10December 2021
the last blundstone video we did the 500's
this time we're going to do that 550's they're like 10 to 20 dollars more so we'll kind of break them down to see maybe
where that price difference comes from cut these in half see if there's
anything else inside and also blundstone reached out after the first video and
answered some questions that we'll get to in a second this will also be the
tenth pair of boots that I will cut apart on YouTube just cresting over
$2,000 worth of footwear cut in half in the name of science and curiosity but
mostly curiosity also toaster as you can tell sometimes is really needy and
sometimes he doesn't want to be on camera at all today he's super needy so
to celebrate 10 pairs of footwear cut in half on Friday I'm going to post a ASMR
super cut of all the different boots being cut in half all the extended
footage of all of them it's gonna be like 30 minutes of just straight ear
tickling boot cut in half destruction so be on the lookout for that now
to the boots so first we're going to talk about what the boots are and then we'll
talk about my initial wear impressions then we'll talk about some of the
differences then we'll go over some of the details and some of the info Blundstone sent me then we'll cut them in half and kind of analyze what some of
the differences are on the inside these are the 550 boots they're $10 more at
195 dollars as compared to the 185 that the 500 boots are this is their walnut
Brown it's a little bit more Brown than their stout Brown in their 500's it's got
the leather lining in it one thing that I missed in the previous video which
forgive me I was really sick I just assumed they were made in Tasmania
because it says on the little pull tab but they're actually made overseas or I
guess yeah overseas for Australia as well so the 500s are made in Thailand
the 550's are made in Vietnam which is really interesting you'd think
they'd be made in the same factory but I think there's a big quality difference
between these two which we'll get into more especially once we get them cut in
half so Thailand Vietnam which you know it's kind of a bummer because I thought
these were made in Australia which it's my fault for not doing the research
that's always kind of a bummer when you see companies move their production
overseas because usually their quality drops but so far I've heard lots of good
things about these especially in the comments section of the previous video a
lot of people still said they're really great quality you know it is what it is
I'd love to see them made in Australia or Tasmania or wherever but you know it is
what it is now to my initial wear impression
these are super comfy my last video I didn't wear them at all but these five
50s are so freakin comfy I wore them the first day like 16 hours straight and a
lot of walking around the shop on hard concrete and at the end of the day
they're more comfortable than the other boots that I wear every day especially the
Doc Martens that I've been wearing so super impressed with the initial
impression I can't speak for the longevity of the comfort but for the
first three or four days when I was wearing these super comfy actually I was
gonna wear these for only like one or two days but they were so comfy I just
kept wearing them so you got like three or four days worth of wear on these so
now to the kind of the differences between these boots I noticed right off the bat
is these 500's are just a little bit thinner than the 550's they're about
a quarter of an inch thinner at the sole which is not that big of a difference
but I did notice it when that when I had one on one foot versus one on the other
these have a little bit more slim profile these ones are a little bit more
roomy for the toes the leather is obviously a big difference and we'll
talk about that with some of the info that blundstone
sent us but this is a cheaper leather you can see the bluing on the inside
this seems to be a higher quality leather where it's tanned all the way
through or retanned all the way through or dyed all the way through it feels
very similar they're both an aniline leather
according to blundstone one thing that a lot of people notice is
there's a stitch line right here on the 550's that's not on the 500's I
don't really know why that's the case it's kind of odd that they would do that
it makes a little bit more sense knowing that they're coming from two different
countries and two different factories you know maybe the equipment set up
is slightly different I don't think there's a really big quality difference between
the two I wouldn't be concerned having a seam there or not having a seam there
another quick thing is there's double stitching on the heel portion of the
550's and the 500's only half in one row of stitching
next thing I noticed was the TPU on the sole which is the bottom part that's the
harder more firm rubber is a lot looks like it's a lot thicker on the 550's as
compared to the 500's we won't know for sure until we get them cut in half but
the initial impression is that this is a thinner TPU and this one has a
thicker TPU you can see it kind of rises up a little bit and then obviously the
550's are aligned with some leather and the 500's or not so I'm not a huge
difference between the two just a few minor differences the only thing that
some big difference is potentially the leather so that kind of brings us to
what blundstone emailed me about so after some potential criticisms and thoughts
and questions raised in the previous video of the 500's blundstone
reached out and answered some questions I asked them some additional questions I
asked them about the leather they said the leather is not dyed through on the
originals the 500's providing that the raw edge of the
leather has toast please providing the raw edge the leather see you guys think
it's real cute he's on camera this is this is what I deal with when he's
camera he just wants all the attention in the world
okay providing the raw edge of the leather as per the elastic and gusset
region of the foot where this look is synonymous with blundstone and has no
implications on the specifications or performance of the Footwear itself so
they're basically saying the bluing and the leather quality and my questions
with the bluing has no effect on the quality of the leather
anytime you see bluing on a leather is it's not gonna be a great sign I would always
lean towards a higher quality leather that has the dye or the tanning all the
way through we went over this in the leather video but is there a huge
difference between the two leathers probably not you're kind of splitting
hairs when it comes to these two qualities of leather because 550's don't
seem to be like a really great quality leather it's a decent leather the 500's
are slightly worse than that so you know it's not a huge difference I personally
would prefer to have the leather dyed all the way through it looks more
finished you know it's just a better quality leather but to their point I
don't think it's a huge issue when it comes to quality the soles will wear out
long before the leather does you know that's that's one of the issues with not
having a Goodyear welted shoe or you know anything that can be resoled and
Toaster is sitting on my paper again I need this thank you okay this is this is the most interesting
thing hydrolysis a lot of people complain in the comment section that if
you let these boots sit in a closet for a really long time allegedly they
start kind of crumbling and falling apart so I asked them about that and to
their credit which you know Blundstone didn't have to reach out and they didn't
have to answer all the questions and they didn't have to address some of the
more potentially damning questions but they did so shout out to blundstone I
think that a lot of companies wouldn't do that especially to a little teeny
YouTube channel like mine I was really impressed with that so back to the
hydrolysis our boots are open cell polyurethane PU in the sewing material
the PU is made of made up of thousands of little air bubbles this gives it a
soft cushion feeling underfoot when the footwear is not worn for a considerable
length of time moisture builds up within the air pockets and causes a gradual
breakdown of the soles this condition is known as hydrolysis we provide care
instructions on the swing tags attach the footwear advising to where the
footwear on a regular basis hydrolysis does not occur when the boots are worn
regularly as the moisture is pushed out of the air pockets the industry does not
regard this as a manufacturing fault but is related to the age and storage of the
boots so basically from what they say as long as you wear your boots you're going
to be fine but if you do let them sit some of
that moisture especially if you're in a really humid climate is gonna get into
the those little cells and cause them to crumble so just wear your boots and it's
kind of the same with leather if you let leather sit in your closet for five
years it's gonna dry out and the first time you wear it's gonna be a lot more
fragile and start cracking Footwear needs care I don't think it's that big
of a deal just wear your boots and they'll be fine but a lot of people freak out
about it so pretty cool of Blundstone to reach out about those things
so now that we got that covered and kind of went through all blundstone's stuff
let's cut them in half and see what's inside of them like a hot knife through butter
shoutout to that guy who suggested putting a little oil on the bandsaw
blade made it way easier let's see what's inside so pretty interesting
they're basically identical on the inside I thought maybe the TPU outsole
would be a little thicker on the 550's but it's exactly the same
I guess that's no surprise the price difference is only $10 I don't really
know why they have these two different versions of the boots like why not just
have one if they're so similar kind of interesting one thing I don't like is
the lining on the inside in the toe box area near the like the vamp it's kind of
a felt in fabric and this stuff won't last as long as leather maybe it's a
little more breathable than leather but I'd almost rather see no lining in the
vamp than this stuff let's tear out the rest of the insides of these and see
what else is going on but I think they're pretty much identical got them all torn apart and laid out
here and yeah it's basically the same all the way through not a whole lot of
difference obviously the liner's a little bit different it's got the exact
same steel shank the same insole the same outsole the same counter everything's
exactly the same except for the leather and the liner but other than that it's
exactly the same so when it comes down to it is it worth $10 extra for sure
like $10 extra for a slightly better leather and a lining spend the money
don't buy the 500's spend an extra $10 or $20 and buy the 550's I was hoping it
had a little bit thicker TPU sole on it but turns out that's not the case
so if you're trying to decide between the two get to 550's they're not
gonna be that much warmer or hotter it's just this little thin piece of leather
is not going to make a huge difference so get the higher quality leather get
the liner and you'll be happier with the 550's for sure are these boots worth the
money I don't love that they're not resoleable it's kind of hard to invest
that kind of money in a boot that you can't resole 200 bucks is a lot of
money so for me the comfort might be worth it
but the price is pretty steep for a non resoleable boot but a lot of people just
like the Doc Martens and the Timberland you're buying these because they're
blundstones not because of the value necessarily I don't think they're gonna
break down prematurely as long as you're wearing the boots and you're taking care
of the leather yeah I think they're worth the money if you're if you're
dying to get a pair of blundstones I don't know if you can hear that rumbling
outside but apparently there's a rodeo going on
that pretty much wraps it up next we've got the ASMR supercut on Friday and I'm
wearing these oh you can't really see them these are
Redbacks some of you diehards have been suggesting these like crazy
I got a pair and I've been wearing them and I gotta say they might be more comfy
so stay tuned for that video and thanks for watching hopefully this answers all
the questions about the blundstones we're going to compare them to the
Redbacks pretty soon and if you like this be sure to like and subscribe and
comment because it makes a huge difference and these boots are pricey
like I said earlier I spent over 2 grand on all these boots and shoes I've torn apart
so every little bit you can do to help is very very appreciated so thank you
so much see ya the first video and
