Do you have any sock wear problems with these slip on boots? Seems like I have problems with holes in my socks on my heels and back of my heels with slip on shoes and boots.
No, they fit me really well. I do often have issues with socks in classic rubber boots, but these chelsea style boots fit much tighter and don't jump up and down in that way.
I expect the elastic band is the first thing to fail - but after a second thought, it would take me less than an hour to hand sew a new elastic on there once it becomes an issue. I often hear it's the downside of this style of footwear but ultimately it's a way smaller issue than even replacing the outsole.
I'm very likely travelling to Cape Town in February with my girlfriend to visit their family there. Their new Baobab boot costs 150$ there when not on discount! I'll definitely grab a pair then. Jim Green USA sellse them for 220$ at the moment. Improvements compared to the rest of their lineup are:
-leather midsole layer versus the "leatherboard" which is used on all their other boots
-a tighter-fitting last for a more traditional heritage look
-a double layer outsole - something you do not see on traditional boots. I really like this feature, it means the first layer glued onto the leather midsole is EVA rubber (like on crocks sandals), and then there's a proper rubber lug outsole glued onto that (like classic vibram lug sole). This means the boot should feel really soft almost like Blundstones while being just as easy to resole as any traditional boot. Should absorb shocks from jumping waay better than traditional boots. Downside is that those layers could probably separate? Not sure how it holds up. Typically the bigger problem is gluing leather to rubber, so proper goodyearwelted boots also stitch the outsole up to the midsole, but here basically the foam works as an in-between layer so it might even work out to be a better solution than directly gluing the rubber to the leather.
-compared to the "african rangers" (their most popular model that is somewhat similar style to these) the Baobab is fully leather lined - two layers of leather all throughout the boot. Outer layer is tucked out and stitched down to the midsole, while the inner layer is tucked in and is under your foot. Makes them more waterproof, and means there's 4-5mm of leather between your foot and the outside. Traditional US leather work boots are not lined with leather inside, and even the thickest ones probably don't pass 4mm of leather thickness (plus, I think I'd rather have two separate layers of leather instead of one super thick one).
Here is how they look:
Now, for about 50-100$ more they do custom boots as well. This is tempting me A LOT, especially since I'll be there in South Africa. Here is an example from their instagram. I am not a fan of the red stitching, but otherwise... Horween leather, triple stitching, extra leather toecap... Plus it's then something only you own, and noone else in the world has boots quite like yours.
