This Goodyear Welted boot is very serious indeed.

Handmade with sturdy Horween Predator Whiskey leather and a chunky Vibram sole, which blends durability and lightness, it's an all-weather, year-round, stomp-as-you please, proper boot. 

The leather 

It comes from the famous Horween tannery, in Chicago, USA and has a reassuring heft and stiffness (at first) relative to our usual leathers, although it breaks in nicely, with wear, to become softer.

It's a waxy, full grain tumbled leather with a pull-up effect, meaning it will tonally change as it's worn, with a lighter, distressed appearance in parts of the boot that see friction or movement. 

Say Horween:

"It's a combination tanned leather that blends the durability of a chrome tanned base with a heavy vegetable re-tannage. During the process, we incorporate a rich blend of waxes to create the tonal appearance, which will burnish over time and create a rich patina." 

Nice. 

The sole

To balance the heft of the leather, we've used a more lightweight outsole than in our first edition of A Serious Boot. 

Vibram's VI-LITE sole is designed to blend durability with lightness. According to the boffins at Vibram, it's "the ultimate in lightweight, shock absorption cushioning, for maximum energy conservation".

Together with an added layer of EVA beneath the leather midsole and cork filler, we believe this sole won't need as much breaking in as Edition 1, and will be more comfortable, more quickly.

Goodyear Welt

The boots are handmade by a delightful family of shoemakers, in an atelier just outside of Porto, Portugal. They specialise in Goodyear Welted construction, which is a dying art but still considered one of the finest methods of shoe construction, after a 160 year history. 

Below is a description of Goodyear Welted construction* we borrowed from elsewhere on the internet, because we didn't trust ourselves to explain it better. 

Nubuck Collar

To complete the fun, we've added an experimental soft nubuck collar detail around the ankle. We don't think it makes a huge difference to how the boot feels, but so far, so nice (on the pairs we're wearing). 

Sizing

The same as our other shoes. If you're usually 43, then best try 43 here. And if you've never had our shoes, welcome! We're excited for you and here's a size guide. 

* "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.