James Leddy safari boots

[Dwight Beagle]

I don't mean to be picky, but the toes on that bottom pair just do not look right.

They do to me.

 

[jasyblood]

Great looking boots!! Looks like I'll be making a trip to Abilene soon!

 

[Philip Glass]

The journey is almost complete..

Got a call from Al @ James Leddy Boots a few minutes ago.. Both my custom safari hunting boots and my custom western boots are done.. a full two weeks ahead of their promised schedule (they tell you up front that they are on a 90 day cycle.. but will do everything they can to beat that timeline while still preserving quality)..

Unless something comes up, its my intent to drive over to Abeline on Thursday and pick them up.. Al seems very pleased with the final product and commented several times about how nicely the cape buffalo hide dyed and shaped.. If Im only 50% as happy with them as he appears to be, I think Im going to be overjoyed with the final product(s)..

Will post up some pics either Thursday evening or Friday morning once I get them back home and have a chance to dance around in them for a few minutes...

Look forward to the report on them.

 

[Philip Glass]

I am anxiously awaiting my custom safari boots from Al. Mine will be Rhino leather from my rhino and the Vibram soles with the more aggressive tread. I could not believe he will have them done for me in such short order and even in time for this years safari!
If you don’t have your own leather it is no problem as he has a big selection of exotic leathers to choose from.
Next month I plan to go to Murray Leather with the rhino skin to make a gun slip for my double rifle.

 

[mdwest]

Without mentioning your name, he told me about you yesterday @Philip Glass

He said "another hunter" has asked for a similar set of boots.. but has brought rhino hide..

He was crazy excited about your shoes and the fact that he was getting to work with rhino again..

I told him about AH, told him he should become an active member here, and that I thought he would gain quite a few customers quickly.. you really cant beat customer service, price, quality of work, and the speed that the work is done on a bespoke set of "africa" style hunting boots..

I bet I talked to a dozen boot makers, and surfed at least 25 websites before selecting James Leddy... Everyone either wanted insane amounts of money, had super long wait times (12-18 months seemed pretty typical for some of the larger well known shops), or frankly, they were rude... and many were willing to "try" to make a safari boot.. but admitted they had never done it before (that wasnt super interesting to me either)..

 

[jpr9954]

Without mentioning your name, he told me about you yesterday @Philip Glass

He said "another hunter" has asked for a similar set of boots.. but has brought rhino hide..

He was crazy excited about your shoes and the fact that he was getting to work with rhino again..

I told him about AH, told him he should become an active member here, and that I thought he would gain quite a few customers quickly.. you really cant beat customer service, price, quality of work, and the speed that the work is done on a bespoke set of "africa" style hunting boots..

I bet I talked to a dozen boot makers, and surfed at least 25 websites before selecting James Leddy... Everyone either wanted insane amounts of money, had super long wait times (12-18 months seemed pretty typical for some of the larger well known shops), or frankly, they were rude... and many were willing to "try" to make a safari boot.. but admitted they had never done it before (that wasnt super interesting to me either)..

When he measured your foot, did he just use a Brannock device to get your size or did he actually measure your foot by taking an outline, etc.? Did he make a last specific to your foot?

While I don't have any skins (yet!), I am super interested in getting a boot that would be customized to my feet.

 

[Tanks]

When he measured your foot, did he just use a Brannock device to get your size or did he actually measure your foot by taking an outline, etc.? Did he make a last specific to your foot?

While I don't have any skins (yet!), I am super interested in getting a boot that would be customized to my feet.

I will stop by and test the place with some skins on my way through Abiline. I hope they do it similar to Russell's as my feet are different sizes (right foot half a size smaller). My left leg is also 3mm shorter after hip replacement surgery and Russell's also compensates for that so I don't have to have an insert in my left shoe.

 

[SFRanger7GP]

Good afternoon mdwest. Thank you for sharing. I have a bunch of backskins and hides so I will be heading to Abilene for some custom safari boots as well.

 

[mdwest]

When he measured your foot, did he just use a Brannock device to get your size or did he actually measure your foot by taking an outline, etc.? Did he make a last specific to your foot?

While I don't have any skins (yet!), I am super interested in getting a boot that would be customized to my feet.

He made an outline and then took several measurements across and around different parts of my foot, as well us up my calf and shin (for the western boots).

 

[Philip Glass]

Without mentioning your name, he told me about you yesterday @Philip Glass

He said "another hunter" has asked for a similar set of boots.. but has brought rhino hide..

He was crazy excited about your shoes and the fact that he was getting to work with rhino again..

I told him about AH, told him he should become an active member here, and that I thought he would gain quite a few customers quickly.. you really cant beat customer service, price, quality of work, and the speed that the work is done on a bespoke set of "africa" style hunting boots..

I bet I talked to a dozen boot makers, and surfed at least 25 websites before selecting James Leddy... Everyone either wanted insane amounts of money, had super long wait times (12-18 months seemed pretty typical for some of the larger well known shops), or frankly, they were rude... and many were willing to "try" to make a safari boot.. but admitted they had never done it before (that wasnt super interesting to me either)..

I know he is excited to get to work with my leather!

 

[Philip Glass]

I just got my rhino boots from Al! I could not be happier. They are beautiful and fit perfectly. Here we are with my rhino skin.
There is nothing like custom made boots. These were completed in 2 months and about a third of what I thought it would cost.

 

[Philip Glass]

I know this company has a good cowboy reputation, but I can't endorse them for safari. Surely they would be inferior and cost more than using Courteney Boot?

Courteney has an amazing history. A kid from Rhodesia was an apprentice at Clark's in London as a last maker, making their famous desert boot they sold tens of thousands of over their history. He got the call up during the bush war and left England as a late teen or early 20s soldier back in Rhodesia. As he was watching his fellow soldiers get killed with noisy boots, trench foot, and other issues he started to make footwear in the combat zone using local skins. After the war, all the peacetime farmers and safari operators kept ordering boots from him. That's the story of Courteney Boot. How many millions of miles have been walked in that particular boot style on those lasts in the history of the company?

For those reasons, and because the price will be less, I'd get your skins to Courteney in Zimbabwe and get the very best boots you can.

Al did my rhino boots for $300. Sorry you can’t beat that and they are custom. Courtney does not make custom.

 

[mdwest]

I just got my rhino boots from Al! I could not be happier. They are beautiful and fit perfectly. Here we are with my rhino skin.
There is nothing like custom made boots. These were completed in 2 months and about a third of what I thought it would cost.

View attachment 406642

Ive been wearing my two pair for a month at this point.. I am still as happy with both the safari and the western boots as I was the day I first picked them up.. Super comfortable and form fitting.. look great.. and Im still blown away by the price I paid... (It sounds like you got an awesome deal on your boots as well @Philip Glass !)

Love that pic with Al... He's genuinely a good guy and a pleasure to do business with... I'm planning on taking my wife to the shop in a few months with one of her hides to get her a custom set of safari boots made.. She's got a pair of courteneys that she absolutely loves.. but I think I have her convinced that she'll love a pair of Al's boots even more

 

[Philip Glass]

Ive been wearing my two pair for a month at this point.. I am still as happy with both the safari and the western boots as I was the day I first picked them up.. Super comfortable and form fitting.. look great.. and Im still blown away by the price I paid... (It sounds like you got an awesome deal on your boots as well @Philip Glass !)

Love that pic with Al... He's genuinely a good guy and a pleasure to do business with... I'm planning on taking my wife to the shop in a few months with one of her hides to get her a custom set of safari boots made.. She's got a pair of courteneys that she absolutely loves.. but I think I have her convinced that she'll love a pair of Al's boots even more

Now I want to take my entire family to be fitted!

 

[rookhawk]

Al did my rhino boots for $300. Sorry you can’t beat that and they are custom. Courtney does not make custom.

Sure they do. I have 5 pairs of custom courteneys.

 

[mdwest]

@rookhawk , you had someone make a last specific to each of your feet and then courteney made bespoke boots to your specific dimensions?

Or you ordered boots with hides and colors of your choice?

I think we are talking two very different things here..

When @Philip Glass says custom, he is talking boots made specifically for each of his individual feet..

To have courteney do that you’d either have to go to the factory on zim and have them make last’s for you, which they have advised members here that they no longer do… or you’d have to have a boot maker here in the US measure your feet and make lasts, then ship them to courteney, and they would have to make your boots from those lasts.. which would be an incredibly expensive and time consuming affair… and wouldn’t really make sense.. if courteney doesn’t want to make boots from a custom last they would make for you, I’m pretty certain they wouldn’t want to make boots from a last someone else made and that they have no control over the accuracy or precision of…

The benefit of the Leddy boot isn’t hide choice and color.. you can get that with just about any premium maker..

The benefit is the boot being uniquely made for each of your two feet…

The difference is much like buying an off the Rack high quality suit from a place like brooks brothers… vs having a hand made custom suit made for you specifically by Alan David in NYC..

 

[rookhawk]

@rookhawk , you had someone make a last specific to each of your feet and then courteney made bespoke boots to your specific dimensions?

Or you ordered boots with hides and colors of your choice?

I think we are talking two very different things here..

When @Philip Glass says custom, he is talking boots made specifically for each of his individual feet..

To have courteney do that you’d either have to go to the factory on zim and have them make last’s for you, which they have advised members here that they no longer do… or you’d have to have a boot maker here in the US measure your feet and make lasts, then ship them to courteney, and they would have to make your boots from those lasts.. which would be an incredibly expensive and time consuming affair… and wouldn’t really make sense.. if courteney doesn’t want to make boots from a custom last they would make for you, I’m pretty certain they wouldn’t want to make boots from a last someone else made and that they have no control over the accuracy or precision of…

Good point and thanks for splitting the hairs a bit, you’re correct.

I visited the factory. They made a custom pattern for my size, a size they didn’t carry before. They used my hides. They made them taller than anything they catalog. They didn’t make a last for me.

”Semi-custom” I guess?

 

[WAB]

The most amazing thing about Courteney’s to me is how quiet they are with that lug sole. Has Leddy managed to source a sole equal to the Courteney’s?

 

[mdwest]

I think the issue is they don’t do that any longer… at least when @Philip Glass visited them, they told him “no”

 

[mdwest]

The most amazing thing about Courteney’s to me is how quiet they are with that lug sole. Has Leddy managed to source a sole equal to the Courteney’s?

That I dont know (yet)...

Leddy uses Vibram.. which is inherently soft and quiet, and is (IMO) one of the best soles money can buy.. every military boot, hiking boot, and hunting boot I have every had with a vibram sole has been very comfortable to walk on and very quiet in the field.

But so far I've only walked around town and around a local park with these new boots... they seem quiet.. but theyve only been on pavement and grass at this point..

Ill get them into the bushveld next month and let you know how they perform..