So I had to send my LTT farmer ranchers in for a rebuild to a 10.5b on the left boot. As I thought it would be, the 10b was indeed too small.

so a little more than a month later I got my rebuilt left boot back…with the wrong sole. YES!

I am so pissed. I've already called white's and they're gonna give me some sort of ups ship code thing and I guess they're gonna resole it with the 430 mini lug, but I'm still livid.

at least people who are curious can see what brown smooth looks like before and after obenauf's application. even months after the fact.

no problem aho. great score on the farmer rancher's I think they look great.

although I do want to see some natural light pictures of them

(don't want to be pushy, but I've got a feeling they're gonna look even better outside.)

@aho:

erk, thanks for the breakdown!

bretro, some quick shots, hopefully this will do:

found this picture on instagram - shows the shoe fitting things

You got it. If it doesn't have the big vibram 100 - they call it a farmer rancher. even if lace to toe.

also plain toe smoke jumpers default to soft toe. I think it has something to do with the NFPA compliance. I think farmer ranchers also default to soft toe - but you have to keep in mind these are using the standard leathers - brown smooth - black smooth - brown rough out - black rough out - red dog smooth and rough out - which are much thicker leathers. When I tried on soft toe SJs at White's I didn't even think that they'd be soft until the guy fitting me mushed the toe in to check the length of the boot.

something else thats interesting about White's -

when they measure you using the brannock device they have you sit down in a chair resting your foot on a wooden shoe fitting thing. Its at a 45 degree angle or so. so your foot is straight but theres no pressure on the feet.

something to think about if you're using a brannock device to measure yourself - or its just something to confuse you.

@Bretro_:

What's the difference between a pair of standard lace smokejumpers (not lace to toe) and farmer ranchers then?

Edit- Searching wayyy back in my memory bank- standard farmer rancher is on the 700 sole and SJ on lug sole? Do I have it? :-\

farmer rancher uses the same last as the smoke jumper its just built with a 700 or 430 sole vs the vibram 100. so the toe wouldn't be pointy. cool story though.

that just looks like a waxed rough out leather. I'm sure that if you heavily waxed any of the White's rough out leathers they would look similar. When I treated my roughout boondockers I used snow seal - in areas of frequent abrasion the leather even shines. I'll have to take a pic tomorrow maybe. they look quite similar.

@gratefulmelon:

Anybody know if White's offers a leather similar to the waxed flesh offered by Viberg?

what is that? wine?

if so, I'm thinkin' thats forever. or at least get used to it. I'd have a go at some lexol leather cleaner though. or saddle soap.

wore the new boots all day today at work. first few hours were awesome, now my feet and legs hurt. Mostly around the top of my ankle. the fabled "white's bite" area. these things make the semi dress look like sissy shoes.

I'm a little worried about the fit on the left boot. thats my smaller foot, and White's was really adamant about me wearing a 10b on that foot rather than the 10.5B that goes with the right one. Its kinda tight on the sides of my big toe and pinky toe. Hopefully that'll go away; I'm only 9 hours into the 80 hr break-in period.

the first picture makes them look a little lighter than they really were. don't get me wrong, the obenauf's did darken them, but not as crazy as the pictures make it seem.