Big Bear Lake Pt II

Big Bear Lake Pt I

Men's Accessories: Penguin Sno Seal Water Repellent

Penguin Sno Seal Bees-Wax Water Repellent

Step One: Remove the laces from your boots

Step Two: Use a blow dryer or heat gun to warm up the leather on your boots so the pores open up

Step Three: Apply a generous amount of Sno Seal onto the leather evenly all over the OUTSIDE of your boots. (make sure you apply a good amount in the seams of the shoes since that's where the water tends to seep in.)

Step Four:  After applying to one boot, let it sit and soak in while you work on the other boot.

Step Five: After both boots are done, use the blow dryer or heat gun to warm and melt the Sno Seal into the leather a bit more. 

Step Six: After you're done heating the Sno Seal into the boot, use a rag and wipe and buff off excess wax from your boots and leave them to dry for a day.  To apply a 2nd coat repeat from step one. 

There are different brands of Sno Seal.  You have brands like Atsko, Tectron, Penguin, etc.. The one I purchased was from Penguin.  I picked it up for $4.99 at my local Big 5 sporting good store.  The directions are in the back but I have listed my own directions above with my photos.  Basically you want to apply Sno Seal to things such as leather gloves, backpacks, bags, jackets, shoes, or boots if you want to keep them dry and prevent any water from seeping through the material weather it's leather or canvas.  I'm sure you can apply this stuff to a number of different materials but you'd have to google that on your own and search what it can be applied on.  Now I have to warn you.. applying this stuff on does change the color of your leather.  It will make it darker.  Not by too much if the leather is already a dark brown shade.  But anything tan or beige, it will make it really dark.  I have provided a google link HERE to show you photos of before and after applying Sno Seal on different types of leather.  They also warned that if you apply this on suede material... it will no longer be suede.  The softness of the suede will be flat and coated and the color will be dramatically darker.  For some people the slight color change is a problem... but for me I don't really give a shit because I'd rather my boots be water repellent than to have them soaked with water and making my feet cold in the rain or snow.  Plus I like the darker leather color instead of the lighter yellowish tones.  Another link HERE and HERE shows what happens to the exact same boots I have when not coated with Sno Seal.  The wax not only repels water but it also repels stains as well such as oil.  If you get oil soaked into your leather, there's probably no way of getting that shit out of there and you'll just have a dark patch of stains in them forever.  Another thing is if you don't coat your leather boots and water soaks into them.. what happens is when this happens a few times.. boot gets wet, and dried, wet and dried.. it ends up cracking the leather because when the boots are drying.. the natural oils inside the leather gets pulled out making it dry.  So yea.. Apply this shit on your boots or whatever the fuck if you want it to stay dry and in good condition.  I will test these boots as well as the Sno Seal coat I have applied on these boots this weekend when I'm up at Big Bear Lake.  Will follow up with pictures.

Comparison between non waxed boots and waxed boots with Sno Seal.  Left: Non Waxed Right: Waxed

Men's Accessories: Thorogood American Heritage 8" Moc Toe Boots

Thorogood American Heritage 8" Moc Toe Boots

Top View

Front View

Detail

Side View

Thorogood American Heritage 8" Moc Toe Boot 

Just received these boots from Thorogood.  My first pair of actual boots.  I have a pair of oxford boots but I've never purchased working boots before.  I did my research on these, and it seems that this brand is not quite known because there aren't a lot of information on them besides their website http://www.weinbrennerusa.com/.  There are a few forums that talk about these boots but other than that nothing.  You can buy these on a few different websites such as Sears or Amazon.  I got mine from Sears because it was on sale plus extra $10 off orders over $50.  Orignal price was $170 but my total came out to about $120.

When you first open the box you can smell the leather right away.  It's a pleasant smell.. not too strong.  I tried the boots on immediately since there were a lot of reviews stating that the boots are 1 or 1/2 size larger so you would buy 1 or 1/2 size smaller than you usually would.  Only a few people said that they were true to size.  I took the chance of buying my true shoe size which is a size 9 men's.  To my surprise, the fit was actually really good.  There is maybe a 1/2" extra wiggle room but that's how I like my shoes to fit anyways and not have my toes jam up in the front.  The fit is even better when you wear your boot socks with them so as for as fit goes, my personal suggestion would be buy your true size.  The boots are also very comfortable. No break in time needed.  The leather is soft and flexible and plenty of cushion inside the boot for your heals.   The only thing that I would have liked more is if these boots came with the option of being water repellent.  Now other models from Thorogood do have the options of coming in steal toes as well as being water repellent, but the Moc Toe ones don't.  But not to worry because I'm going to go purchase a jar of Sno Seal and coat the boots myself since I'll be going up to Big Bear Lake this weekend with my girlfriend.  I already did my research on the Sno Seal water repellent wax and I'm stoked to coat my boots with them so that I can walk in the snow with these.

Alright so overall I think these boots are fantastic.  A lot of people compare them to Red Wing boots.. saying they are very comparable to them, for 1/3 of the price of Red Wings.  I never owned a pair of Red Wing boots but hey.. I'll take their word for it.  And for $120 compared to $200-$300 + for Red Wings.. I think I'll keep my wallet a little happier by choosing the Thorogood boots for now and see how they hold up.
Oh by the way, these Thorogood boots are made in the USA.  So for all you die hard Made in the USA fans.. there you go.  Buy a pair and support the US.  From what I heard Red Wing boots are no longer made in the US? and are now made in China?  And the price for those boots are still that high?  I don't know.. haha your call.  Anyways I'll be posting up photos from my trip to Big Bear Lake after I come back on Monday.