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I’ve read some recent reviews on doc martens being total garbage now.
Can back this up as someone who used to wear them daily at a dealership job.
Don’t know if I’m getting old or they changed something but they’re just not as good/comfortable.
Can’t speak on if they wear down any faster however, didn’t get that far.
Doc Martens got sold and moved the production to Asia. The dip in quality is very noticeable.
The people who used to produce Doc Martens now work for the company called Solovair. I haven't tried their stuff butt apparently they're as good as Doc Martens used to be.
Having worn Doc Martens most of my life i've now switched to Solivair, last pair of 'Docs' i bought wore through the upper in 6 months and ripped my feet to shreds, the Solovair i replaced them with are still like new after a year and are the comfiest boots i've ever worn.
The only downside is explaining why you're wearing 'knock off Docs' to hipsters, but i generally go with 'They're Doc Martens with all the Vietnamese Child Labour taken out (allegedly)'
i would loooove to get a pair of solovairs, but i can’t get over the slight silhouette change where the “ceiling” part of the boot (i know nothing about shoe anatomy terms) has a slight bend inwards as it reaches down and connects with the “floor” :(
You mean where the sole is stitched to the leather?
Yeah, the iconic yellow stitching on Docs is likely trademarked, Solovairs are grey stitching.
I'm not sure what bit you mean, I have the classic 8 hole boots and the shape is the same from my perspective?
There are differences as i went Matte finish for the Solovairs and obviously the stiching is a different colour (smooth sided sole too) but i'm more concerned about the quality/fit/longevity of my boots than the Docs aethetic anyway.
Same thing happened with Blundtstone. Production moved from Tasmania to Vietnam. They swear everything is the same, but I'm looking at these two different pairs of boots ...
They definitely are not really good anymore: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOzFLT3S_I6UHHrezPiQ4VS_y3Pj09Zvd
You're probably better off wearing something like Red Wing's Iron Rangers, though there's multiple brands that are pretty good. Meermin comes to mind for Europeans. Solovair if you're really into the Dr Martens look.
/r/goodyearwelt used to be a good resource for shoe stuff, not really sure if there's something comparable on Lemmy yet.
Didn’t know about Solovair, much appreciated!
I’ve kept a pair of Docs around because I still think they make a great fashion staple, but having a pair that could actually be comfortable/good again would be amazing
My opinion is they were garbage in the 80s/90s too. I would wear the soles down like an eraser in a matter of months. Warranty or not, that's not bifl to me.
That's kind of the nature of the soles they use, but there's not really such thing as a sole that won't wear (and if there were, it probably wouldn't be comfortable to walk on). Instead high quality boots are made to have the sole be easily replaceable using constructions like Goodyear welt, stitchdown, and Blake.
I have that problem with all kinds of shoes and trainers, regardless of the price tag. I bought a pair of Adidas Men's Hoops 3.0 a few months back and to my surprise, the soles haven't worn down on them yet.
But I feel like it's only a matter of time until a hole starts developing in the soles, which means they're gonna be waterlogged in any kind of wet weather.
Yes, they got rid of the lifetime warranty and I personally haven’t worn them, but people tell me their old ones work well and have a similar opinion as yours.
Danner is my go-to brand for quality boots.
I've been issues a lot of boots from work and the Danners are the most comfortable by far. They made it through some real shit, too.
Love my danners but I still go through a pair a year with my current job. Last job I got about 5 years out of a pair.
Oof, that's rough.
It really depends on the job, I guess. I wore the Danner Reckonings for about 2 years straight and they were a little rough looking but still in great shape. The tip of the boot where the sole curves up the front was starting to peel. The worst I did with them was mountain climbing and some very wet environments.
Some of the dudes I worked with were sent to an area with a lot of lava rock, which absolutely shreds boots.
I wear the Quarry composite toes but mine peeled like that too. I work in rubber manufacturing and it just eats the shit out of everything.
They have a model that's still made in England ~~and comes with a lifetime warranty~~, everything else is trash
Edit: they discontinued it, weak