Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game White's Boots....why $400?

Didn't really fit in the backpacking section, and thought I would get more hits here.

Inquiring about White's Boots in Spokane. At $379 a pair, can someone tell me why they are so spendy, and if they are worth that, what makes them so great?

I may be relocating to that part of the US, where I could drop by the store/factory and get properly fitted. But I am wondering why?

I do spend time in the backcountry on a horse. And they look like a decent blend of a packer with a decent sole. And they claim to be rebuildable. But I doubt the rebuild is free or warrantied? Guessing it's still $100 or so for the rebuild.

So I guess I am asking why buy them or what niche do they fill?

I understand that they are US made and like Kifaru or Mystery Ranch, they will command a higher price due to not being shipped over seas for construction, but for that price, one could get a very comfy pair of German made boots that would certainly last a long time.

No GoreTex membrane, not waterproof so it's just leather and a sole. So again, why $400?

Because in Whitefish Montana they're the Anti-Birkenstock Two things Hippies hate is Death-Metal and Whites Boots.

Seriously, my brother and I both have been wearing Whites for a long time (and they're cheaper brands, right now I'm wearing Hawthorne High-Lines for work boots.) They're built hell for stout, 10 mil leather, Vibraam soles and all.

Nick's kick ass too.

Once you get a pair broke in, you'll understand

I don't have a pair but almost everyone I work with has Whites or similar handmade brand. In the logging/wild land fire goverment system an 8" leather boot is required for sawing/fire. On a fire you can't have a Gore-Tex lined boot, it would melt near the heat and become useless anyway. Supposedly they are very comfortable� after they're broken in! They last forever and have great customer service.
Good luck.

13" Wescos for me...

I've never owned a pair of Whites, but I've spent enough time around logging and fire camps to know that handmade boots are quite common and Whites are right up there. I now live in SEAK and I don't do much but 'recreational' logging anymore. My work mostly requires either waders or 'sitka sneakers' but for hunting and hiking I wear either $60 'sitka sneakers' or $250 leather hunting boots, with Vibram soles, 10"-12" height, and a Goretex liner to keep my feet dry. In this wet climate leather boots take quite a bit of care and still only last a few years, which is still longer than the plastic versions that are available.

Personally, I think $400 is cheap for a good handmade boot. What you really pay for is the last and I'm told that Whites build good lasts and have the craftsmen to build heavy boots that also fit your foot on that last. They can also be rebuilt.

Most people I know that have Whites say they fit great, last for years, and are durable. If I ever have a chainsaw bite my ankle or have to pull off a boot I just waded through 100 yds of embers with, I hope I have the right boots on. You don't want goretex melting onto your feet and certainly stay away from plastic European mountaineering boots. I'd bet that if I was still fighting fires there would be a pair of handmade boots on my feet - like most everyone I know that did that for more than a couple of seasons.

I/we used to get handmade lineboots thirty years ago and we paid around $300 for them then. We did that because we needed the quality and experience that goes into an excellent handmade boot, to get the job done every day without our feet breaking down.
As manlift equipment took over some of the climbing, we were able to go to better-quality factory boots because we weren't demanding as much from them. The good Danners with gore-tex became prevalent.
When I retired as a foreman, I wore 8" cheapies, and carried my linebots in the truck bin for when I needed them.
I know some guys like Wesco boots, but I never got the support or life out of them that I got out of a boot like a Harvey Nelson, White, or Buffalo. I never had any Currin & Green line boots, but I heard they were great, also. I've got a pair of their calks that have lasted through about 30 years of casual use.
I've got a pair of Nick's boots I got at Drew's in K-Falls, Or. They will outlast me. They're just built better, out of better stuff.

I have wore Wesco's for a few years.
I can say that ALOT of blue collar guys swear by Whites and Wescos.
I never found them to be as comfortable as some.
They are built like a brick$hithouse!

I just got my 3rd pair. I had 2 pair of 'smoke jumpers' years ago. I now have a pair with a lighter sole. What they will tell you when you go in to be fitted is that most feet will fit fine in their standard sizes. If you want custom or have feet that may require a custom last e.g. bunions or different sized feet, the they will be happy to make a pair. The wait time this time of year will be longer as they are supplying the fire fighters. There is another maker,in Spokane, and that is Nick's. The boots styles are very similar and the prices are close. Nicks reminds me of what Whites was 35 years ago. Whites now has a fancy store but when you go into Nick's you smell leather and all the associated odors. I like Nick's store. I may very well try Nick's next time. Why custom boots? Your feet will thank you, no hot spots and comfort. $400 is well worth the cost if you expect performance from your footwear. After wearing a pair of custom boots what was once a luxury will now be a requirement.pak

Whites, with the Vibram soles, were always the boot for the guys in the drier piney woods. On the wet coast side we had to have corks or be on our butts all the time. Real custom fit boots, even corks, should be good to go, no blisters, from the first day.

I've been wearing Whites for over 30 years. Started with a pair of "caulked" (corked) boots when I was a timber faller during the summers when I was going to college. I've probably had 5 or 6 pairs and rebuilt each a couple of times. The cost for a rebuild is more like $200. I have 2 pairs now.

They're not particularly water proof without greasing them up, they're not warm, they're heavy, and I love 'em. They always fit like a glove. I have worn them out with hard use, but it takes a while. I have never had them come apart or fail in any way when I was using them.

Breaking in either Whites or Nicks is a real bitch. Your feet won't be happy for at least a month. One old timer at work told me the thing to do was lace 'em up tight with 2 pairs of socks on, wade across a creek and walk the sumbiches dry. I may try it next time.

I can tell you that you can stand on 400 degree metal for an hour and a half, and your feet never get hot, and it won't melt the soles off of them (one of the joys of Dryer Tending.) At least the ones with the NFPA stamp won't melt, I don't know if the soles are different or not.

Buddy Rydell at 3 O'Clock High?

I have been wearing Whites Smoke jumpers for 5 or 6 years and can tell you they are a great boot. I have one pair that was store bought and one pair that was "custom fit". The store bought pair is ten times more comfortable. The so called custom pair has been rebuilt twice (for free) because of the fit. Still not totally happy with the custom fit pair, but they have bent over backwards to make me happy. I figure I'll just chalk this one up to experience and buy a regular size next time.

Make sure to try Obenaufs(sp) wax and soak your leather laces in water, stretch them, then wax them so they don't get brittle and break.

Got turned onto the Obenaufs while in w. Washington for a while. Seems to be good stuff.

Simply take a look at a pair beside about any other boot. There are no stamped out vinyl or faux leather components, and they have brass eyes and laces a blind man could thread. They are hand made from high grade leather in the US, every seam is at least triple stitched, soles are held on with stitching, glue, and screws, they can be rebuilt, and obtained in custom fits. The high arch gives excellent support, and if well laced, ones toes will not touch the end while walking down the steepest slope one can stick to.

I've lived, hunted, and gone to church in mine since about 1982, have never experienced a blister, and suspect it's virtually impossible to roll an ankle while wearing 8 to 10 inch tops. The only other shoes I've worn have been court shoes for racket ball etc.

I purchased my first pair of packers back in 1982, and ordered a second pair 2 weeks later. They have been rebuilt numerous times. I sent a pair back 6 weeks ago, and they had finally deteriorated past a recoverable condition. That being, a new pair just arrived last week. I also have a pair of their dress boots (Packers again) that are about 20 years old and look like they came off the rack about 2 months ago.

They are by no means light-weight, yuppy, Gortex, back packing trail shoes. Drop one on the wife's poodle, and one may have a dog to bury. If one is intolerant of failure, Whites are the route to take. An excellent product and damn well worth it. 1Minute

So what you guys are telling me, these are the kind of boots that the Surplus Store owner tried to sell Michael Douglas in "Falling Down"?

Gotta get up there first. Then we will see first hand on the show room floor what they are all about. I do know that being black, they will be able to be used for "double duty" at work and at play, eh um, hunting.

And oddly enough, I never thought I had a weakness, but I have rolled the same ankle about 3 major times now, and I am now finding what above-ankle support is all about.

So Dan-O, if one would have too much toddy around the campfire and pass out with the soles to the flames, one would not walk wake up to open toed shoes?

My smoke jumpers I had for 6 years and are going back for their second rebuild. I would have gone through 12 pair of red wings in that same time peroid. For me its more cost effective to own Whites. They are by far the most comfortable work boots I ever owned. Cushioned soles on cheaper boots can't beat the comfort of these all leather soles. My feet know right away when they are not in whites and I suffer for it also.

I have been wearing the Packer and farm and Ranch for about 15 years now and love them both. Have had both of them rebuilt 3 or 4 times. They take awhile to break-in but after that you will not want to wear anything else, well worth the money in my opinion.

JJ. Its my expert opinion in the matter that ones feet would be far worse off than the Whites, should such a drunken mishap occour.

The Whites will take the heat, where any plain old shoe will melt and get gooey on your feet in about a half hour. The Cheapy Whites I have now, I wore on the Dryers the last year and a half I was over there. I stood on dryer floors on a plug-up about once a week on average for at least a half hour at a time. I'd been on two monster plug-ups that ran over 8 hours, but after that much time everythings well under 200 degrees inside the big ovens, and even Nikes can take that...

Loved that movie with Mike... Except Whites make you want to stomp Hippies

My late brother in law was a smoke jumper out of Missoula Mt.
He swore by White's boots.
I don't think I ever saw him wear anything else.