Best Leather Hiking Boots: The 100 Year Old Boot That Baffled “Expert” Hikers

We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. Any products or services put forward appear in no particular order. if you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation.

The Original Crazy One and His Epic Hike

The Appalachian Trail is a 2,200-mile hike from Georgia to Maine or Maine to Georgia. Before 1948, completing a hike of the entire trail in one journey was not considered feasible. After 1948, it became a sport.

That was because of one man named Earl Shaffer, nicknamed “the original crazy one.” In 2023, you should plan to wear through two to three pairs of boots on your hike. In 1948, Earl Shaffer did it in one. Of course, boots of this time were meant to be repaired – modern hiking boots aren’t. But there is something special about the boots Earl Shaffer chose to hike the trail in.

Overview of Russell Moccasins 

What Makes Russell Moccasins So Special?

Russell moccasins are not your average leather boot, and today, we’re going to go over the three reasons as to why they don’t last a lifetime – they last generations, and they’re some of the best leather hiking boots out there.

You’d expect a boot company that started making boots in 1898 and hasn’t really changed anything since then to be outdated, especially when you compare their boots to something like the Merrell Hydro Runners and the Nike whatevers, and the Salomon hootsie tootsies. There’s no way they could keep up with those things, right?

When I asked the CEO of Russell moccasins why people still wear Russell moccasins instead of all of these different types of boots, he said it’s because Russell moccasins are basically the only heritage boots that can still keep up with all these other fancy-dancy technical, modern hiking boot brands.

So today, we’re going to look at the first-ever boots to hike the Appalachian Trail. I thought it would be fitting that I don’t take a step in these boots until they’re on the Appalachian Trail, so I made the short trek and did just that.

These are basically as close as you can get in modern day to the original boots that hiked the entire Appalachian Trail for the first time by Earl Shaffer. He was supposed to hike the entire Appalachian Trail with his friend Walter Winemiller, but they both went to World War II, and sadly, Walter died in the Battle of Iwo Jima.

Earl Shaffer then took a 2,000-mile hike to “walk the war out of his system,” and he did it wearing the older version of these. The Smithsonian says that they reek because his boots are at the Smithsonian, and they keep them in a closed drawer because he did not wear socks a lot.

Let’s Build These Bad Boys From the Ground Up!

So together, you and I shall build these boots from the bottom up, much like the moccasins are actually made, because this is true moccasin construction.

When you think of an actual moccasin from ancient times, you’re thinking of how these boots are made, and that’s what makes them so special.

The Secret Sauce: All About That Leather

We should talk about the leather. This is five to six-ounce leather from SB foot. It’s called their Timberjack leather. It’s chrome-tanned, it’s not vegetable-tanned, and interestingly enough, I found out that you can also brain-tan leather, which is when you get the leather from the animal, you kill the animal and soak the leather in their blood, and it has enough acid and tannins to pull out anything that would rot.

I’ll have to try it. This leather is used because it is water resistant, very, very soft, scratch and scuff resistant, and it’s just a solid leather that will last you for many, many generations because that is what you need.

The Bottom-Up Revolution

Since most boots are built from the top down, what happens is when you get to the bottom, you still don’t have a boot – there’s nothing that you could rest your foot on.

But when a boot is made from the bottom up, and leather is laid at the bottom and then flipped up, you already have the world’s most primitive moccasin, and that is how these boots start – from the bottom up like that.

Then, of course, you have the toe piece, which is the top part of the boot, which is why it looks like it’s two different pieces of leather because that’s exactly what it is. And what Russell patented in 1941 is the overlap stitch. So most boots are made with what is called a butt stitch, where the toe piece connects with the vamp – these two pieces of leather crash into each other, you stitch through them, bing bang boom, butt stitch.

Nothing wrong with butts, they’re perfectly great things, but what happens is they are not as water resistant, so you run into the issue of water getting into your boots.

The Magic of True Moccasin Construction

How did Russell fix that and create the best leather hiking boots? Interestingly, through the overlap stitch. Fascinatingly, this is the first process of making these boots, and we already have functional footwear. They’re not boots; they’re just very primitive moccasins.

We don’t have the quarter part of the leather, like the up-the-ankle part of the boot, but we already have the moccasins because the bottom part, called the vamp (very important), and the toe piece is already put on. So essentially, you can walk around with this footwear and get a little bit more protection. It’ll just be leather under your feet, but still.

Double Vamp Construction: The Real Magic Happens Here

So what I really just explained to you is a single vamp construction Russell moccasin. There are a few more things, obviously, like the outsole, the midsole, all that stuff that goes on the boot and the top part and laces and all that, but that’s essentially what Earl Shaffer was rocking, minus things that we’ll get into in a second. But more importantly, what we have today are double-vamp construction boots.

These are way different because inside of the vamp, which is the outside little moccasin part, there is an inner vamp, AKA a little bootie is something that you want with you at all times – nothing wrong with butts, they’re perfectly great things – because it’s silicone-tanned, so it’s waterproof, or it basically as waterproof as you can get. It makes these boots a lot more functional as you’re hiking down somewhere where there are water and creeks and stuff that you want to step through.

The Genius of the Bootie System

Either way, this is how double vamp construction works, and this is where it gets fascinating because it involves a lot of stitches in precarious areas so no water gets in. Also, have I mentioned brain-tanning yet? This is where the boots get really, really brilliant, and not to sound overly poetic, but this is why I really loved Russell moccasins.

So forgive me if I get too poetic, but close your eyes and picture a very well-tanned bootie and that bootie wraps all the way around the bottom of your foot, and then when that leather comes to the top, it’s sewn right on the top center, and the reason it’s sewn there is because the seams that you have that are going to let water in are around the toe piece.

So what Russell does with that inner bootie is they slide it into the outer vamp, and then if water gets past those seams, it has to go exactly on the top center of the boot and be there for a very long time in order to kind of leak through those stitches on the top, which is, to be honest, unless you’re standing in the water for a very long time, very, very unlikely to happen.

So what you get is boots that are virtually impenetrable to water at that vamp line.

Okay, so outer vamp, inner vamp, and then we have an oak-tanned heel counter which goes around the ball of your foot up to the ankle, and the point of that is just to stabilize the back of your foot so you don’t roll anything as you’re going up and down mountains.

But interestingly, the front part of these boots where your toes are is meant to roll a little bit, so if you’re going up and down a mountain or something like that, a Goodyear welted boot will be very stiff and not flex. These boots are meant to flex, so if you have to go on any turns or in any uneven terrain, it’s a little easier on your feet than having them basically be in an entire straight jacket.

The Final Layers: Putting It All Together

We essentially have these boots all together. Let’s just slap on the upper part. There’s a gusseted tongue here, which is fantastic, but the only thing we’re missing is the outsole and the midsole.

We could just walk on these boots, they would just have a leather bottom, but there’s much more… well, there’s not even that much more, there’s only three layers, which is why you can feel a lot more under these boots than Goodyear welted boots, for example.

Here’s a quick tangent: Goodyear welted footwear is built from the top down; there is a gap where there is no leather right off the bat. If it’s built from the bottom up, there is no gap – it’s flat, that’s where you can put your foot. You can’t have that gap, so you have to fill it with something, usually cork. Since there is that extra layer of cork, you are separating your feet from the ground even more.

So that’s, you know, doesn’t really hurt someone, but if they’re trying to feel the ground more and maneuver on rough terrain, it’s much easier to do that without that layer. I don’t think Earl Shaffer walked right where I tried these on for the first time, but it’s still pretty cool to think that he was, you know, on his way in one direction or another wearing very similar boots.

So Russell moccasins are not Goodyear welted boots like I said – there is no cork filling, but we do have the outer vamp and the bootie, AKA the inner vamp. Still, if we lift the bootie a tiny little bit, we can sandwich something else in there.

]Russell sandwiches a Poron slip sole so that way if you’re going down a hill, you’re going down a mountain, you’re going down anything really, you’re doing something with high impact on your feet, that Poron slip sole cushions the blow, which is way easier on your feet and on your body in general.

And if you’re in the boot community and I said “Poron slip sole,” you probably just threw up in your mouth a little bit, and the reason for that would be you’d think, “Well, Poron is going to break down very fast so it’s going to be squished and it’s going to be useless, there’s no point in it being there.”

But good news! I have it on good authority that they have opened up boots 10 years old and 15 years old, and the Poron slip sole is still in great condition, still functioning as it should. So that’s actually a really huge factor as to why these boots are so comfortable when you’re hiking, when you’re hunting, and when you’re walking around.

We have every single part of the boot together except the bottom part – the midsole and the outsole. Now, interestingly, since we have a piece of leather underneath the foot already, we will Blake stitch that onto this oak-tanned midsole and stop there. So we have a flat piece of leather.

So with the outer oak-tan piece of leather, we then stitched through the ridge on the outside into a piece of rubber, and we have a rubber midsole, and then finally, we have this very aggressive Vibram outsole that is glued on to the rubber midsole, and that is why these last so long.

Why These Boots Last Forever (Literally)

Let me explain – there are layers to go to repair the boot before you even touch the actual vamp of the boot. If the Vibram sole wears down, you just pop that off because it’s glued on. You glue another one on – you didn’t even touch the rubber midsole. And if something happens to the rubber midsole, which is very rare because you have this beefy Vibram outsole, then you can just stitch that back onto the oak midsole, and you still haven’t messed with the structure of the boot at all.

And finally, since this is true moccasin construction, it’s built from the bottom up, which means that even if you have to take out that stitching and put on a new oak leather midsole, you still haven’t messed with the integrity of the shoe because of the way it’s built.

Watch This Review

Wrapping It Up

Okay, so I can totally see why Earl Shaper would want to hike the entirety of the Appalachian Trail in these boots! They’re the best leather hiking boots! But anyway, thank you so much for reading this article! I will see you very, very soon – it’s late, it’s past midnight, and I need to go to beddy bye on my honk shoe honk shoe, so I will see you all very, very soon, goodbye!

This article was adapted from Michael Kristy’s video on The Iron Snail, with edits from FashionBeans, and was reviewed by Michael to ensure the integrity of his original content. Watch the full video here.

The Iron Snail is a men’s fashion vlog (and now article series!) starring a young man named Michael and featuring a snail no bigger than a quarter. The two are set on taking over the world of fashion by creating a clothing line to end all clothing lines. Until then, we’re here to tell you EVERYTHING you need to know about the best clothing out there, from the highest quality raw denim jeans to the warmest jackets to the sturdiest boots…the Iron Snail has got you covered.