 This is the blundstone boot, which through pretty good marketing has transcended the Aussie tradee and become a trendy fashion boot all over the world. Yet you'll find videos everywhere of people looking for a more comfortable or more formidable opponent, their videos proclaiming that they have found the blundstone killer. Well, I actually have and I'll tell you what it is, but it too is already dead and I'll tell you why. G'day, how are you going? Welcome back to my Bootlossophy channel, my name is Tech. I acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands I live and work on, recording here on Wajik Country in the Nungar Nation. These are RM Williams' stockyard boots. Before you get carried away though, they don't make them anymore. So why am I reviewing a boot that's not made anymore? This is not about getting you to buy boots, which I think you probably do well by yourself without too much encouragement. It's about a love of boots and therefore appreciating some old models and seeing in them a reflection of the brand and their history. I will still leave a link to the RM's various global websites down below so you can take a look at their current offerings. Like RM's most famous model, the Comfort Craftsman, which I have already reviewed and you can watch that up there, this is a Chelsea boot invented in the 1830s by Queen Victoria's bootmaker for her and eventually circling the British Empire as work and paddock riding boots, especially in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Made popular in the modern era by pop groups such as the Beatles in Chelsea, London during the swinging 60s. The Chelsea style is a lace-less pull-up boot with elasticated, goring panels that expand to help you pull them on. So in this case it's about six inches high, it has a low but fairly chunky block heel and like the other RM Williams' Chelsea's it's a whole-cut boot, meaning that it's made of one piece of leather with only one seam up the back. Now this is designed as a work boot for the stock yards and so it has a much wider rounder toe than the Craftsman series. Looking at the brand briefly, RM Williams was founded by the eponymous Reginald Murray Williams in 1932. RM was an itinerant laborer on sheep and cattle stations in the outback. He learned about leather craft, started first making saddles and then he made boots for work and horse riding. The company grew in Australia because of its quality and then added clothing and leather bags and then really expanded nationally in the 1970s with stores opening up all over Australia. At the same time it was becoming city-fied with city slickers buying their Chelsea boots for comfortable office wear. By the 1980s his Chelsea boots had invaded boardrooms and lawyer's offices worn with suits and the company went international, opening a London store after RM sold the company in 1988. He eventually passed away in retirement in 2003. International expansion continued over the 1990s to the extent of seeing Bill Clinton wearing a pair. In 2013 LVMH, the global head company of luxury brands Louis Vuitton, Mois Chandon and Hennessy took a stake in RM and by 2016 they had full ownership. Since then ownership has kind of changed hands a few times, famously Hugh Jackman on the part of it and then in 2020 it was taken over completely by West Australian mining magnet Andrew Forrest. During LVMH ownership the brand really began marketing overseas and being LVMH owned it was determinedly targeting higher priced select markets. At the same time in the mid 2010s, Blunstone began marketing overseas with intensity. This triggered a response in RM Williams that many businesses fought into, that of trying to compete with a totally different brand. In marketing you need to focus your efforts on the customer segment that best suits your market. Blunstone targeted their boots into the mid-range market, taking advantage of the international popularity of Aussie-ness at that time. RM was in the luxury market but with the fear of missing out they reinvigorated their work boot models and came out with their stockyard boot. Unfortunately it sold for above the mid-range market and competed quite badly with Blunstone and eventually it was discontinued by around 2018. But despite aiming at the wrong market at the time, I maintained that had they stuck to their guns this beautiful boot actually suited for Blunstone fans would have won out as the Blunstone killer because as time evolved the Blunnies and boots like that transcended the price range and the chunky work boot look is now extremely trendy. By the way the LVMH phase also provided some equally bad decisions like the ugly yard boot not stockyard yard so named and theoretically designed to make this look fashionable by collaborating with designer Mark Newsom. That has deservingly been discontinued as well. Today with the stockyard boot gone RM is trying to fill the chunky work boot space with the Gardner models see up here. They are Goodyear welter and slimmer versions of these. So to construction of these unfortunately discontinued deceased Blunstone killers. Unlike the current RM models this is not a Goodyear welter shoe. The sole is actually attached using a heat welding method similar to the Blunstones, redbacks, mongrels and Rossies you know those iconic Aussie work boot Chelsea brands. If you want to understand the different ways of constructing a boot you can check out this video up here. RM calls this a single unit sole meaning that it has the molded one molded piece rather than outsole midsole etc layers. They describe this as having a dual density rubber sole. The dual density is because the upper part of it is a thermoplastic polyurethane for squish and comfort and it's easier to heat well to the uppers and then the lower part is polyurethane rubber allowing squish as well but much more hard wearing. As a result this is actually a more hard wearing sole than Blunnies and their PU and TPU combinations that they use. It's arguably not as squishy but I think that's partially because unlike the Blunnies this outsole has no air pockets and air pockets can be bad in themselves. They collapse. The two layers are molded together hence single unit sole and they are attached to the uppers by welding them on while they're still hot and I think quite liquid molded. That makes them very water resistant and not actually waterproof at the joint. Interestingly and somewhat incongruously they molded a fake stitch on the top of what is made to look like a welt. I guess you could say it's deceptive but any blind Freddy can see it's fake so I think it's more of a design choice than fakery. Being heat molded rather than stitched they don't have a midsole as such but the combination midsole insole is a texon insole board on the inside. Texon is a company that makes material for shoes made from cellulose polyester and extruded polymers for insoles heel counters and toe puffs. It is man-made but is a more durable material than leatherboard which is chipped up scrap leather and which can break up if it's over flexed. On top of that RM uses a poron removable inner sole with a woven wool fabric cover for comfort and breathability. The uppers use chrome and dry oil tan two millimeter thick ox hide leather. This makes it extremely durable while still supple and flexible and very water resistant. It is as I said at the beginning whole cut. It's one piece of leather that's lasted or pulled into shape and then sewn together with one seam up the back. If you think about it this is really hard to do. Think of cutting a flat material in such a way as to make a curve around a foot shape last without either creasing or folding over on itself. RM's are expert at this. The boot is only lined in the shaft with kip leather and the vamp area is unlined. I think this is to aid breathability because these boots are really comfortable in all weathers in the dry desert and tropical north of Australia. The goring panels are up to RM's usual excellent standards. Very closely woven and elastic without turning flabby with use. In a slightly later model just before they discontinued they were made with stockyard logos printed on the goring panels. Another sign of the LVMH ownership missing the point. The spa stitching because it's whole cut and doesn't need much stitching is double stitched and as usual the iconic branded RM Williams cloth pull tabs are there both back and front. Caring for this leather is super easy especially as being a work boot or at least a casual boot you can or should be able to live with scuffs and scratches. As usual keep it clean wipe dirt and mud off with a damp rag and if it's really dirty the use of saddle soap is not a problem otherwise if just dusty brush it with a good horse hair brush when you can. When you want to condition it I use an RM Williams product. Now I'll leave a link to their boot care page down below but I can recommend their saddle dressing rather than their leather conditioner for these boots. I find the saddle dressing gives it a deeper conditioning and waterproofing especially when the leather is scratched and scuffed and especially on their oil tan versions but you have to use it only when needed because I've heard that it could actually deteriorate the stitching. As for sizing these are the wrong size for me and I'll tell you why. These are my second pair of stockyard boots bought from eBay only recently. I bought my first pair in Melbourne in about 2015 or even earlier I think. Malvernians will know the old RM Williams store in Melbourne Central that was under the shop tower. Unfortunately after some adventures up north with mud and bogged vehicles and floods and having to wade through swollen creeks I tore the sole off one of mine and could not properly repair it. I'm told that nowadays you can but my cobblers at the time just shook their heads at me. Anyway I bought those in my true Australian UK size of seven and a half. That's the size in these boots that would fit me perfectly. If you watch my craftsman reviews you know that because of the very slim last in the craftsmen I wear an Australian UK 8 in those but these have a wider rounder toe and forefoot and 7.5 was perfect. I wrecked my pair in about 2020 I think maybe a bit earlier and by then they didn't make them anymore. I've been looking for a pair ever since and these came up on eBay in a size 8 and I grabbed them. Look they fit. Don't get me wrong but they do fit with medium thickness socks at least you know like padded athletic socks and the fit is comfortable rather than a snug firm hand shape. I can live with it as don't get me wrong they're not so big that they're going to fall off and I do really love these boots. The comfort even missized is good but my memory of my first pair was really excellent. The wide forefoot is fantastic for standing around in all day especially with the poron footbed inside. I honestly can't remember how much I paid for my first pair in 2015 but I still see old pages of stockists marked unavailable being put up for Aussie $250 which I guess must have been that sort of time. To me who use them every time I went up north and in those days that was for a week every two wearing them 24x7 in the bush to me that was the best value. I bought these second hand but pretty lightly used for Aussie $214 so they seem to have kept their value. Well there we are. I proclaim these the real Bloodstone Killers only RM Williams didn't know it at the time and frankly the world probably wasn't ready for it at the time. If reproduced by RM Williams today at a price that reflected their construction even if at a small premium for the whole cut nature and for being made in Australia I think they would sell and they really would rival Bloodstone across the world. I hope you liked this review. If you did please click on the like button below and also please click on the subscribe button if you haven't yet. The YouTube analytics tell me that only 20% of my returning audience are subscribed so if you're a regular but not subscribed yeah go do it. Until the next time take care and I'll see you soon