12" GRISSOM

A 12" wide square toe boot with a pocket in it. That is the unusual part and it deserves the first sentence: the quarter lining carries an inside pocket for everyday carry, sized for a wallet, a phone, a pocket knife or a multi-tool, so the thing you keep losing has somewhere to live.

The quarter is black, the foxing is Summertan Old Town, and the vamp is Kenia cognac — three leathers rather than one, which is why the boot reads darker at the top than at the foot. The vamp is a full vamp, the lining is leather, and the quarter carries a lined gore measuring 4x5". Construction is leather Goodyear welt, so the sole is stitched rather than glued and can be replaced when it goes. Underfoot there is a Texon board insole, a Midnight shock absorbing polyurethane comfort insert, a 3" Foss midsole and a non-metallic shank holding the middle rigid. The outsole is the oil and slip resisting Oak I.C.E. — Industrial Compressed Elastomer, designed with outstanding abrasion resistance for longer wear. The whole boot is electrical hazard tested: an independent lab put 18,000 volts at 60hz through it for a full minute without leakage. It is proudly made in the USA with global parts.

What all of that adds up to is a working boot with a long service life and one genuinely good idea in it. The pocket is not a novelty if you spend your day in a truck cab or on a site where a back pocket is a bad place to keep a knife. The wide square toe gives the profile some weight, and the black quarter keeps it from shouting. Wear them with the jean sitting over the shaft, expect the three leathers to age at slightly different rates, and take the welt for what it is: permission to keep the boots rather than replace them.