What we have here ladies and gentlemen is quite the special opportunity to see side by side what type of a transformation that can become of one's boots over the course of 6 months.

These two beauties belong to a good friend of mine. Both are touting Predator Whiskey over Walnut Bullhide. The Palouse were received and worn in April and everyday there after until today.

As for the Packers, they are now entered into his very first Patina Thunderdome.

I was very fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to shoot these pics of them alongside one another and the comparison has left me speechless. I know he shall go forth and do great things in these bad boys.

Enjoy every second of the next 6 months my friend! I'll be eagerly awaiting their metamorphosis. 🫡✨️🥾

Specs: Palouse/ Packers - Predator Whiskey/ Walnut Bullhide - 55 Last - 13/ 10 Inch - Standard Top - Pull Loop - Brass Hooks and Eyes - Soft Toe - Classic Packer Heel - Natural Edge - Vibram 430 Mini Lug Outsole - 269 Heel Cap.

Just returned from deployment and had some goodies waiting for me at home.

After a week of moderate use.

Personally I like my CRC Packers more, just because they are so supple right away but these boots aren’t terrible. The look is clean and they turned out to be pretty forgiving by the 4th wear. The rolls are coming in nicely and I hope for more to form in the coming weeks.

I finally felt the dreaded toe guillotine when bending down for a fallen fork yesterday. Literally felt like a table was dropped on my toes. Painful.

Wickett & Craig Double Stuffed Raspberry.

The only thing I can say is god damn.

I was originally going for a tankerpro in cypress #8. Still very much a flair boot but perhaps a bit more subtle. Mid-way through my lead I was revisiting the customization on these, likely out of impatience. It was then when I found out that DS Rasp was back on the menu for a limited time. Knew I had to make the swap since I am infatuated with my other W&C tan latigo boots.

God damn.

Got these on Wednesday, and managed to put some miles on them since my Thunderdome entry. The Bayou leather has an exceptional hand feel, and they almost feel broken in already!

Water affects the leather in a strange way though, I've gotten a few drops on them here and there and it soaks it up immediately, then slowly fades back to the original color. Should make for some very interesting patina!

Model: Domepro

Leather: Bayou Saffron

Last: 55

Boot height: 6"

Toe: soft standard

Outsole: V100

Hardware: Gunmetal, all eyes

Gusset: Black

Edge color: Brown

Heel: classic height, logger

Stitching color: Black

Laces: Generation Laces Kingsnake

These came a couple days ago but I wasn’t able to submit my entry till today with being out of town. My work entry is Predator Natural. These leathers have a lot of similarities but the Rainer feels much softer and a little thinner. I’m excited to see how these patina next to each other and will be taking some pics side by side.

Boot Length: 9.5Boot
Width: E
Leather: Rainier - Natural
Leather Style: Smooth
Height: 10"
Pull Loop: No
Gusset Color: Brown
Top Style: Cut
Toe Style: Standard
Toe structure: Soft Toe
Relief Cut: Yes
Edge Color: Beeswax only
Heel Cap: Match Outsole
Heel Stack: Classic
Heel Profile: Dogger
Outsole: Honey Vibram Lug
False Tongue Style: Dress

Found a little bit of time to go on a photo walk today happy to come back with some keepers

Let’s go!

Ask me at the end of the day, but I might like Honey Lugs more than wedges on warehouse concrete.

2nd Day of the Dallas branch Physical Inventory, so I'll be putting some steps on them today.

Worn hard and beat up daily.
Long overdue cleaning and greasing on the ol WS Brown SHREDWIN boots. Really diggin this Skidmore’s that Luke u/Grain-And-Twill told me about. Shoutout to u/smowe for always having such killer boots in the lineup. Can’t forget u/BigStetson for always taking care of me as well.

Nice 3.5 mile hike in cooks forrest pa. My nicks held up and wanted more, but i am still recovering from so keeping it slow.

Anyone have any thoughts on brightening up toe bug stitching? My Roanoke packers need some loving (Roanoke timber, 11 months old vs BWF at 1 week in pic). Curious if anyone has found a method to brighten without damaging the surrounding leather. The only downside to liking fancy work boots!

The leather is super soft and shows some great pull-up. I swapped out the matching tongue with a black CXL tongue for a bit of contrast. Let the break in begin!!

Figured I'd make a quick update since they were out. These are about 8 months old now. They've seen fairly limited wear but man do they look good. Predator Natural is like a cheat code!

I spent hours and long conversation designing a boot that spoke to a multitude of facets. Researching a leathers that was so far out of the box but still robust for working. I asked about getting this leather and Shuyler didn’t steer away; he gladly accepted and made it a reality. I can’t thank him and his staff enough for getting this leather at my request.

The design I was searching for was something elegant, yet I felt would still be great for work. I went with the 1925 last as I felt this was the perfect choice.

After speaking with the Boss himself he suggested doing an internal heel counter to continue with the elegance and providing a clean look. With that I had to go with a Half sole option to truly emphasize this choice.

I went with a 7” height as I felt it gives me more surface area to truly show its raw beauty. I also felt it was the perfect hybrid height between a true dress boot and work boot.

Build Specs

Nicks MTO
W&C Vachetta
7”
Brass Hook and Eyes
Internal Heel Counter
1925 Last
Dr Soles Half Sole
Beeswax Edge
Cut Top
No Pull Loop
Single Row Stitch

I know I said it before but I truly can’t thank Shuyler and the Folks at Nicks enough for making my vision a reality. From choosing this leather, asking to get the leather and building an absolutely stunning boot.

Here’s to the Patina Thunder Dome 26/27!! I wish everyone the best of luck.

Any hints??

UPS usually hits my house at the end of their route but they had mercy on me today. 7" Bayou Saffron Domepro, 67 last, soft toe, moderate dogger, beeswax edges, v bar, roll top. Laces are Generation Goldrush. I also made a wallet for the leather goods entry out of Cavalier Sunflower, it's not a perfect match with the Saffron but it's in the ballpark. Happy doming everybody 🍻

Somebody made a comment to the effect of preferring to see work boots worn by people in the trades and not photographers in the office, hence my title. 😂 I used a color checker for white balance.

10” Horween Cypress Raisin Cherry on T55 last, all eyelets, medallion cap toe, Dogger heel, V-bar sole.

For more details on the build:
NBD Post
Original Build Post

It was a struggle to keep these tucked away for so long and great to finally take them for a spin today. The 1925 last and new size definitely fit my feet better with these boots more comfortable on day one than my other fully broken-in Nicks. I'm very excited to wear them for the next 6 months and see how they patina.

For an update on my HNW Falcon's squeak saga: I took last year's dome boots to a custom shoe maker / cobbler here in Germany. He told me that to fix the squeak he'd need to go further than a simple re-sole and it would be prohibitively expensive (essentially a rebuild). Instead, he mentioned that the high heel on the HNW caused me to walk in a way that exaggerated the problem. He said that if I let him replace the heel with a shorter stack, it wouldn't fix the problem, but would prevent me from triggering the squeak on a normal step. I let him do it, and it did actually help. The boots will still squeak with certain moments, but they don't squeak on every single step anymore.