Posts made by AskAxel

So I've been breaking in my ST versions for just over two weeks now. They are coming along very nicely, the first few days were definitely uncomfortable, bordering on slightly painful due to the size I chose (see the above posts for details). I will post some more photos probably in another fortnight or so to give a better visual comparison

The major difference in fit I can tell so far between the ST and CL lasts is definitely the more room around the toes and the toe box height, as well as a little more room in the ball of the foot and the instep. Although I think the instep increase is so marginal I'd say it's negligible (in my pair anyway) but the toe box space is definitely there.

I think the more important difference to me is the leather; the horsehide ST leather is much more forgiving and has formed and stretched much more and much faster than the CL. The shaft is a lot softer and flexes and moves with me when I walk. It hasn't collapsed any more than my CL pair but I surprisingly much prefer the firmness of the CL Horsebutt leather.
I think I have about another few days of wear and the ST pair will feel as broken in as the CL pair which have a few months of much, much harder wear put into them.

I think if you have a foot shape that isn't very friendly/similar to the shape of Addict's lasts then the ST last is definitely going to be the more forgiving and easier pair to break in.

I'm very eager to pick up a pair of the brown horsebutt so I can have three pairs of Addicts and call it a day. Now that I have experienced both, I do love the ST last and I do think its an amazing boot, but I would opt for the CL last with the horsebutt leather any day.

I am still unsure if I could go down a full size with the CL's, I doubt it. Perhaps when I am in Japan in January I will get the chance to try them on. I have no regrets going half a size down with the CL pair I have and I'm quite looking forward to wearing them again soon and alternating between the two lasts once I've done some more breaking in and tests with this ST pair.

I look forward to reading other people's experiences and seeing the patina!

@Jack I can't wait to see the progress on these, they look beautiful.

I think with addict the shape of your foot and instep is going to play a bigger part than just a brannock measurement, this post with all our size disparity definitely shows that!
@northsouthdenimguy is bang on the money, it will be great to have the IH crew try them on and be able to give feedback and help to people who come into the store.

I'm in the process of breaking in the 10.5D Black engineers now, definitely some discomfort but overall it's going well. I would have though it crazy I would ever wear a 10.5D in a boot but here we are. Another month or so and I'll post some more comparison photos.

Update! The AB-01H-ST Standard Horsehide Engineer boots have arrived!

Relatively quick postage from Japan to Australia, no issues with the packaging. For fellow Australians, Addict now ships internationally in USD only and these were listed as $830USD for me at the time of purchase, shipping was $53USD and i paid customs/duties/tax of around $305AUD bringing the total price to $1,560-ish AUD. Previously Addict's international store used local currency so when I purchased my Horsebutt engineers first (the more expensive of the two versions) I paid in AUD and they actually cost about the same as this pair now that they have swapped to selling in USD. That doesn't bother me particularly, but it's something to consider.

First impressions; the leather is just as thick as the Horsebutt engineers although the shaft and top strap are noticeably softer and more supple. The Shaft has much more flex than the horsebutt versions, although I would definitely say it is still quite firm but the break-in will be much quicker. There is (at least on my pair) a subtle lasting line down the center of the boot, something that I did not notice in the stock photos. This surprised me, I actually have found this quite unappealing in photos of engineers boots (looking at you clinch) but in person I'm really surprised that I actually like it. perhaps it's because its subtle and a point of difference to my horsebutt pair.

Clicking looks wonderful to me, there is some visible grain in the shaft but the vamp and heel look perfect, there is a little spot on vamp of the left boot in the photos but this just rubbed away just using my finger. The black has a nice lustre to it in person and is deep without being shiny, so excuse my poor photos.

This version is a structured toe, and although not quite a full heritage bump toe, it is noticeably rounder and higher than the unstructured horsebutt. I wanted a pair with the structured toe, although I do prefer a rolled and collapsed toe. I bought this black pair with intention of it being my engineer boot for dressier occasions compared to the abuse my teacore pair live up to.
For photo comparison purposes, the teacore now have about 3 months of almost daily wear including some rough yard work like fencing and landscaping. Yesterday, before I took these photos, I gave them their first real clean and touch up with some conditioner and they have come up much better than expected, a lot of the scratches have disappeared.

Sizing
I took a risk and did go a full size down on the brannock with these. I decided to do that because of the structured toe and to have a very tight fit, these are a 10.5D. As stated in my other posts above, I do have a very low instep and while the 11D Horsebutt fit me very well after break in and using the insert from Addict, i found there is still a little bit of wiggle room in the instep for me even now that I have them on the third hole and I just don't want to tighten them more. With the collapsing of the toebox in the horsebutt I also do not have room in the toes to go down to a 10.5 like I could with these. I plan on getting another pair of the horsebutt in the brown in an 11D and I would still recommend to others going only a half size down unless youve spoken to Addict and are really, really, confident with your foot measurements.

I've put them on and walked around the house for a bit now, they are definitely very tight but in a good way. I do expected a longer and slightly painful break-in period compared to the horsebutt, which I would say while there was some initial break-in discomfort, they were not painful. I can already tell that I will not be needing these inserts and these are going to form so well to my feet.

Other things of note
I can happily say that the sole thickness between the two is the same, for some reason on the standard versions Addict have a full rubber outer-sole instead of the half-cut version on the horsebut, the heelstack is also the same height so i assume there is a little less leather in this heelstack to make up for the additional rubber.
As you can see in the photos, I did add additional stitching to both straps on the shaft. I did this mostly as a precaution and because these cost me so much I wanted to be safe. In hindsight, on the horsebutt versions I dont think this is necessary, and on the bottom strap of the Horsehide I also would say I don't think it's necessary, but the top strap is feels very soft to me so it could be considered. Personal preference I guess, but I will be taking these to my cobbler and getting additional stitching to both straps anyway.

I'll post some more photos in the future, I intend on alternating between these two now and easing up on the abuse my horsebutt pair have copped these past three months. Hopefully around Christmas/January I'll have the funds to buy a third pair in Brown if they are still available. I've considered trying an alternative brand like JL or Wesco, but here in Australia getting a pair of Wesco's costs just as much as Addict, Attractions or JL and I just can't justify it, especially given the mixed advice on sizing for Wesco's I've received. Other brands like JL, Attractions, and Skoob (from what I've been told) have much higher insteps and we all know that for Engineers fit is king; the Addicts are 2 for 2 for me in terms of amazing fit so I think one more pair should do it and I can go back to just buying more IH jeans and jackets haha

I made a trip from Brisbane just to go there and to blue works vintage, it was worth it for Corlection alone. I've gotten quite a few things from them, even when sometimes it's cheaper to buy direct from Japan. The store and crew are great. Their range of Samurai and IH products is amazing and it's great to try a bunch of the cuts on.

Addict has done a small restock on their engineers, I caved and purchased another pair in their non-teacore standard last. I’m keen for them to arrive and will post again with a comparison between the two toe shapes and styles.

@northsouthdenimguy interesting, I'd be curious to see if they give over time like the engineers seem to be doing.
@AdamC Awesome news, thanks!

@caithangkhanh The teacore really is stunning in person, the photos don't do it justice. I wasn't too sure how I'd like the teacore as I've never had a pair before but I'm enjoying the process and the depth of colour and patina so far. I think I'll have to add a pure black pair in the future...

@crispy-heron I did quite a bit of research before deciding on Addict. I reached out to them with my foot measurements (taken via franks youtube guide) as well as the size of my other boots and we had a back and forth about fit and size recommendations. Their customer service and help in this regard was fantastic. From what I was told, without talking to them/sending your measurements in, the general advice is to take half a size down from brannock on the Engineers UNLESS you have an above average instep in which case you can go TTS and use their insert later in time. Regarding the service boots I do not know if the same advice applies.

@northsouthdenimguy I have also heard and was told that their zip boots do fit differently and going TTS is recommended, but there are always exceptions, and from experience I would advise just reaching out as they were super helpful. I would agree, at least in regards to my engineers, that overall foot volume and instep is going to be a greater determining factor in fit than brannock. Are the Zip boots horsehide?

I have definitely noticed stretch in the horsebutt engineers during the first 6 weeks; I'm pushing around 10 weeks of almost daily wear now. I wear very thin wool socks and have a very low instep, thus I'm very confident I could avoid the supplied insert and go another half size down from brannock for a firm and very snug fit (which I personally like) although I imagine the break-in would be quite painful. My current pair was very easy and only had minor discomfort for the first week, I believe that to be because both myself and person from Addict I was talking to were playing it on the safe side with sizing.

Will take some fresh photos of my Addict Engineers and upload, the teacore after a month and a half of wear is pretty full on, theyre looking wonderful.
In regards to their sizing, I wear an 11D in Iron Rangers, measure an 11.5D brannock on both feet and I have quite a low instep.

After talking to Addict and sending my measurements they advised I buy an 11D in their narrow last engineer which I did. After breaking in, I then added their thin leather insole that comes with the boots and I would say the fit is almost perfect. There is still a little extra length in the boot and the vamp and instep area are comfortably snug but not tight on me. I'm very confident I could have gone down a full size to 10.5D and not used their insole after break-in and the fit would be perfect; the caveat being that I do like my boots to be snug. Heel slip post break-in is basically non-existant.

I plan on buying a second pair in their brown horsebutt in 10.5D but I will be visiting Japan in january so I'm hoping to try them on in-store and grab a pair there.

Edit: Added photos. I also got my cobbler to add additional stitching to the straps. Now that I have been wearing these hard, I don't actually think it is necessary but being my first pair of engineer boots and knowing I was not going to be gentle with them I decided to be overly cautious and get extra reinforcement added.

@cyclops Similar hand feel although the samurai has a much rougher surface texture and fuzz to it

@cyclops mine have only stretched out by about half an inch, i bought the 33 and and probably should have gone a 34
I'm only about 10 wears in but I'm on the fence atm if I should keep them. The denim itself is unreal, honestly only beaten by the UHR imo.

@Daniel-San Beautiful leather!
Do all the Clinch engineers have the lasting line down the centre?

@dan79 I use shoe trees for my oxfords and formal shoes, and boot trees for the boots that I want to hold their shape such as my cowboy boots and my redwings/service boots.

For my engineers I do not use boot trees as they have a soft toe and I want the horsebutt to roll and a boot tree would significantly increase the time for this to happen and also make the rolls less prominent.

Trees can also help if you're in humid environments (like me in Australia) for shoes/boots that you either wear very often or that just get damp from wear/sweat/water etc. Obviously this only goes for cedar or similar wooden trees; cedar is preferable for its ability to reduce odours.

In my opinion, for people that don't spend the time looking after their shoes/boots with regular cleaning and the occasional oil/condition/polish etc shoe trees are a very easy way to extend the life of your boots. If you're good at doing regular maintenance to your shoes then trees are honestly just good for odour and shape retention.

Edit: Added photos. My redwings and chisos boots here are both about 2yrs old with very regular wear and have always had boot trees and a lot of care put into maintaining them. My Addict Engineers are now about 1.5months old with lots of regular hard wear and no shoe trees and only minimal brushing for maintenance in order to test and increase potential patina. They are just starting to form rolls now and if I had been using shoe trees I doubt they would be rolling so soon.

Sometimes brands will have a high rise but a short fly which means you can't really wear them as high-rise/high on the body because the fit become awful.

@rasta The texture and the colour look amazing! I couldn't afford to grab a pair of these with other recent purchases, so I'm keen to see how others fade them over time.

@americanathreads I would recommend just wearing them. I also bought a one-washed pair and have about 5 days of yard work wear so far and they're breaking in nicely.
Did you go TTS?

@samo You are correct, I had the code wrong and have edited my post to update. Thanks!

@cyclops Im not sure how the measurements differ between the wide and the slim cuts so bear that in mind, but if this helps I am a natural 33" waist and generally wear 32-33" in jeans. Samurai S3100VX I wear a 33, the latest Samurai 25oz I bought a 33" too. The Chinos I bought in a 32" and they fit almost perfectly after a little break in. Denimio places all of those at around the 82-84cm waist mark and I've found Denimio to be pretty reliable for samurai's measurements in my experience.

Let us know what you think of the chinos!

@cyclops I have the SJ48CP (I think that's the code) which is essentially the same trouser but in a wide cut. I love them, I wasn't too sure what to expect but since they arrived they have quickly become (aside from denim) my favorite pants to wear. I've found mine have given about half an inch in the waist, so not really a lot and that is post a cold wash and with some decently heavy wearing so far.

The material is thick and firm at first but they have started to drape well now. Samurai state they are 15oz and when wearing they definitely feel like they're in the 15-16oz!

Edit: Fixed an incorrect product code

@americanathreads Yeah my apologies, I meant I normally wear a 32" and buy close to that measurement accordingly. The 33 in the 25oz had the closest post wash measurements on denimio to what I like. I probably could have gone for a size 34 for more comfort out of the gate but I'm expecting these to stretch an inch.

As a side note, I've found self edge's measurements to be completely cooked for some reason compared to other sites like Denimio and Okayama denim.

@cyclops Denimio, cost $6 for express. Arrived within a week