New kiltie day: Guarded Goods Horween Workshoe Butt tan kilties on my tan waxed flesh Essex C350LTT-CS. What an interesting leather - it really is like CXL horsebutt. I want a natural or natural crust Workshoe Butt work boot so badly...
With W&C leathers on the way out (except for DS buck brown and natural), does this mean the previously shown water repellent leather won't be made an option or featured in a sample sale? I saw one customer got boots made out of it and showed them here.
I couldn't pass up this latest Viberg release, despite the insane price at $1,345. I know, I'm part of the problem. I know this isn't worthy of the price tag, and I'll explain why. But Horween Rowdy is one of my absolute favorite looking leather tannages ever.
Viberg has used this leather a few times years prior, always in the "Dachshund" color. It's a combination tanned, very waxy leather that is thin. Therefore, this is fully lined and has no gusseted tongue. According to the Horween tannages list, Rowdy is fat liquored, mill dyed, and vacuum dried. It looks even crazier than Cypress, which I included a few comparison photos of near the end. Very veiny looking with a somewhat loose break like Cypress, which I like here. Lots of pullup. It doesn't have a particularly unique smell.
So I now have my two favorite leathers ever used on the Viberg 310 (which is also my favorite Viberg boot), but unfortunately, both are on the recent, botched pattern. Photo #12 illustrates the problem - misaligned facings, which also come closer together than they should. This is far from a dress boot, we don't need really close facings like on the Navvy. I feel like the 310 peaked in 2023-2024.
The other big issue with this $1,345 boot is the deep gash highlighted in photo #3. This cow must have lived a rowdy life indeed. Leather that damaged should be sold as seconds. You don't even see clicking this bad on Thursday Boots. Viberg seems determined to use every bit of the Rowdy they got for this release.
Photo #6 also shows some wonky edge beveling on the heels - I'm nitpicking here, but for $1,345, the finishing quality of Viberg has fallen considerably behind some less expensive brands like Crockett & Jones.
I also don't quite understand Viberg's outsole selection. The 310 is the least formal, most casual looking service boot, yet it gets the dressiest outsole out of all of them - the Dainite studded half sole. Yet the dressiest, most "refined" service boot - the 2030 - gets the chunkiest, least dressy outsole - the Dainite Ridgeway. What's the logic here?
I also included some comparison photos with my recent washed waxed flesh 310, which has a noticeably taller heel because that one has a Dr. Sole #1100 original whole heel with the same sized leather heel stack. I prefer the shorter heel on this one, which is more typical of the 310. The two 310s are also half a size apart - I do like the 310 a full size down from Brannock, but this one is half down and I added a Nicks veg tanned leather insole to it.
I need to stop buying new Vibergs, but I knew that I'd have 0 chance of getting this one in an archive/warehouse sale. I love sprung toe boots, and this leather was a must have for me.
As I write this, Viberg has now just released a Horween black washed waxed flesh drop, also for $1,345, while the same leather but in brown is still on their site for $1,060.