 In the world of mock-toe boots, Grant Stone produced two. Well, actually three, if you count the Norwegian split-toe as mock-toes, which I don't. In the more traditional stitch around the apron mock-toes, they have the brass boot and the fuel boot. Which one would you choose? G'day, how you going? Welcome back to my channel, Bootlossophy, and happy new year! If you're brand new to my channel, my name is Tech. I acknowledge the tradition custodians of the lands that I live and film on here in Perth, Western Australia, the Wajik people. Mock-toe boots cut a fascination for many people. In the United States, they are traditional work boots, especially in their wedge sole incarnation, like the Red Wing 875 Classic Mock-toe or the Theragood Classic Mock-toe boots. I have reviewed both, but up here, the Red Wing is a perennial favorite. Outside of the United States, mock-toe boots don't give that classic heritage American memory of work boots or hunting boots. And in most other parts of the world, they are seen as nice and different boots, even if people understand the history behind them. In the early 1950s, Red Wing first introduced the 877 8-inch high mock-toe boot, developed for farmers and hunters. As these people spent a lot of time in cold, wet conditions, the new wedge soles helped them keep dirt from getting stuck on their soles, and the 8-inch shaft kept them protected from weather and snakes. In 1960, Theragood introduced their mock-toe, and it actually served as the official boot of the American Boy Scout movement. So in many ways, Grant Stone, established in 2016 with their mock-toe boots, came late to the mock-toe party. Grant Stone was founded by Wyatt Gilmore and Josh Lang, following Wyatt's family history of connections with boots through his grandfather's and father's connections with olden shoes. Through his father's connections, Wyatt worked in a private contracting shoe factory in China for a while, and when he established Grant Stone, he made that factory his manufacturing partner, while basing company headquarters and warehousing in Michigan in the US. I've already said in my various reviews of Grant Stone boots that their business model is almost business school perfection, implementing strict manufacturing process control and quality control protocols and systems in China, developing efficient warehouse inventory dispatch systems and final inspection processes in Michigan, selling through their website direct to consumer and removing economically inelastic cost structures. Grant Stone produces incredibly good quality boots at $100 or more off what they could otherwise sell for. If you're enjoying the video so far, don't be shy of clicking on like. It really helps me out. But for now, we'll move on to this. Grant Stone's brass boot. This model, with the Earth Waxy Commander Uppers from Charles F. Stead's tannery, is set on a proprietary commando lugged sole. You can get the brass boot in other uppers, coming from Horween, Badalassie, Carlos, Tannery and other Stead letters as well, on either this commando lugged sole or their own proprietary white wedge sole. At the time of writing, there are 12 different models of the brass boot, not counting limited releases. I'll leave a link to Grant Stone in the description area below so that you can have a look at their different models. Aesthetically, they are lasted like a traditional mock-toe boot in that they are high-walled, and the apron stitch creates the mock-toe look. But they are different to the more traditional red wings and thorough-goods, because that vamp stitch is more in-board than at the edge of the wall, and the high-sized themselves, if you see from the profile, are more rounded rather than straight up and across. Like all Grant Stone boots, it is good year-welted, and if you don't know what that is, go see this explanation video up here. But being good year-welted, of a really sturdy construction involving leather mid-soles and in-soles, steel shanks, leather heel counters, and fully leather lined, coming in at just under a kilogram each, so not a light boot. Despite the construction, which is strong enough for, I guess, 90% of people who buy them, I don't think they are truly work-boot intended. Like manual labour for sure, and hiking across tough terrain, which I have done, they will stand up. But I'm not sure I put them into construction work where dropping heavy lumps is a thing. As I said, there are loads of other leathers used, but this waxy commander is easy to wear and take care of. The wax suede being really water-resistant and good against scratches and scrapes, and if the wax wears off, you can always re-wax them. Now, this is Grant Stone's relatively new offering, the Field Boot. This one is in veg-tanned leather, the saddle-tanned from Badalasi Leathers, which is very firm and supportive. Again, the Field Boot is available in a variety of uppers. I think at the moment, seven in all at the time of writing, but all of them so far are on this proprietary white-wedge sole. The sole, unlike the famous Vibram Christie's sole that's on the Red Wing Mocktoes, have a rippled finish, offering arguably a little more grip, but also with more dirt-tracking because of the grooves. I have found it to be slippery in mud because the waviness is all along one axis, so if you're slipping, it could be quite dangerous. The last shape hails towards the main moccasin hunting boot style, like Brussels moccasin boots, even with the addition of this strip of leather forming a bumper that sort of recollects that shape. This is not real, by the way. I'm pretty sure it's not an extra strip of leather, but it's just sewn onto the strip of leather at the side so that there's only ever one layer. It has a taller shaft than the brass and a suede padding at the top of it. This is also good-year-weltered and also has the leather insole and midsole, the cork-filling, the steel shank, and the leather heel counter. The Italian Vegeten leather is firm, but it's not stiff, and it is very supportive around the ankle. It will stain when it gets wet, but the darker staining dries right out as it dries. You do need to condition this a bit more than the Waxy Commander suede, and a little mink oil now and then will help to keep it more water-resistant, although it will darken it, as you can see. It's not quite as orangey as the original. Listing the differences, apart from the obvious aesthetics of a modernized moccato boot versus a US east coast moccasin hunting boot, obviously there are external differences. The commando lug sole versus the wedge sole, although you can get the brass boot with the same wedge sole, the exact same one. The wedge sole is made of blown rubber, so the difference in weight is obvious when you pick them up, where the brass boot in this configuration is about a kilogram per boot. Each field boot is only about 0.8 of a kilogram, about 800 grams. The field boot sports these D-rings instead of regular speed hooks, as used in the brass boot, which does reinforce that main hunting boot look. And of course there's the bumper patch as well as the pocket stitch at the back of the backstay on this field boot. The Goodyear welt on the field boot is a flat welt, whereas the welt on the brass boot is a split-reverse welt with one split-half pushed up against the uppers. As for the similarities, the construction comes first to mind. Both are quality construction with quality materials, starting with US leather for the welt midsole and insole, and I think also the heel counters. Now they are both cork filled and they both have a triple ribbed steel shank inserted into the arch. The quality of the stitching and the care taken to align, say, the welt ends and the hardware is unbeatable. They both use Grant Stone's Floyd last, which is roomier than their Leo lasted used in their diesel and Edward service boots. Some say the Floyd is bigger and therefore to size down, but I find I size them the same, understanding that there's more volume, not width or length. They are both as comfortable as each other, hard to beat based on a well-designed last and all natural leather and cork layers below your feet, molding to the shape of your feet the more you wear them. I found them both easy enough to break in with the provisor that you need some time to break in the sole so that they flex where your feet flex. Both are initially stiff at the sole, leading to a little heel slip in both. One I think is caused by that thick wedge sole, the other by the split-reverse welt and tough midsole and rubber outsole. In summary, they are different boots but very similar. It's obvious they share a familial DNA. Both are sturdy enough to go for long walks in the bush and track over sand, rocks and forest trails. But I don't think either are true work boots. Although my friend Dave from the Vintage Future channel has thrashed his brass boots and my friend Dale from Dale's Leatherworks channel has even beat up his shell cordovan model of the brass boot and then restored them with some good conditioning. So maybe I shouldn't be so adamant that they can't take proper work, manual work. Alternatively, I'm not sure the field boots are good hunting boots. I don't hunt so my opinion is based on this noisy clicking of the D-rings and the fact that the rolling waves in the wedge sole can be slippery and mud. Which one you would choose will, I think, depend on what you'll be using them for. You can choose them just from your preference about looks. The hunting boot style versus the work boot look. You can also choose them for grip and heft with the brass boot winning that one. You can choose them as a semi work boot working around the house or you can choose them as straight up casual boots. Over to you now. Go take a look at the website linked below. Don't forget to click on the like button before we finish and if you're wanting more boot reviews don't forget to subscribe. Until the next time, stay safe out there and see you soon.