 G'day, how are you going? If you're new here, my name is Tech and welcome to my channel, Bootlossophy. I'd like to first acknowledge the traditional custodians of Wajat country, the lands on which I live and work. Now in this video, I'm choosing out of all my collection of maybe 35 or so pairs of service boots my top five service boots that I love. I have about 35 36 maybe even up to 38 pairs of service boots in my whole collection of 70 something pairs of boots. So choosing my top five is going to be like choosing your favorite child or choosing who amongst your family you're going to take into the nuclear bunker when you know who presses the button. But choose we must. First though, let's start with what is a service boot? Look, there's no real set in stone definition other than that they are boots that look like the boots our men and women wore during the mid-20th century wars. So we're talking made of leather about six inches tall in the shaft sturdy sole derby open lacing system. They can be plain toe or cap toe. Modern versions can be sleek and almond toe shaped or they can still be chunky and round-toed and maybe even having a bulbous toe. Now to some extent some service boots may as well be described as work boots and by those I include many Truman boots, most Pacific Northwest boots and certainly the Red Wing Iron Ranger. So there's no set and fast rule in choosing my top five. I've tried to shy away from the fine line between service boot and work boot and make sure I'm really in the service boot area. In making my choices, I've tried to consider both concrete characteristics like say durable construction and build as well as very subjective ones like my own favorite design aesthetic. And if you want the detailed reviews of each of these boots, I'll put a link in the description box below. Link to my other videos that break these boots down into all of their pros and cons. And while you're there, don't forget, click on like and click on subscribe. Anyway, here we go. Coming from the bottom up, my number five best service boot is the Thursday Captain boot in brown Thursday chrome leather. I've made no secret that this boot was my gateway drug into the world of good year well-to-quality heritage style boots. Having first acquired a pair of Timberland yellow boots, I liked the idea of a service boot and the Thursday came into view as being a totally affordable first buy. I'm picking this into my top 10 because it looks like what you might draw if you were asked to draw an army boot. So it easily fits in my top five. It meets all of the six inch good year well-to-do et cetera definitions and it's pretty cool to look at as well. The Thursday chrome leather is their take on the famous chrome XL and it's easy to take care of and the boot is also fully leather lined. Thursday's sleek last recently on the way to being made more comfortably wider means that it looks dressy at the same time as tough. This is a very versatile boot and I have been known to even wear it with a gray suit but scuffed up. You can also wear it in any casual situation and even down to barnyard rugged. If you don't own any good boots, this is the pair that you want to start with. My next choice in at number four is this pair of Oak Street bootmakers trench boot. I have another pair in natto chrome XL with a brogue cap toe but to me in this very patina inviting Halloween natural Dublin leather with the plain cap toe it's very much what you might picture in the World War One trenches covered in mud and dirt. This one is hand lasted on the generous Elston round toe last, good year welted, split reverse veg tan welt and is so comfortable on my feet. The tan color of the natural veg tan leather is surprisingly very versatile and while you can't really get away with anything too dressy it will go with anything on the casual side of a suit. The materials quality is better than the captain with all leather and cork under your feet but of course you pay more. It's comfortable enough to wear all day as soon as you get it out of the box and it just gets better. My number three choice shows you that service boots need not be only cap toe boots. This is the Grant stone diesel boot in their saddle tan makeup. The leather is from Italian tannery Badalasi Carlo. As expected it is a six inch boot, good year welted, another split reverse welt with a two-piece backstay to protect the leather heel counter. There's a couple of design features I'd like to point out. There is a curvy design in the back heel strip to make it a point of difference from other service boots. It is on a leather sole. Now some might not like this and certainly I wouldn't necessarily describe these as a great outdoor boot because of that grip or lack of but the leather sole is comfortable and there's a lot of leather. You have the outside layer and the midsole and beyond that a cork filler and another leather insole. The uppers are veg tanned and they've gone from a bright orange out of the box to a mellow honey color making this extremely suitable to pair with denim, navy, khaki especially black and practically every earth tone or neutral colored pair of pants. It will not look out of place if you wear a nice button-up shirt or a simple t-shirt and I've even worn it with a suit. Fully lined with kip leather from the US it's a comfy but very sturdy boot. So now we come to the second best service boot in my collection. This is another plain toe service boot from Parker's brand. It's their Allen boot model in dark roast Dublin leather. You'll notice this version of a service boot comes in an all-islet configuration no speed hooks which I am led to believe was the original design for World War 1 and 2 service boots. My own 1970s national service ammo boots came in an all-islet configuration and you can see why you wouldn't want your speed hooks getting caught up in vegetation and other constrictions when you're crawling around under fire. The Allen boot shows off a single piece backstay boondocker style. It's again split reverse Goodyear welterd for that extra water resistance and like the other boots so far it sits on a day night studded sole which gives you grip and a low profile that parades that provides you with parade ground sweetness. The uppers are unlined and like the Oak Street trench boot is Horween's Dublin Tannage this one in a dark roast coffee color. Again a very versatile boot and you can wear it with smart casual to rugged casual all the way. Drum roll please this is the number one top best service boot in my collection. Now I have a pair of Viberg service boots coming and when they do get here this one may may get knocked off top position but we'll see. Until then this was my grail boot and is the granddaddy of all service boots with let's face it hardly a nod to fashion. This is White's MP Sherman with a toe cap in natural chromic cell and on a half lug sole. It is made like a work boot it's rough and tough it's not sleek fashion forward no not at all. I have three other pairs of MP boots including an MPM one you can tell the difference in that the Sherman has this two piece backstay while the MPM one has a single piece backstay again kind of boondocker style. The reason I chose these as my top choice out of all my other MP boots was because of that half lug commander sole. While there's nothing wrong with a day night sole it is one of my favorites this one I feel talks more about it being from military roots. You can see this sole in the trenches. The uppers are in Horween's natural chromic cell which comes first out of the box in a very pale leather color very similar to what you see on the leather midsole. It then darkens with wear and the sun into a mid-brown patina friendly toffee color. Given time the brown will deepen and darken and the variations in patina that's caused by the friction of your pants the oil from your hands splashing of water and just sun exposure will emerge all patchy and mottled. These are technically a stitch down construction but White's used their own rolled welt method which sews an extra piece of leather similar to the uppers onto the uppers and it's then rolled to become a welt that's stitched down to the midsole. It's built like a Sherman tank. The arch support is phenomenal and despite being a heavy boot because of all the layers of leather and plenty of nails it is so comfortable that I forget I have boots on when I wear these during the day. Style wise it's a little less versatile than the others in my top five. The lug sole does not say business casual. I think this is more suited to jeans and khakis that are earth tone going towards black. These are better suited to flannels and waxed or leather jackets than business casual blazers and dressy shirts. So there you are my best service boot is the White's MP boot followed by the Parkhurst Ellen and then the Grant Stone Diesel, the Oak Street Bootmakers and finally the very affordable Thursday Captain. Do you agree? Let me know in the comments below what you think. Don't forget to check out my reviews of these boots if you want to go deep into their detailed construction and history. The links are below as well as links to where you can buy these boots and of course don't forget to click on the like button and if you're not subscribed why aren't you? Click on subscribe as well. So as my drill sergeant used to say, carry on your horrible lot up to it. Take it easy, take care and I'll see you soon.