Let's Talk About Moccasins (Rancourt, Quoddy, NEOC, Highland, Russell, et al)
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I own shoes from all the major players except for russel, though i mean to fix that shortly. Quoddy and rancourt are the top in terms of quality in my opinion but ive had my issues with both. I generally was not impressed with my yuketen experience.
Two new companies that have caught my eye are the brothers crisp and new england outerwear. Ive got an order in with new england but im still undecided on TBC. Some of their stuff looks cool but some of it looks rough and unfinished in a bad way. Id be interested to hear some opinions from owners.
Ive been a rancourt customer for around 4-5 years. I manage at least one custom pair a year. I usually went with them over quoddy and some of the other as they had the all-around best customer service and the widest array of options. Im not sure when but at some point in the last year they lost their old customer service person (Katie) and now have two different people filling her role. I can say with all honestly that the service from rancourt has declined drastically. Over the past year and lets say three or four orders they have been inconsistent with returning emails promptly, and in some cases not at all, flaky on pricing quotes (ive had two different people respond to my price quote requests with two different prices that varied drastically on more than one occasion), generally lacking in product knowledge, and ive had one order that was completely off sizing wise. Its a real shame as i was hoping to order my first pair of cordovans from them this month but i never received a price quote. Ive since ordered aldens.
Im not really trying to down on rancourt, they make a fantastic shoe and their options are usually pretty great (except for the soles, id really like to see dainite or something else offered for dress shoes), but they really need to bring their service up to the old level.
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They have worn as well as if not better than a normal leather sole on a formal shoe.
Walking on uneven concrete, stones etc isnt comfortable underfoot though as there is just no cushioning! To me this sole is for indoors, beach, grass, driving etc. OK on a smooth pavement or commuting on the Tube but you wouldn't want to take a long walk on a rough surface.
I have that same pair, watch em if the grass is wet. Turns them into ice-skates!
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This thread isn't very active, but maybe someone has an opinion. I've been wearing Quoddys for about 7 years now. I got my first pair of canoe shoes in 2012. I liked them a lot more than all of my other shoes and wore them 5+ days a week. They made it 25 months until I needed a resole, which cost $35 at the time. I had a enw pair of Canoe Shoes made last year and I received them 9 months ago in June. I still wear the Canoe shoes more than anything else since they're so damn comfortable, but nowadays, with ~12 good pairs of shoes/boots, that only translates to an average of probably just under 2 wears a week. Here's what the soles look like after 9 months at that minimal amount of use:
Not sure what's going on here, but even the cheapest Sperry Topsiders wouldn't look anywhere close to this after ~75 wears. Quoddy has raised their resole price from $35 to $129 since I first had a resole in 2014, and I've gotten ~75 wears instead of ~550 before needing a resole, which means that my cost per wear with each resole is ~27 times higher than it used to be. This is in addition to some obscenely bad work on my shoes in the past couple years (for example, an eyelet cracked, and they just super glued a new eyelet on top of the old one, with sharp metal shards from the old one sticking out from under the new one). I think I'm ready to ditch them as a brand, but I didn't have terribly great experience with Rancourt the one time I went with them. Which companies have people had great experiences with in recent years? Horween or equivalent and ability to resole are a must for me, but beyond that, I'm feeling flexible. -
This thread isn't very active, but maybe someone has an opinion. I've been wearing Quoddys for about 7 years now. I got my first pair of canoe shoes in 2012. I liked them a lot more than all of my other shoes and wore them 5+ days a week. They made it 25 months until I needed a resole, which cost $35 at the time. I had a enw pair of Canoe Shoes made last year and I received them 9 months ago in June. I still wear the Canoe shoes more than anything else since they're so damn comfortable, but nowadays, with ~12 good pairs of shoes/boots, that only translates to an average of probably just under 2 wears a week. Here's what the soles look like after 9 months at that minimal amount of use:
Not sure what's going on here, but even the cheapest Sperry Topsiders wouldn't look anywhere close to this after ~75 wears. Quoddy has raised their resole price from $35 to $129 since I first had a resole in 2014, and I've gotten ~75 wears instead of ~550 before needing a resole, which means that my cost per wear with each resole is ~27 times higher than it used to be. This is in addition to some obscenely bad work on my shoes in the past couple years (for example, an eyelet cracked, and they just super glued a new eyelet on top of the old one, with sharp metal shards from the old one sticking out from under the new one). I think I'm ready to ditch them as a brand, but I didn't have terribly great experience with Rancourt the one time I went with them. Which companies have people had great experiences with in recent years? Horween or equivalent and ability to resole are a must for me, but beyond that, I'm feeling flexible.I want to try Wassokeag next.
I wear my Sperry originals just about everyday. They seem to last forever and for the price their great. I put the Superfeet blue in them.
I have the Quoddy boat mocs. I like them, but only wear them casually in the summer. No problems yet. Disappointing to hear about their repair work on your pair though.
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That's a huge bummer about your Quoddys. I have some Bluchers that have very little signs of wear after a couple summers. Have you contacted them?
I've been hearing horrible things about Maine Mountain Moccasins lately, especially on Reddit. I would love to find some other mocs or boat shoes but I usually wear a 15 in this type of shoe so find myself limited to certain Quoddy models and Sperry.
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Thanks guys. The Wassokeags look good, but I'm not in love with having the leather wrap around to the bottom. That's basically a one-shot shoe at that point? I've had some of my leather footwear resoled up to 3 times now, and I really find resoleability to be an important aspect. Good to know re Maine Mountain. I probably wouldn't have gone with them regardless, as I really don't like those creeper-type soles that they tend to use, but good to know. Russell looks like a great option.
Fortunately, for now, Quoddy offered to resole for free since I've had these under a year. However, the original sole style is no longer made, and the matching Vibram option apparently doesn't match up for stitch lines, so I have to switch to a different sole style. I'm a little confused, because they ran out of the black Amazonas soles a couple years back when I resoled a different pair, and they were able to switch to the comparable Vibram with no problem. I guess I'll just have to pick something that I like a bit less, but it's nice of them to do it for free.
Edit: just read through some Reddit stuff on Maine Mountain. All I have to say is "wow".
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@cander49 For a runner, that's some pretty gnarly heel wear!
I've owned a few pairs of Quoddys, and, even though I've never experienced the same issues as you, all of my pairs had some "quirks." I'd be frustrated by their "fix," too. That price for resoling is robbery.
I picked up a pair of Rancourt Harrison boots in kudu last year, and they've been my go-to casual boot. They feel like running shoes, with the EVA wedge midsole. Resoling should be a snap, too, since the sole is glued to the leather midsole; peel off the old sole, glue on a new one.
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How does their sizing compare to that of Red Wing heritage, Wolverine 1000, Oak Street, or Viberg 2030 last?
Omg, I have no idea.
Sorry!! -
No problem. Can you compare the sizing to that of any other brands?
It seems like some (including Quoddy) recommend going with the same size as brands like New Balance and Adidas, yet others recommend going half a size down from that.How does their sizing compare to that of Red Wing heritage, Wolverine 1000, Oak Street, or Viberg 2030 last?
Omg, I have no idea.
Sorry!! -
No problem. Can you compare the sizing to that of any other brands?
I sized up 1/2 a size. I generally wear 11-1/2 and have a 12 in my ring boots.
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Just wanted to throw out there that I'm getting yet another resole from Quoddy right now and this latest experience with them is nothing but more disappointment in terms of how they operate at this point. I asked 2 or 3 basic questions about switching sole styles when I put through my order and got radio silence. I shipped them back and asked them to confirm receipt and repeated my questions when UPS said they got them, but again… radio silence. I emailed a third time a week later and still got nothing in response. After that, I tried to use their chat function on their website and got no reply. I called their phone 6 times before I eventually reached someone on the phone. The first 4 times I called, their phone was either busy or just didn't get picked up. Their line was messed up the first 4 times and I couldn't even leave a voicemail. The 5th time, several days ago, I finally left a voicemail, but of course nobody called me back. I finally managed to reach someone today on my 6th phone call and 10th attempt to contact them about my order. They were not whatsoever apologetic and basically just said they're understaffed and not really able to get to all their emails right now. I'm not clear how they were planning to pick a sole to put on my shoe, as there wasn't even an option at checkout, but apparently they couldn't be bothered to even get input from me.
If there was any doubt that I wouldn't buy shoes from them again, there certainly is none now. You don't get to charge as much as they do and then operate this way. I'm currently wearing a pair of canoe shoes I bought from them in 2012, and everything is still good other than the fact that they stretched out a bit over the years and are a bit too big now, so I have to wear thick socks for a good fit now. But, particularly with that last repair where they literally just superglued eyelets over other broken eyelets, I'm just not convinced that their quality of work is even close to on par any more. I hate the idea of buying crappy shoes and throwing them away when the sole wears out, but I'd probably rather do that than buy from Quoddy in the future. I guess I'll keep getting shoes resoled when the soles wear out, but I won't buy a new pair from them again.
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Also, it appears Rancourt is no longer making custom shoes to order? Looking at their site, they're focused on doing crowd funding campaigns at this point, many of the shoes in that category not being resoleable. Most of their crowdfunding campaigns are failing, and there's nothing about custom ordering shoes. Man, they must really be struggling right now.
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On the topic of mocs, I've got a blue rough out pair of yuketen bluchers with a kiltie (I'll probably pick up their boat shoe at some point) that I've been very happy with, though they do occasionally leave my feet a little blue if worn for a very long time or if I get caught in some rain
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Jeeze, I just started looking at this thread and was sold. Then I see a lot of disappointing updates.
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Hey hand sewn lovers!! I’ve got a few trips to the coast planned over the next 6 months and thought I should maybe invest in a pair of boat shoes or bluchers perhaps. I’ll be walking a fair amount during these trips. I’ve read that Quoddy doesn’t have the best arch support. Any advice on a maker that is comfortable for lots of walking?
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Hey hand sewn lovers!! I’ve got a few trips to the coast planned over the next 6 months and thought I should maybe invest in a pair of boat shoes or bluchers perhaps. I’ll be walking a fair amount during these trips. I’ve read that Quoddy doesn’t have the best arch support. Any advice on a maker that is comfortable for lots of walking?
My Quoddy’s were really flat and the insoles came unglued really quickly. I was unimpressed.
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