Expensive Choices First

So as with anything you can go full out and get the most expensive piece of leather you can find, or you can go through the cheap models first.

I know many people are going to look at the cheapest alternative possible. But since I own a custom pair of boots I’ll showcase them first.

Customs are a good option for folks who have a funky leg shape. That’s partially why I got a pair, but I also got them because I ride professionally. So it’s a good investment.

Custom Boot Brands
Dehner http://www.dehner.com
Dehner is what I own. The reason why I ultimately went with Dehner’s is their durability. Police officers usually wear Dehners. I’m abusive to my leather items and I wanted something that would last. The sales rep told me that she had a 30year old pair of Dehners come in the store. The lady wanted them to be stretched, but they can’t do it if the leather is older than 15yrs old. They are made in the United States if that concerns you.

Der-Dau http://www.derdau.com
Vogel http://www.vogelboots.com/
These companies I believe are both based out of New York. Der-Dau in my opinion are flashier and have more of that Louis Vuitton aspect in the horse community. Vogel are less flashy and like Dehner are durable. If I had to rank them if I had to pick between the first three it’d be Dehner, Der-Dau, and then Vogel.

Konigs/Cavallos/Petrie: These are European boot brands. I’d say stay away from Konigs and Cavallos not because they’re crappy, they’re far from that. It’s that they usually start at like $1,200.

Petrie: I will talk about Petries further down the road. But if you want to jump the gun now, Petries as well as some other companies do what is half "semi-custom". They have all different options. You just have to get your conversion chart out their size chart is in cm! :)

Riders Mall/Hispar: Now. I want to say that I’ve never had a pair of these boots. I’ve heard good things and I’ve heard baaaaad things. But I’ll tell you want I’ve heard from a horse back riders point of view and how it may not apply to a person who doesn’t ride.
These boots are traditionally sold on ebay. So we know how that goes sometimes. They offer a lot of different custom options on the boots. I’ve heard that these boots don’t last a long time. For a horse back rider our legs are constantly rubbing on the leathers in the saddle so I’ve heard that these boots disintegrate fast. Now for someone who’s just slipping on the boots and walking around at a con, this may not be too big of a concern. So this is an option for those that may need to customize their boots but don’t want to shell out a major amount of money.

There are other companies La Mundial or Lucchese, but I have no knowledge about these. La Mundial I heard is inexpensive for customs and are really nice.

Next topic: Dehner Boots in action.