind of given some reasons why i don't think that that's they're a really good boot for that anyway so if you're looking for durability if you're looking to work in your boots then i would recommend for durability the red wing classic chelsea now one of the biggest differences one of the things you're going to notice right here that is different about the redwing classic chelsea than any of the other boots on this list this does have a wedge sole so for me one of the things i like about blendstone is it does have this separated heel and that's everything else on this list the thursday legend uh this gym green i'm gonna talk about a little bit they use that different type of sole it's not a wedge one of the benefits of a wedge sole is that people with knee problems or back problems they find these to be way way more comfortable and help alleviate some of those issues that aside you can see which one of these boots i personally use for work you can see how clean this blend stone is and you can see how dirty this red wing classic chelsea is no it does not come with paint on it that is something i added custom myself as i said this is definitely red wing they tan their own leather so they have their own leather tanning company and they use those leathers and they are phenomenal they're super durable they're really easy to care for and ultimately it just makes for a way better boot you're getting such better quality materials with the red wing this also has a 360 degree goodyear well like thursday so you're getting a lot more weather resistance as well and overall for durability the redwing classic chelsea is a far better boot than the blunt stone now if you're after just comfort i recommend the red back easy escape now one of the things about blendstone that i like but at the same time i don't like is unlike any of these boots up here bluntstone you can actually remove the insole these boots right here you can't remove the insole it just is what it is and it's hard to add an insert because the sizing doesn't really fit like that blend stones you can remove the insert so i can take out the insole but this insole right here is super thin and it's it's like just a low density piece of foam it's like a if i could just like cut off a piece of cooler or something like styrofoam and just put that in a shoe that's like basically what bloodstone did so this is pretty lame but with red back they include one of those you can remove it if you want but it has orthopedic support in it unlike the blendstone so the red back is immediately comfortable it has a lot more arch support than the blendstone the prices are very similar and if you need your own orthopedic support like if you have a custom insert or something like that you can add one customly into the red back just fine red backs also fit a little bit wider so you have more room you can wear thicker socks or if you have wide feet the red back is just going to be a better option for you if you looked at the price of a blendstone and you are a bit sticker shocked then i would recommend the jim green stockman so the jim green stockman this is in the low 100s i think last time i checked it was like between 120 130 it's in that range but again this is a better boot at a cheaper price this has three millimeters of leather so it's got the one millimeter lining two millimeters of full grain leather on the outside versus genuine leather if you remember that and one of the great things about the jim crean stockman is that it has a stitched down construction so unlike goodyear welted so the methodology is a little bit different this is still a traditional way of making boots it's also way more weather resistant than just a cemented sole like you would get with the blendstone so that's basically it takes the leather is a little bit flanged out it gets stitched directly into the midsole and so there is not really much space for water to get in there there's a lot of protection there so again this is a better if you're looking for work this is a better option it has a very similar blendstone cutout design right here for the leather the elastic goring is some of the best i've seen on any chelsea regardless of price 500 chelsea's this elastic goring is awesome this is a very sturdy feeling boot and it's all natural materials all the way through the insole midsole so it is leather and cork in the insole midsole so it's gonna be super durable it's gonna last a long time one of the big things i would watch out if you're thinking about the stockman if it sounds like a perfect boot to you the toe is very very wide if you have wider feet this is awesome for you but from a stylistic perspective i like the blendstones a little bit better they just have a more narrow toe and of all of them i like the thursday legend even more than that for style purposes because it has the most narrow toe so the jim green in terms of price in terms of material quality way better than bloodstones but you do have to watch out for that wide toe my fifth alternative i know a lot of people like shopping with bloodstone because they offer vegan leathers i'm not such a huge fan of vegan leather but if you're looking for a another alternative another vegan leather boot vegan leather chelsea then i recommend the doc martin felix that is to me doc martens and blondestone they're pretty much on a level playing field in terms of quality i think they're both a little bit overpriced but there are very few brands that also make vegan leather so if that is something that is important to you you can also check out the doc martin felix again i don't think it's necessarily better i haven't tested it myself but it is another great alternative to the blendstone in terms of vegan leather now if you want to see me compare the blendstone 500 to the 550 you can check out that video popping up right now and until next time put your best boot forward
