The Great Boot Purge: Why I’m Cutting My Collection Down to 3 Pairs

• 10 January 2025

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  The Iron Snail

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Hey Snailiens, Here’s the Deal

I’m assuming that you’re already familiar with one of my pairs of boots. They are the first-ever boots to hike the entire Appalachian Trail. They are the Russell Moccasin Back Country boots.

After 100 years, they have some tiny updates, but they are close to the original boots that Earl Shaffer wore on his first walk. Handmade in Berlin, Wisconsin – absolutely beautiful, my favorite boots of the entire collection. I think they’re so good-looking.

What’s up, Snailiens, it’s Michael!

Today, we are looking at my entire boot collection, and you may have noticed recently that I have been doing these large collections – eight things I love, eight things I hate, whatever, whatever.

The reason for that is because a certain girlfriend of mine, my only one, to be honest, Taylor is moving in with me, and I have a very small apartment in New York, so we can’t fit all this stuff. So the goal of today is to go over my 15 boots and basically get rid of all of them except three.

Boot Collection Quick Overview

So, we’ll start with the boots I’m wearing right now. Why not? Say hello again to the Russell Moccasin Back Countries. I will never sell these. I talked to the current CEO, Luke, about these boots, and he sent them to me for free.

I feel very honored to have them, and that’s not the only reason I’m keeping them – they’re also my favorite. They’re incredibly beautiful, and the way they’re constructed means that they will last literally forever. If my great-great-grandson has tiny little ballerina baby feet like me, he’ll be rocking these until he passes them down to his grandson.

The first boot that I will be holding above the townspeople and chopping its head off is the Doc Martin 1460s. I actually do really like these boots. I am selling them but not selling them – I am keeping them.

I’m probably just going to put them in long-term storage or something like that because having this gig means they’re a good comparison for other brands.

Like I’m doing a Timberland review very soon, Doc Martens are going to come up, so I kind of have to keep them for that reason. And a very cool brand reached out to me and said, “Hey Michael, we made Doc Martin Killers, so can you compare those for us?” and I said, “Yeah, sure,” I could do that.

If there’s any interest in these boots, I’ll talk about them in a different article, but these are my Blundstone super heavy-duty work boots, whatever Blundstone calls them.

They’re essentially like a Chelsea boot equivalent to Timberland Pros – steel toe, fire resistant, electrical hazardous resistance. They’re crazy. I saw someone wearing them on my block, and I was like, “Excuse me, what are those?” I thought they were waterproof – they are just a very, very water-resistant nubuck.

My other Blundstones that we’ll talk about later are virtually waterproof for all intents and purposes. These are insane boots, and they add like two inches to my height. Every time I wear them, everybody thinks that I’m dressed way cooler than I actually am.

These are the shoes that I was wearing when the fashion director of J.Crew saw me on the street and gave me an up and down. But they have to go because my beautiful queen is moving in.

The Red Wing 8833s – I talked about these literally in my last article. I said I didn’t like them and that I regretted buying them. I realized I love to look at them, but I don’t think they look that good on my feet, so who actually knows?

The leather on them is incredibly beefy and may look soft, but it’s very rough and hard to move and bend. They’re work boots. And famous commenter Stacy Graham something, who I frankly can’t decide if this person likes me or if they hate me, but either way, they trashed all of my clothes, but they said boots are okay, so I am selling them or getting rid of them.

Next are the Jim Green Razorback boots in fudge. Jim Green has a really cool story – Gareth from Jim Green, like I’ve said before, sent me essentially every single boot that Jim Green has ever made. Razorbacks are by far my favorite and that is why I am keeping them.

They’re super comfortable, they feel like tanks, they’ll age beautifully, they’ll last for a very long time, and they have a lot of padding, so if you’re going hiking for a long time, that’s good stuff.

Hoka Kaha GTX2 6000, whatever it may be – these are essentially computers for your feet. I don’t have a lot of techware. These are the first ever hiking modern maximalist crazy boots that I have. Whoa! I am writing an article comparing Russell Moccasins to these Hokas.

I’m gonna go for hikes, and I’m gonna figure out what I like and what I don’t like about both of them, but these are something else. Even the way your feet go in, it feels like it’s this perfectly molded spaceship that locks your feet in and then floats you across the ground.

So I’m keeping them for now. I’ll let you know my thoughts on that article. I have to hike up the same trail like 10 times. I got those boots from Huckberry, by the way, so thank you, Charles, for sending them to me for freezies.

Speaking of Huckberry, next are the Rhodes Portland boots, which are one of my favorite boots from a stylistic standpoint. I think they are absolutely gorgeous.

I love the silhouette; it’s sleek, and it makes me, for some reason, want to shift the gear on a motorcycle. I’ve never even been on a motorcycle. I really love the boot. I am selling the boot just for the room because I’ve talked about this boot many times, so I have to let it go to get a new boot in the collection. The storm-welt construction and weather-resistant suede are really, really lovely.

These Blundstones hold a very special place in my heart because this is the first-ever review I did on the Iron Snail. It was these Blundstones, the 585s. You can tell I’ve worn them constantly since I got them – the leather is all beat up, it’s super shiny, there’s old wax conditioner, whatever it may be.

They’ve held up through it all. They’ve remained probably my most water-resistant boots through it all. Blundstones are just incredible. I’m a big fan of them, I’ve always loved them. Some people seem to really not like them. I will get to RM Williams one day and test those out, but I think it’s time to retire these Blunnies.

I am on record saying that the Red Wing 3335s are my favorite Red Wings of all time, and they still might be, but they probably are not. The 875s, the 1907s, and the Iron Rangers all have their own characteristics that I really really like.

The 3335s, though, I like because they’re stitch-down construction, they’re lighter weight, you can feel more nimble in them, they’re a little easier to go walking with, maybe a light hike or something like that, but they’re going.

I don’t really think of myself as a lazy person. I don’t step on the back of my shoes when I need to put them on quickly – I put my fingers in the back, and I slide them on to preserve the heel at all costs. Birkenstocks, Blundstones, and shoes I can just kind of flop on really quick – I love those because half the time, I’m just running to the post office. I’ll just put on regular sneakers really quickly.

That’s why I love Xtratufs because Xtratufs, Blundstones, I guess they can be categorized together – they’re just shoes that, no matter the weather, I could flop on really quick and go grab something with, or if it’s raining, I’ll put them on. I don’t really care what shoes I’m wearing when it’s raining. I don’t care what they look like. That’s not true. I am a little self-conscious, so I’m keeping these, but I could easily put them on the sell list.

I’m making a last-minute change to these next boots – I’m changing whether I’m keeping them or not. They are my Solovair monkey boots. I’ve talked about these many, many times. I’ve talked about the QA issue I had where by the seventh wear, one of the laces ripped, and the back tab ripped out, and then Solovair sent me the wrong things and said, “Repair it yourself” – they said it a little bit nicer than that, but still.

But through all of that, I really like these boots. The leather isn’t super thick or anything. They’re comfortable, but it feels like when I put my feet in the boots, they don’t know where to go. Not that there isn’t enough room for them, but there’s almost too much. They’re sliding about; they’re sliding forward; they’re sliding backward. It probably just means I sized wrong, but I would sell those, probably only to get another pair of monkey boots.

Hello Bean boots! Since I saw them, I’ve always just thought wow, those are just some of the most beautiful boots of all time. When people are wearing them, sometimes I don’t agree, but when they’re splayed open up top with the gusseted tongue and everything like that, I just think they are gorgeous boots. I have a pair that, if you want to know the truth, I was with a girl at the time when I was buying them, and I have very small feet, uncharacteristically small.

Up until 8th grade, I was like a size four, but they got bigger eventually, and they’re like at eight or nine now. But when I was with that girl, the guy said, “Oh, I’ll go get your boots from the back. What size are you?” and I was like, “I’m a size 10.” These are just way too big on me, so I’m probably gonna get another pair, but in the meantime, I’m going to sell them.

I didn’t want to tell you how small my feet were – I told Luke from Russell Moccasin the size of my feet, and he laughed on the phone in my face. If I told Luke that my size was anything smaller than a size eight, Russell Moccasin would have had to make me a custom boot.

The Croc Western Boots Are Staying

Croc western boots – you could pry these from my cold, dead hands! There’s also apparently a substantial secondary market for them, so maybe I’ll make some money. Just kidding, Huckberry, I’m not gonna sell them!

I would never do such a thing. I don’t even like money. I’m really not gonna sell them, though. In all honesty, I just feel like that would be bad from a brand-to-brand perspective. Or would it? No, I won’t sell them! Or will I? No!

The Viberg 145s. Incredibly legendary shoe boots – I thought they were discontinued, but apparently, they’re not. These are natural waxed flesh, absolutely gorgeous shoe boots. I wore them all through Amsterdam, and I rode bikes in Denmark with them.

I had a lovely time, and I haven’t connected to them yet. I don’t think they’re fully broken in yet, maybe something like that, but they just didn’t grab me as much as I thought they would. I was like, “Wow, my first pair of Vibergs, I can’t wait to finally feel happy,” and then I didn’t.

And finally, the grand finale and the boots that started it all – long before the Iron Snail, I had my Instagram called Eighth Weekday, and Wolverine, the boot company, said, “Hey, we’re running a contest, take a picture of what you would wear with a pair of Wolverine Thousand Miles if you had them, and if you win we’ll give you a pair of boots.”

I submitted like 800 pictures to this contest, and I won. I remember I won while I was in class in high school, and I thought this was the greatest day of my life. The most popular kid in high school actually said to me, “You know Michael, I think you’re gonna do really big things when you graduate high school and college,” and I said, “Thanks, Eric Steele!”

I got the wrong size. They don’t fit me really well at all, the back heel is worn down, but when I got them, I remember I was so excited to open the box. I had never smelt leather before, like real leather, so I ran up to my dad and told him it smelled like a baseball glove. I asked him if it smelled right.

I told them about the leather bottoms, how I had to be careful with what I walked on this and that. I wore them in college all the time, and I was like, these are the greatest things that I’ve ever seen, and since that time, I have been obsessed with clothing.

It would just feel really weird to sell those boots because they were more than gold to me for a very, very long time. It’s a crazy full-circle thing. I’m very grateful that people watch this channel, and brands sometimes reach out and are really nice about it. I can’t thank you all enough for that.

Watch This Review

Wrapping It Up

Anyway, that is about it because Taylor is finally living in the United States of America again, and I’m going to her grandparents’ house right now to go see her, so I’m very excited about that.

Thank you for reading this article. I will see you very soon, goodbye.

This article was adapted from Michael Kristy’s video on The Iron Snail, with edits from FashionBeans, and was reviewed by Michael to ensure the integrity of his original content. Watch the full video here.

The Iron Snail is a men’s fashion vlog (and now article series!) starring a young man named Michael and featuring a snail no bigger than a quarter. The two are set on taking over the world of fashion by creating a clothing line to end all clothing lines. Until then, we’re here to tell you EVERYTHING you need to know about the best clothing out there, from the highest quality raw denim jeans to the warmest jackets to the sturdiest boots…the Iron Snail has got you covered.