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Old 22 March 2023, 08:40 PM   #31
George58
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Originally Posted by dddrees View Post
The problem is when you google Andrews Belts you come up with more than a few responses.
If you look hard enough it's there. But I just looked the site says no new orders and shows no models. It's been years since I looked sorry
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Old 24 March 2023, 05:11 AM   #32
joeychitwood
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I received the Bison hide Montana belt today. It is extremely thick and was too stiff to wear casually on 32 inch waist jeans. I am exchanging it for the Crazy Horse jean belt.
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Old 24 March 2023, 08:46 AM   #33
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I received the Bison hide Montana belt today. It is extremely thick and was too stiff to wear casually on 32 inch waist jeans. I am exchanging it for the Crazy Horse jean belt.
Sorry to hear it didn’t work out for you. Personally I prefer the thicker belts myself. The Premier is actually a bit thicker than the Montana Belt. Actually I received my Nicks Boots today and the same can be said about the leather on these boots as well but that’s but part of the reason I got them as well. Basically they’re built like tanks and they should last me a good long time. Of course just like that belt the leather will become more pliable up over time, but I get that some may not go for that kind of thing. But that is the primary reason these belts will prove to be so durable over such a long period of time.
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Old 24 March 2023, 11:14 AM   #34
Nice marmot
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Sorry to hear it didn’t work out for you. Personally I prefer the thicker belts myself. The Premier is actually a bit thicker than the Montana Belt. Actually I received my Nicks Boots today and the same can be said about the leather on these boots as well but that’s but part of the reason I got them as well. Basically they’re built like tanks and they should last me a good long time. Of course just like that belt the leather will become more pliable up over time, but I get that some may not go for that kind of thing. But that is the primary reason these belts will prove to be so durable over such a long period of time.
I’ve recently bought a belt and wallet from Ashland leather. Really like both so far. Simple Horween leather belt that seems well made.

I’m anxious to hear your first impressions of the Nicks. I’m about to pull the trigger on a pair of Falcons and curious what you think. I wondering if it will be as challenging to break in as everyone says. Also wondering if I’m gluten for punishment living in the southern US and possibly attempting a break in during summer months.
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Old 24 March 2023, 12:49 PM   #35
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Hanks look very nice, as do other brands listed here. I’ll add Saddleback Leather, I have several of their bags and other products, no belts. If their belts are as good as the items I have they are worth a look along with the others.
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Old 24 March 2023, 10:53 PM   #36
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Originally Posted by Nice marmot View Post
I’ve recently bought a belt and wallet from Ashland leather. Really like both so far. Simple Horween leather belt that seems well made.

I’m anxious to hear your first impressions of the Nicks. I’m about to pull the trigger on a pair of Falcons and curious what you think. I wondering if it will be as challenging to break in as everyone says. Also wondering if I’m gluten for punishment living in the southern US and possibly attempting a break in during summer months.
I don’t know what kind of footwear you own so far, but you can tell when you get these they are in that same class as a Viberg or Whites Boot although there are differences. The main difference being the way they are constructed. The quality of materials is totally on par with the other two.

Keep in mind I purchased their Americana which isn’t one of their work boots which I understand may even be more difficult to break i. The difficulty has more to do with how these boots are constructed and the fact they don’t use cork but stacks of oak tanned leather, so the foot bed doesn’t give as easily and of course the boots use thicker leather than most boots. My Vibergs and Whites use thicker leather but the footbed doesn’t use stacks of oak tanned leather. So that footbed has to be broken in, before they end up being comfortable.

I personally have a good number of boots so I won’t have to be in such a hurry to break them in but my first impressions from just putting them on to try them on is that yes I can see that these boots are going to require more to break them in than any other boots I own. Heck, most of my boots didn’t require any breakin other than the two RedWing boots I own and personally I actually prefer it that way. I knew breakin on these would be a process but because I’m somewhat of a boot geek I just had to get me a pair of Nicks as I already own a good number of other boots this was just the next logical step. But personally I would much rather own boots like this than much cheaper options. Once broke in they will be extremely comfortable and these are the type of boots that will last me an extremely long time especially considering I have a good number of boots already and none of them see very hard use.

I’ll wear these boots a good number of times just sitting in my chair as I do any of the others I own to begin the process and go from there. Just wearing them and flexing them a bit will help with the process, although at some point I’ll need to walk in them to break in that footbed and make it my own.
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Old 24 March 2023, 11:00 PM   #37
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Originally Posted by Wcdhtwn View Post
Hanks look very nice, as do other brands listed here. I’ll add Saddleback Leather, I have several of their bags and other products, no belts. If their belts are as good as the items I have they are worth a look along with the others.
The key difference especially with the Premier is that for one thing it uses vegetable tanned leather where Saddleback uses chrome tanned leather. The other key difference between Hanks and especially The Premier is the thickness of the leather and the fact it’s two strips of leather sewn together. It’s thicker than any other belt I’ve ever seen. Although some people may not like that, it’s the primary reason besides the quality construction as to why the belt is so durable. So although may others may make a very nice belt most won’t be nearly as nice after 6yrs of daily wear.
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Old 24 March 2023, 11:02 PM   #38
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Originally Posted by Nice marmot View Post
I’ve recently bought a belt and wallet from Ashland leather. Really like both so far. Simple Horween leather belt that seems well made.

I’m anxious to hear your first impressions of the Nicks. I’m about to pull the trigger on a pair of Falcons and curious what you think. I wondering if it will be as challenging to break in as everyone says. Also wondering if I’m gluten for punishment living in the southern US and possibly attempting a break in during summer months.
Wearing good socks will be helpful, but I would also be prepared not to expect to wear them the entire day at least for awhile anyway. If you haven’t you might want to checkout Styleforum and the Nicks thread on that forum.

https://www.styleforum.net/threads/n...#post-11338657
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Old 25 March 2023, 01:36 AM   #39
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By the way it appears that Nicks Boots sells something very similar to the Hanks The Premier in regards to thickness even a bit thicker in their gun belt. However it appears they use a chrome tanned vs a vegetable tanned leather. Two strips of 8 to 9 oz leather. It’s not double stitched like the Hanks Premier Belt though, but the Nicks uses a steel core and it list at $150. Although Hanks often has their 20% sales, but they don’t use a steel core on The Premier.

https://nicksboots.com/nicks-gun-belt/
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Old 27 March 2023, 06:46 AM   #40
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Yeah, but that leather is thick enough for work boots (not speculation and not challenged/debated) so it’s perfectly fine for a simple belt. Anyway, buying from them is about the match using the same leather. My post was (and remains) specific to buying belts to match Red Wings.


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There's work boots, and then there are work boots. Nicks Boots for a good many are considered if not the best certainly amongst the best work boots you can buy. I just so happened to receive my Nicks Americana's the other day and although it's a Heritage boot for Nicks it uses many of the same components and construction you"ll find with their work boots. One being thick leather and the other being how it's constructed. One person on YouTube actually called the Americana the Iron Ranger Slayer. Anyway when posting this to the shoe thread here and mentioning it was the Iron Ranger Slayer I thought it might be a good idea to provide a comparison between my Redwing Beckmans which happen to be in the same class as the Iron Ranger because I don't own an Iron Ranger.

I won't be cutting by boots in half to depict how much better constructed the Nicks Americana is, but this picture should give most people an idea as to what I am talking about. If your really interested to see how much better they are constructed just look up Rose Anvil on YouTube as he cuts up a good number of boots to include these just for that purpose.

Anyway people buy Timberlands, Chippewas, Danner's, and all kinds of various brands for work boots. Some of these will last a year, and some may last a few years. Nicks are simply designed to take more punishment and outlast most other boots and thicker leather is one of the key components. If I were willing to cut my boots in half which I am not they are also constructed much better than anything Redwing makes.
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File Type: jpg Nicks and Redwings Test.jpg (194.9 KB, 37 views)
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Old 3 April 2023, 01:05 AM   #41
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Those are great looking pieces. You sure don't see the real good harness leather on belts under $100.

I have an Equus belt and it looks brand new after 6 years of hard wear. I had mine sized with holes every 3/4 inch and routinely cycle between the same two holes but, other than a slight creasing, you would never know.

Now that I look back at this review I know I would feel bad for not mentioning that the Hanks The Premier is actually made from USA Wickett & Craig Premium English Bridle Leather. Anyway for those who don't know when it comes to better boots anyway Wickett & Craig are considered as a premium tannery and their leather always commands a premium. Veg tan leather just takes longer to tan and generally speaking just looks nicer but Veg tan leather from Wickett & Craig often commands a premium over other Veg tan leathers. Personally when it comes to more casual work boots I've always had a thing for CXl, but when comes to belts I would much rather use this type of leather.
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