 Well, I got this box delivered and I'm going to do an unboxing for you, so hang on to your seats. Today, welcome to Bootlossophy and if you're new here, my name is Tech. I acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands that I live and work on here in Perth in Western Australia, the Wajib people. Now here's a box that's just arrived for me from Nick's Handmade Boots. It's the Nick's Parkhurst Collaboration, so let's do an unboxing. So this is from Nick's Handmade Boots. It's the collaboration with Parkhurst using Parkhurst 602 last, which they call an iconic last, which I agree with by the way. As usual, it comes in the fairly solid external packaging. And let's open it up and I'll tell you a little bit about the boots. So the first thing that strikes you, it's in Chrome Excel, which I chose because it was a quick ship from Nick's Handmade Boots. So this is actually a Nick's Falcon boot based on the Falcon model except what they've done is instead of using their normal H&W last, they've used Parkhurst 602 last to give it a slightly more snug fit and a sort of more almond shaped toe, a dressier toe. It is however based on the H&W moderate arch using the standard plain toe, non cap toe. So my understanding is while they build it using Nick's normal traditional building methods on the H&W, they're using the Parkhurst last in order to gain the shape and design of the uppers. So looking at this, what have we got? Obviously two pairs of boots and I'll take them out of the box. So they come with one pair of leather laces and Nick's grease, which I believe is open offs anyway, and that's always very useful for waterproofing and conditioning the boots. Let's take one boot at a time. It's a stitch down construction, double row stitch down. You can see the handmade, I believe this is handmade stitching, quite different from Weiberg's very closely stitched double stitch down method, much more similar to say Whites and much more traditional Pacific Northwest to be honest. It's stitched down because the uppers are lasted and flared out and you can see the uppers are stitched down onto the midsole. So there you get the midsole and then the outsole is the Vibram V700 V-bar sole, a really nice sort of dressy sole, low profile and quite grippy. I have these on a number of my boots including the classic Chippewa service boots. One, two, three, four, four bright brass eyelets, three speed hooks and a brass eyelet at the top, fully gusseted tongue. They're always fun to put on, you have to find a way to train them so that they don't cut into your ankles and I think the S fold is probably the best. And what I can see of the stitching, quadruple stitch, triple stitch, some nice sort of decorative as well as structural stitching in the back counter, pull loop, same thick leather. This is, I think I said at the beginning, Horween's Brown Chrome XL which is offered as a quick ship. This was available, this collared boot in other leathers including Wicket and Craig but they were not quick ship and I decided to get them quick ship. So a really nicely laid out boot. This is my second pair of Nix boots, my first being a Robert which I've already brought to you a review and you can see that up there if you want to have a look. So the other boot surprisingly matches. But the quality is also matching, I can't see anything wrong with it. In the other boot, I hadn't noticed until I picked it up, two pairs of kilties, one pair of kilties, two kilties, one each. Also from the smell and the look, Brown Chrome XL. The kilties are meant to protect this quite soft tongue, it's a different leather from the sort of scratching that they might get from the hardware. So that's quite a reasonably useful protective layer that you can put on. So the other boot, you know the comparison is still the same. As I said I'm pretty sure this is hand stitching because you can see the variation in the stitches and in the width of the stitches as it goes around the stitch down constructed front foot. It's a block heel with a square bog heel topper, natural layers of natural leather there on the heel, a veg tanned midsole making this I think a quite a sturdy boot to break in. So that's going to be quite interesting in the break in period. I said that this was a quick ship. I ordered this on the 5th of May 2023, I got an email that said that the construction had started on the 23rd of July 2023, it was about 11 weeks after ordering. I got an email that they shipped on the 3rd of August 2023 so that's roughly two weeks from a start of manufacture. And then I received them on the 16th of August and it took about two weeks to ship to me. So overall 15 weeks for a quick ship. I'm glad I didn't order Wicked and Craig which would have taken longer. Alright so all that's left now is I'll try them on foot and we'll see what they look like and how they feel. So this is editor Tech deciding to jump into an interregnum between the unboxing and before you see the on feet because I've been wearing these for a couple of days and I thought I would bring you just before I show you the on feet footage. My initial thoughts about wearing them. So as I said I won't warn them for a couple of days. The first day was basically in my office so I'm not entirely sure you'd sort of even nominate that as wear but I did have them on for eight hours. They were what you'd expect new boots to be quite snug and fairly firm and stiff almost I'd say. I think that's kind of what you would expect new boots to be but at the same time comfortable. You know they wrapped around my feet and that is I think a large part due to the 602 last from Parkhurst being very suitable to my feet and I love that 602 last the way it grips the heel opens out at the forefoot and then gives me a lot of room in the toe. The only thing I'd say about these is it feels and looks aesthetically a little longer than a Parkhurst boot and I think that's because of the way that the Parkhurst 602 last is built on top of an H&W last which is a moderate arch but it's still a higher arch than you would find in Parkhurst models and I think what's meant to happen is as your feet settle into the arch they sort of push open and further a little bit and that means that apparent length isn't really length it's just that my feet are kind of like that at the moment until it settles in. The second day I went for a would have been six and a half, seven kilometer walk don't get too excited it was from my suburb into the next suburb called Subiaco which has a bit of a shopping strip so I basically walked from here to there and then back again and I think it's probably around seven seven and a half kilometers and then walking around in the shops and in the park on the way there and back I had to sit down and look around and you know enjoy nature. So that gave me a better feel for how these felt. Okay quick summary and feeling they were snug they were a bit firm but they opened up as they warmed up and as my feet warmed up and as my feet expanded in the in the warmth or heat if you like of walking around on a sunny day they did not hurt and I think the chrome excel extended along with what my feet needed so that was extremely comfortable. The arch superb absolutely superb and this is I think the beauty of PNW makes in my vibergs and my whites their exceptional arch support it's all built up with leathers they shape that fiddle shape underneath the leather arch support is being built up through those layers and layers inside and it's just absolute craftsmanship so arch support absolutely wonderful and despite being a slightly higher arch than I'm used to it was it was really very comfortable in during the walk okay so first impressions of these very sturdy boot it is chrome excel I measured it at a little over three millimeters so it's a heavy chrome excel I mean the Ellen Edmonds Higgins Mill for example in chrome excel even the Aldens come in at about two millimeters the whites and the vibergs came in at about 2.5 to 2.8 millimeters so it's getting close to this but this was the knockout was it was three point something millimeters my my because of the lip I couldn't get a very precise measurement but taking an average came to about three point two three point three millimeters so that's a that's a heavy cut of chrome excel despite the walking around hardly any creasing at this stage so the clicking is pretty good there is no loose grain at all in the shaft which is often where you might find it because they use a lesser cut up here than they do down there when you can where you can see it in terms of construction I just I just think it's really superb it's it's hand lasted which is why you can see you know the high sort of distance between each stitch it's it's not a very very fine stitch density per inches you can get in the vibergs and I might just put up a photo just at this point to show you the difference in the in the stitching between the viberg service boots and these but I have no complaints this is this is handmade the hardware was perfectly firm and these in these last two days nothing came apart the chrome excel guilty it was an experience because this is also that same thickness leather so it did tend to cut into my shin a little bit because it's it's just at that height where it sort of moves backwards and forwards between the height of the tongue and and itself the tongue folding it into an S shape it's also an experience and you do apparently have to train it to do that so that it starts to get more and more comfortable the more you wear it pull loop a little bit annoying it's so stiff that it catches you the cuff of your pants every single time so you tend to have to wear a wider pants you know straight legs rather than slimmer pants but even with straight legs as you sit down and then you stand up the cuffs do get caught a little annoying what do you do it's a it's a modern world problem the sole Vibram 700 V bar so it's grippy on on on where I went which is all pavement and concrete so no problems at all comfortable shock absorption was pretty good with leather and cork actually leather and leather I'm not even sure they have any cork I think it's all leather inside and this in this warbog don't know how you pronounce it warbog heel really nice so overall my first impressions is this is a sturdy boot love it this is this is what you wear to the end of the world which gives me an idea for a video I might do a video about what you might wear top to bottom if the world ended we'll think about that one the aesthetic I like it it's a it's a plain-toe what would you call it a service boot or a work boot I never know the difference between the two you know because service boots can be work boots work boots can be service boots what would you call an iron ranger a work boot presumably but doesn't it look like a service boot you know it's hard to tell but I love this aesthetic these are my favorite types of boots I love Chelsea's but these are my favorite types of boots so fits perfectly chrome excel in the brown it's a little darker and again here I might put a little photograph of a comparison with some of my older chrome excels or with an older vibe of service boot and this one is darker and in the sun you do have you do pick up a little burgundy I might call it you know there's a little little flash of burgundy but I'm sure that as it as it wears and starts to fade in the sun it will go brown it's not a color right so there you go I'll go back to the rest of the video that I taped a bit earlier which is the try-on okay so this feels like some hours later because it took me that long to put the laces in but to remain genuine I haven't put my feet in these yet so you're going to actually witness the initial fitting so these are in a size 8d that's my usual half size down from from true brannock size the leather is stiff as is the kilty the laces are long and stiff and I'm finding it you know it needs to take a bit of strength to sort of get the laces through I'm not going to bother putting them through the top knot but I may do in in real use we shall see so the first feel is that it's quite a snug boot my 8d nyx Robert boot is a lot rounder in the toe and although the 602 last from parkhurst fits me really really well I think the 602 is probably my best fitting last out of all my boots out of parkhurst these feel a little more snug that might be because of the way they were lasted you know if it's done by hand the person who's doing the lasting may be pulling quite tightly so it will initially feel quite tight but as you probably know chrome excel is quite a forgiving leather and will stretch it's not tight it's just a bit more snug than it feels on my parkhurst boots let's get the other one on there's a pop as you put them in much like how I imagine engineer boots might be but certainly cowboy boots and some Chelsea's I'm trying to snitch it cinch it up quite tightly so that it starts to relax the leather and on the uppers as well as stretch the leather on the laces although heaven knows why they need stretching they're that long I'm not a fan of cutting my laces I feel that you know whatever God gives you you're supposed to use so they do look quite uneven don't they look ridiculous I may have to do something about them yeah so the fit on both is the same sometimes I do feel the right foot is a lot tighter than the left but in this case they feel the same I was right about the solidness of the outsole and the midsole it is quite hard to bend but I'm pretty sure it'll breaking just fine the quality of the construction I think is superb it's and they're right using the 602 it's a it's a very dressy last and with the quality of the Pacific Northwest build this is a tough boot to beat let's walk around a bit and see how it feels yeah it flexes reasonably well moving around it fits my foot so walking around in it is really nice I think breaking is not going to be terrible I'm getting a little heel slip but that's purely because of the rigidity of the soles for the moment once they flex a little bit and learn where my foot flexes and they flex with my foot it'll be fine okay so let's wrap up so there you have it my first impressions of the next Falcon boot built on the Parker 602 last is pretty positive I think the construction quality is exactly what you'd expect from Nick's handmade boots really well made hand-lasted hand stitched where it counts and obviously you can see the craftsman's hands as this has gone through machine stitching and so on super thick chrome excel leather lovely pull-up that's going to take place with this it's a it's a solid boot you can hear it and the 602 last makes it quite a dressy Pacific Northwest boot you know what I think it's a close rival to the whites MP in my eyes and for the same sorts of uses the use of the V bar V 700 Vibram soul is interesting because it's it's quite an urban soul I'm not sure this is fantastic for tracking out on muddy tracks and so on but neither is day night so my overall impressions the fit is good the aesthetic is to my eyes attractive the quality is definitely there I'm looking forward to breaking these in so keep an eye on my channel and if you liked this video don't forget to click on like and obviously if you're not subscribed already I've no idea why you're not because I've got so many of these boot reviews to bring to you click on subscribe down there until the next time I bring you a couple of reviews a week stay tuned take care and I'll see you soon