 Hi there, welcome back. If you're new here, I'm Tech and this is my channel Boot Lossophy where I talk about boots, I give boot reviews, give information about how boots are made, talk about boot manufacturers and generally talk about the what's, why's and how's of buying, wearing and collecting boots. Today, I'm going to review the Grant Stone Diesel Boot in their makeup that they call Coffee Suede. This is a great example of how a boot company can have a winning design and then change it up a bit in this case by using suede instead of smooth leathers and adding a wedge sole making it something completely different. So this is Grant Stone's Diesel Boot. I bought these boots in July 2021 on sale for $250 US dollars while owning them for nearly a year to be honest, it only had the equivalent of a few months wear because of my huge rotation of boots but enough wear to be able to bring you my thoughts about what they really like in real life. The basic design is of a plain toe service boot or dress boot, just ignore the sole for a minute. It's actually pretty difficult to categorize boots into the various types of boots. As you enter the world of quality and heritage style boots, you get to hear so-called categories like service boots, work boots, dress boots and so on. Sometimes they're even broken down into sub-categories like combat boots or jumper boots. Unlike the specific construction style of a boot, you know a Chelsea boot or a lace up boot, categories of boots are kind of made up. There's really nothing that says this is a service boot or this is not a work boot other than perhaps robustness. Anyway, this falls broadly into the service boot category where just ignore the wedge sole for a moment. The similarities to others in the service boot description are that they look like a boot that perhaps the military might have worn in World War II. About six inches high, it laces up, it has a round toe, pretty sleek down the instep and back to the toe, no significant toe bump. Some service boots, notably the White's MP boots, have a cap toe but this design does not and hence it's known as a plain toe. But back to this boot specifically, it has all those markers that I just rattled off to start with. The uppers are a soft chocolate or coffee suede. The Goodyear welt, I'll go into that later, is a lighter color, framing that dark brown nicely. The lines are really elegant. Looking down from the top, the nice curve to the rounded toe, looking from the side, a very proportionate slope down the instep to the toe. No ugly bulbous clown toe, no obvious toe spring pulling up the tip. The brass hardware, the suede and the cream colored wedge sole make this definitely a casual shoe. You're definitely not going to wear these boots with any kind of suit or even odd trouser and jacket combinations. It's not really business casual, probably not even smart casual. I think you can get away with it as part of your casual attire though, maybe smart chinos and a button down and a sports coat, maybe khaki chinos and a smart polo shirt. Definitely any five pocket pants or jeans would work. Top them with a collared shirt or even a t-shirt or Henley and maybe a casual bomber or leather jacket. Just think going for a walk. What would you dress in when you're going for a walk around your neighborhood? Meeting people as you go. Maybe going into the local supermarket to buy something and maybe wandering into the pub for a drink or maybe even ending up at a friend's for a barbecue. That's a sort of use case scenario for these boots I think. Grant Stone makes some 10 to 13 different versions of this diesel design. Not all of them available at the same time because they do offer some one-off made to order specials. However, there's usually 10 to 12 stock make-ups. What they do is basic of the basic diesel design and they change up the sole from rubber day and night style soles to leather out soles and to these wedge soles. And they play around with the staining on the edge of the soles from dark to natural tan and so on. Obviously, they also change up the uppers from this suede to different colored chrome excel to Italian vegetarian leathers to wax suede. It's a platform that they then hang design choices off making it a very versatile looking series. If you want a diesel boot to wear casually, you've got it. If you want a diesel boot to wear to the office, you've got it. If you want a diesel boot to explore the great outdoors, you've got it. On top of the diesel boot design, Grant Stone also make a work bootie style mock toe boot called the brass boot, a dressier style of service boot called the Edward boot, a cap toe boot, a Norwegian split toe design boot and different Derby, Oxford and Lofa shoes. That's quite a range. Let's talk about the company Grant Stone itself. Grant Stone started in 2016 after a long gestation period. It was co-founded by Wyatt Gilmore and Josh Lang. Gilmore's father, working for premium American boot brands, had worked with this factory in China for 20 years. This factory had decades of experience making good year-olded shoes for a number of international shoe brands. And when Wyatt found an interest, he went to work in the factory for eight years before he found a Grant Stone. With Wyatt's family history and quality shoes, including his grandfather who worked for Alden for decades, it was a no-brainer that he identified the need to make quality good year-old boots using premium components and prioritizing fit as a primary mission. Marrying this purpose with 21st century technology meant a direct-to-consumer approach, delivering the boots directly to consumers rather than via store and middlemen. The prioritizing of fit meant the development of their own last. This diesel boot is made on the Leo combination last. I'm jumping the gun here, but I can say that the Grant Stone Leo last and the Parker 602 last are the two best lasts that I've fitted into. Anatomically correct, simultaneously snug yet roomy, no pinch points to derive fashion-driven slim down style, yet elegant and sleek at the same time. Now let's wind back on a few things I just said. 20 years in China, Wyatt worked at the factory in China for eight years. Yeah, elephant in the room, Grant Stone are made in China. Full disclosure, while I'm ethnically Chinese, I have no relationship with China as a third generation born overseas Chinese person. I am Australian and I proudly identify as an Aussie. Back to Grant Stone's provenance, they're not just made in China, they are proudly made in German China. They don't hide this. It's all over the website. They're really proud of the association with this factory in China. It's stamped on the tongues of all their boots. They have a blog post that's titled What Made in China Means to Grant Stone. I'll leave a link to that blog post in the description below. To paraphrase that article, the Gilmore family had a longstanding relationship with this factory. Wyatt worked alongside them and knew of their commitment to quality. This factory gives Grant Stone quality, consistency and value. To aid the production of quality product, Grant Stone used uppers, lining leather, the insole, even the welt from primarily American producers. Now, some Americans will be immediately turned off by this. Maybe even some Brits and Aussies. If it's not made in the USA or England or Australia, it's no good, they say. Well, two things. I can point to many things made in the USA or in the UK or in Australia where the quality is really suspect. And if you ever tried, oh no, never mind, tried one. If you ever held a pair of Grant Stones in your hands and looked them over, your argument about being bad quality because they're made in China goes right out the window. Look, factories that take orders make the products that you order. They do not inherently make bad products purely because of their location. If a contractee company tells a contractor factory to make a product for under $50 using specified cheap materials, the factory will produce something nasty. But if you tell that same factory, assuming they have the experience skill and knowledge, to produce something for $200 and you specify leather from Halloween, from Charles O'Stead, from Vettelassie Carlo, then that same factory will produce quality. Some of your objections may be about sweatshops. For the most part, China is no longer a sweatshop economy. Over the last 20 years, foreign companies have made sure, probably to be honest, because of the protests about sweatshops at home, they have made sure to audit the working conditions of the factories they use. In this case, everything I see about Grandstone tells me that they are an ethical business. The Gilmore family relationship with this factory, including the fact that Wyatt worked alongside these workers for eight years, does not say to me that they will turn a blind eye to worker abuse without saying or doing something. And one more point. Xiamen is a resort city in China. Its cost of living is not ridiculously low. To live there, these workers will need to be getting a fair wage. It's the equivalent of living and working in Los Angeles versus living and working in rural Kentucky. Another objection is the desire to keep jobs at home. I get that. I did a video on the Parkhurst brand, I'll put a link up there, and in it, I recognise that the owner of Parkhurst, Andrew Savisco, had a primary purpose to preserve jobs, especially in smaller towns that had been devastated by lost jobs and specifically to retain generations of experience in the industry. Once again, I get that. But today is a world of global economies. I can't mark a company down simply because they make products overseas because it may be more efficient. That is business. The other side of the coin, though, is that their success still brings income into the home country, whether in creating some jobs at home or by paying home country taxes that ultimately benefit the citizens of that home country. Other objections may be just down to politics. I don't like the communist regime, you say. Well, I can't help you there. If that's what you think, and quite justifiably, then you must do you. But can I just say, and I'm girding my loins here for the abuse I'm going to caught in the comments below, can I just say that many non-Americans are not particularly enamoured of recent American politics? I'll leave that there and end the video now. No, of course not. Let's keep going. Hey, I tell you what, if you're still with me, that must mean you must like this video, no? Well, if you do, how about clicking on the like button below and maybe even subscribing? It really helped me to get this video out to more eyes who might want to know about boots or at least who might want to be insulted. OK, let's see how these boots are constructed. Let's start from the bottom up. The outsole is the Vibram cavity wedge sole. I think Vibram's model number might be 2060, but don't quote me. Vibram is an Italian company that makes a huge number of models of outsole, including several blown rubber wedge soles, the most famous being the Christie wedge sole that you see on red wing wedge sole boots. This variant is made for casual walking and is a bit different in that it's not totally flat. It has a slight cavity between the heel and the ball of the foot to create an actual heel. It's a soft rubber. In my experience, it grips really well, even on wet smooth surfaces like slick concrete floors. Because it's soft, it may not be that durable, at least compared to harder materials like the harder rubber day night soles or Vibram's own commando lug soles. It is very comfortable. It's totally shock-absorbing. It is cream though, very pretty contrast against the tan color natural weld and the dark chocolate uppers. But it is a pain to keep clean if that's a particular OCD obsession. I don't really mind. I'm not as obsessive about keeping it clean. But then I don't particularly wear these hiking around mud, rocks, and mossy ground. So mind don't spectacularly dirty. The sole is attached to the uppers using Goodyear weld construction. I promised earlier I'd explain Goodyear weld construction. A welt is a thin strip of leather that goes all the way around the edge of the boot. The uppers are formed around the last. That's a foot shape mold. Then the insoles are attached. And the uppers and the insoles together are sewn onto the inside edge of the welt inside the boot. That welt causes a cavity inside of itself. This is filled in with some material, traditionally cork, but nowadays potentially foam. In this case, grandstone uses cork. Then the midsole and outsoles are stitched to the construction through the outside of the welt with what is technically the Goodyear stitch. That's the stitching you can actually see right here. In this case, it's stitched through a leather midsole. You can just see that thin layer here. But the outsole, then this Vibram rubber, is glued onto the midsole. And that's why you can't see any stitching underneath. The Goodyear welt is turned up against the upper. You see this flange? Now I'm not sure that's a storm welt or a split reverse welt. That's two different variations of this flangey looking thing. But the turned up edge means extra water resistance. Because that's the value of a Goodyear welt in boot, it's more water resistant because even without this flange, it offers an extra layer of protection between the outside and the inside. The other advantage of Goodyear welt is the re-soleability. When you wear down the outsole, you can take it to a collar who can prise off the glued outsole and whack on a new one with glue. Or if there's some damage to the midsole, they can unpick the Goodyear welt stitch, keep the welt connected to the uppers of the insole, stitch on a new midsole, and then glue on a new wedge sole. Or if you wanted to change it up, they could do all of that and then replace the wedge sole with a normal day night sole or a leather outsole on the outside. Okay, let's keep moving up. I've already said that there's a leather midsole and cork fitting inside. Embedded in the cork layer inside between here and here is a triple rib steel shank. That's a strip of steel that bridges this gap to give you watch support. It stops your arches collapsing into this gap when you stand on it, as well as giving you some stability in case you step on something with an edge. Then there's a leather insole. It's not removable inside here. And on top of that, a leather heel pad to give more shock absorption and to protect your feet from the nails and such that might be going on under there. Now, that is an awesome combination. All that rubber, leather, cork, means you get tremendous shock absorption. The leather and cork soles mold to the shape of your feet the more you stand on them and impress into them, making them more comfortable the more you wear them as you push into them. Now we come to the uppers. Obviously a suede. This suede comes from Charles F. Stead Tannery in Leeds, England. They've been producing quality leather since 1904. This is buttery soft. You can just about wipe your face with it. It's supple, the nap, which is the furry bit. If you keep the nap clean, it's soft and feels like powder under your hand. The toe is unstructured. There is a heel counter to give the heel stability. Again, it's leather heel, not heel counter, not solastic. And that's covered by this double backstay, one at the height and the other cut around the counter. This has four eyelets, three speed hooks using Grandstone's signature antique brass look. The eyelets are satisfyingly large. You can easily thread a leather lace through and the speed hooks are firm and also satisfyingly opening up to thread your laces into them. The stitching is mainly double stitched, but here at the edge of the quarters, they are triple stitched for extra length. Inside the boot is fully lined with soft leather, even the tongue. Many quality boots might line the van only. Sometimes, looking new, Red Wing, with nothing but a cloth canvas lining. But in this case, it's full leather lining and it's extremely comfortable. The lining gives the boot a luxurious feel when you slip your feet in. Or a word about the tongue. It is partially gusset up to the second, maybe the third eyelet. This low gusset and the thinness of the suede, it's about two mils to three and a half mils, including the lining. While it's soft, it means that for me, the tongue on the right boot slips to one side. That's easy to fix if you have the same problem. Apparently, you can train the tongue by folding it in half, but for people like me with no patience, you can take it to the cobbler who can put a little stitch to one side, or like me, use a chisel to cut a couple of slits to lace the laces through. All in all, despite the layers in the sole and the good deal welting, but probably because of the suede and the blown rubber wedge sole, the boot only weighs 687 grams each, 687. That is pretty light for a boot and makes walking in it a really pleasant experience. The quality control is, how can I say this, magnificent. I believe that they have the usual QC procedures at the factory and they know what Grant Stone demands, so they do take it seriously. But this also undergoes a second QC inspection at the Grant Stone Warehouse in Michigan. I also believe that before each individual boot is shipped out to a customer, it's finally inspected and given a brush down or polish. Okay, Red Wing, Alden, Alan Edmonds, tell me what you do. All this emphasis on quality means that there is not a stitch out of place. Nothing is misaligned. There are no loose threads, no evidence of machine marks or wheel marks beside the stitches. The stitching on the welt is super consistent and let me challenge you to do this. Take any boot you have that's a 360-degree Goodyear welt. As a Goodyear welt is a strip of leather that sticks all the way around the boot, there has to be a beginning and an ending, right? Usually, where the beginning and ending meet is in the inside of the foot just under the start of your arch. Take a look at the boot in your hand and you will see a joint. Maybe your boot even has an overlap. Now take a look at these boots. Pick up any Grant Stone and examine that spot where the welt joint usually is. I challenge you to find that joint. It is perfection. So let's turn to the value. I think you can guess what I'm about to say. Are they worth the US $250 I got from them or even the US $285 that's on the website? What value and worth are subjective, aren't they? So let me try to be as objective as possible. Hell yes! Uppers from the famous C.S. Ted Tannery, a Vibram sole, full leather lining, welt and insole from US Tannery's, the quality of the manufacturing, the quality control, the fact that you can't even find where the welt joins. Man, if you don't think these are worth it, you are hard to please. Actually, I think for what you get and compared to the quality of $300 and $400 boots, I actually think they're worth at least $50 to $100 more. Tell me what you think. Put down in the comments below. What do you think of these? Are they worth it? Okay, so let's end with looking at sizing and fit and we'll talk about the break-in. I take an 8D in most American boots. This is no exception. My true to Brannock size is 8.5D. That's my measurement on the Brannock device that you stand on to measure your feet in the shoe store. So that makes sense, as Grant Stone advises you to size half down from true. In this Leo Lass, the fit is perfect. The Lass really suits my feet in dimension and volume. The boots hug my heel and the waist of the foot so that my foot feels secure, but the vamp opens up so that the ball of my feet are not constricted and the rounded toe gives my toes plenty of room. Grant Stone usually make their boots from sizes 6 to 13 with all the half sizes in between and they make them in D widths and I think double E and then triple E widths so you should be able to find the perfect fit for you. If you're in any doubt, you should email them. They are extremely responsive. Give them some examples of your different shoes and sizes and they're greatly suggesting the right size for you. As for breaking, the sole construction is firm. I did have to wear them for about a week before I felt that all that leather and wage sole was flexing comfortably as I walked. But then after that, super comfortable. A week was also roughly what it took to break in this suede uppers. When I first put them on, my right foot, that's my bigger foot, my right foot felt a bit tight at the outside knuckle of the little toe. You can expect suede to stretch but the lining probably constricted me for a while longer than it should have. But after a week or maybe a bit more, everything had stretched sufficiently and now these are just so comfortable when I put them on. Okay, so after I've insulted half of America in this video, I'm going to leave now. I really hope you like this video. It's my first Grant Stone review of which there will be some more. I have to date six pairs of their boots and I'm eyeing a seven. So keep your eye out for more of my reviews. In fact, why don't you click on the subscribe button below. Click on the bell thing next to it so that you're notified whenever I upload a video every week. Click on the like button as well. Why don't you like? Help me get this channel out and the information I try to give out to more people interested in these things. Let's go boot community and I'll see you soon.