 Gide, how are you going? Welcome to my channel that I call Boot Lossophy. My name is Tech and I'll start by acknowledging the traditional custodians of budget country on which I live and work. Today I'm checking out my Jim Green Stockman Chelsea boots after a couple of months of wear out in the yard. Okay, so this is the Stockman Chelsea work boot made by South African company Jim Green. If you want to check out what they looked like out of the box you can go see my unboxing video up here and I'll also link it in the description below. Clearly it is a Chelsea boot design but let's get this out of the way. Someone commented on my unboxing video that Chelsea boots are not really work boots. I and several million Australians and South Africans wish to differ. Go and Google the Wikipedia search term Australian work boots. Chelsea boots were invented by Queen Victoria's Cordwayner when she wanted an effortless pull-on boot to go riding and walking. They were adopted by Australia as a work boot by farmers and cattle and sheep station hands in the 1920s long before their association with swinging 60s London which coined the name Chelsea boot. They're now used by Australians in the bush as well as by builders and tradies as an easy on and off boot and also out bush because they are protective without the need to lace them up and clearly also use that way by South Africans. Talking of South Africa Jim Green is a family business which started as Crouch Footwear in the 1980s. One of Jim Green's missions is to keep manufacturing and keep the supply chain within South Africa to support the local economy and the local workforce. Because of the state of the national economy the government has had to allow employers to pay as little as 60% of the legal minimum wage rate. Jim Green are one of the last factories left in South Africa that still pay their workers 100% of that legal wage rate and on top of this they distribute annual bonuses to workers based on results as well as giving their workers 10% ownership of the company. They make other practical boots like the African Ranger designed and made for African game rangers who protect their near extinct wildlife from poachers and illegal game hunters. You can check out my review of the African Rangers up here. These Stockman Chelsea work boots are set on top of Jim Green's proprietary locally made rubber lug sole. It's solid rubber and smells like rubber ties but they are sturdy and durable and the grip is sensational. It's a little hard to call shock absorbing though. The outsole is glued onto a leatherboard midsole which is then stitched to the uppers using the traditional Dutch or Africans felt scorn or field shoe form of construction. It's basically a stitch down construction normally using a welt but in this case the stitch down goes directly through the midsole. It is a 360 degree stitch down which means that the uppers leather is lasted and then flared out at the bottom and stitched down onto the midsole all the way around the boot 360 degrees around. The stitching used is an extremely thick 2.2 millimeter braided cord and it's stitched twice for good measure. The felt scorn or stitch down construction means that you can re-sole the boot once the outsole wears out and it is also water resistant because the way the uppers leather flanges outward on top of the midsole just drips water away from the boot. There is a steel shank inserted between the midsole layer and the outsole to give arch support and stability. Inside the boot there's no separate insole. The midsole acts as the layer that the uppers are sewn onto as a midsole and also as the insole. If you do take a peek inside the insole layer you see is the top of the midsole. It's unique but helps keep the price low and okay no cork layer or shock absorbing and foot forming leather insole but it is still pretty functional. To help comfort Jim Green provides a removable comfort insole made of a leather covered plastic with a lot of foam between the plastic base and the leather cover. The uppers are fully lined the leather is a thick over 2 millimeter full grain bovine leather and it's lined with a softer 1.6 millimeter calf skin lining. It is a tough boot that leather is tough. I use these boots in the height of our December hot summer of 40 Celsius that's a hundred in the old scale. Shovelling and crawling over a bed of gravel with sharp rocks and yeah they got pretty scratched up but I didn't feel a thing and they look as whole and tough as ever. The last is Jim Green's JG last which is a wider fitting last certainly around the toe box to some that wide round toe isn't going to win any prizes for Miss Universe but it is extremely comfortable. It is sufficiently snug and it fits very securely around your foot which is what you need in a Chelsea boot. The toe box is structured and reinforced with a thermoplastic toe puff and that's the same material used as a heel stiffener. The heel counter is actually sewn in between the uppers a leather and the lining so it's well tucked in and the single-piece backstay with the Jim Green frog and boss on it is extra security and stiffening. The goring panels are made of a reasonable elastic material sure it may not be the best in terms of tightness because I suspect the wide weave which allows breathability may also be less elastic over time. The two cloth pull tabs at the top of the collar are ubiquitous for bush or work boots Chelsea boots and they are not only sewn on very securely they're made of a material that won't get caught up in your pants leg so that you have to keep pulling your hem down all the time. Caring for this leather should be a breeze it is solid and tough and because of the leather lining combination has remained quite stiff as you can see I haven't cleaned them but when I do the ritual is going to be quite simple. Number one wipe the dust off they don't look like they'll need saddle soaping but if you get them dirty enough in wet or muddy conditions I see no problem with scrubbing them with saddle soap. Two brush them to make sure there's no grit left on the enemy of leather. Three condition with a leather balm like Australian made oak wood leather conditioner or if you're in the US something like Smith's leather balm. Four once the conditioner is soaked in half an hour to an hour a discretionary step if you want to maintain a nice shine on them is to polish them with any cream or wax polish. Look I don't think I'm going to bother. As for sizing and fit Jim Green uses their UK numbering system which is one number down from US sizes and apart from that they run true to size. My true US size is eight and a half. One number down to the UK size is seven and a half. Usually in US boots I'd wear a US eight which would be a UK seven but in this case these are true to size being a UK seven and a half or a US eight and a half. There were reasonably comfortable out of the box for boots that are so stiff and sturdy. These are not house slippers by any means but there were no hot spots no pain across the instep no blisters anywhere. In feel they do remind me of the stiff sturdiness of my National Service Army boots from the late 1970s. There was some heel slip when I first put them on I think because of the thick firm rubber outsole it doesn't bend very well. If I have a complaint about fit it would bet that these are work boots with no nod to what any soft squishy comfort. The outsole is firm the midsole is firm the leather is thick and the comfort removable insole kind of leaves something to be desired but look it's built at a price for sturdiness and I simply replace the removable insole for a more squishy one that I got from the foot care section of the local pharmacy and now this fits really well and is much better under foot. It's still a work boot though and you don't really forget that. So we come to value and as I have been alluding to the stockman is built to a price. It's not a fancy schmancy pair of our and Williams comfort craftsman or one of those fashion forward common projects Chelsea boots. These were supplied to me for review by Jim Green let me get that out of the way here. There were no terms and conditions discussed about what my review would be like let's that be clear and I've given you an objective review including some doubts that I have here and there but they were free. Now if you buy them from their South African website their price at 1,699 rand that converts to about 139 Aussie dollars that compares with Blunnies at around 120 to 130 dollars. I know you can't compare the market but the Iron Williams work boot called the Gardner is just under 700 dollars. At 139 dollars these are really amazing value and for the build and sturdiness you can forgive the leatherboard midsole and the lack of shock absorbing layers. Yeah definitely worth it. So there you go tough durable but built to a price and a bit harsh underfoot as it comes. Let me know what you think if you like my review don't forget to click on the like button I'd also really appreciate it if you click on the subscribe button because a lot of people come to watch my videos but they don't even subscribe so if you do subscribe YouTube will remind you when I upload videos so that you can catch up on all of my reviews of boots and other things. Don't miss what's coming up. Until then take care and I'll see you soon.