A SERIOUS BOOT (Grainy) is the union of textured, Portuguese Bullskin, with Vibram's most famous rubber sole - the Carramoto - consummated with a Goodyear welt for strength, durability and ease of sole replacement.  

It has a "proper" heel - you'll be 2.6cm taller than your bare feet, a whole 1.3cm taller than in our classic DAS BOOT, and generally a lot further from the ground, with cork filling between midsole and outsole making for warmer feet in the depths of winter. 

Speaking of which, this boot has been designed with weather in mind. All the weathers. The Vibram Carrarmato sole was originally designed to increase safety for Swiss mountaineers, but it's truly an all-terrain sole which has seen service in the jungle and desert, as much as on snowy heaths and rocky slopes. This is an all-year-round boot; construction of the leather upper is identical to our breathable-when-it-needs-to-be, warm-when-it's-cold, calfskin-lined, full grain upper DAS BOOTs. 

It has a slower comfort than our usual boots; the sturdy construction and thicker soles are less flexible at first, compared to what you might have ordered from us in the past; so you may need to break them in. And they are a good deal heavier than our other boots. But many feet feel instantly at home and, even if takes some adjustment, it's worth it for the extreme comfort that will ultimately follow, and the lofty, solid, protected feeling of elegant superness and general proper bootedness. 
 
The shoes are handmade in a small atelier outside Porto, and their Goodyear welt is perhaps the most exciting departure from of our past construction methods. It's quite complex to explain (we tried at the bottom of this page)*. But rest assured that Goodyear Welted construction is reassuringly expensive and time consuming, requires highly skilled craftsmanship and, after 160 years, is still considered one of the finest methods of shoe construction today.

A SERIOUS BOOT (Grainy) is made from a textured bull hide that has a visible grain, as opposed to the smoother leather available in our original Serious Boot. It's relatively soft, although a tiny bit thicker than the smoother leather, and it boasts our usual supple calfskin lining.

You have a choice of...

• black welt and black leather outsole (rubber part of outsole will be black)
• tan welt and tan leather outsole (rubber part of outsole will be black)

Sizing is similar to our other shoes.  

* "Goodyear welt construction" involves stitching the upper leather, lining leather and welt (a specially prepared strip of leather) to the ribbing that has already been bonded to the insole as an attach-point for the midsole and outsole. The space enclosed by the welt is then filled with cork (for breathability and cushioning), and the leather outsole is both cemented and stitched to the welt, before the rubber outsole is cemented to the leather outsole. The final stitch is between the welt and the outsole, a stitch that can be cut through enabling complete removal of the sole without causing damage to the upper.