New pickup: Paraboot Imbattable (Lisse Acajou). Thoughts?

[Rick Dalton]

Hi everyone,

I just bought these for a pretty steep price of around €130 (about $140). They are the Paraboot Imbattable model in Lisse Acajou leather.

Up until now, my heavy boot rotation has been strictly leaning towards American workwear – mostly cowby boots and Red Wing 1155 Pecos that I recently started breaking in. I’ve always respected the PNW and US heritage construction, but I wanted to try out the European approach to heavy-duty footwear (its more affordable here in EU).

I'm curious how Paraboot's Norwegian welt and their in-house rubber soles actually hold up in daily use compared to the stiff US stuff. Does anyone here have experience with the Imbattable model or Paraboot's Lisse leather in general? How is the break-in, and did I do alright for the price considering the condition?

 

[Rick Dalton]

nobody?

 

[TartuWolf]

Seems very decent for the price you paid (which I definitely would not call pretty steep), but definitely not my thing. To each his own though and I hope they serve you well!

 

[Rick Dalton]

Seems very decent for the price you paid (which I definitely would not call pretty steep), but definitely not my thing. To each his own though and I hope they serve you well!

From what I’ve read, they are supposed to be exceptionally well-made, and I'm really curious if other folks here agree with that reputation. What truly drew me to this pair is the history behind them and the promise of comfortable heritage workwear. They are supposedly the kind of boots you can walk miles upon miles in almost right away – something that heavy American boots definitely struggle with!

I also love the fact that the design has remained virtually unchanged since the 1950s. It feels like a very unique blend of American military influence combined with strict French shoemaking tradition and the use of Brazilian natural rubber for the soles. It’s pretty rare these days to find one of the last major bootmakers in Europe that still manufactures everything in-house using traditional methods (like the Norwegian welt and vulcanizing their own rubber soles).

 

[Mandarin]

I can confirm that Paraboot makes some of the best footwear in France . I'm not a fan of all their models , but I earn a few , including a pair of Moc toe boots that I've been wearing daily for a few years without them showing a least bit of attrition. They are indestructible and the price you paid seems very fair.
Another maker worthy of interest is Heschung, who started specializing in mountain and hiking shoes before making various styles, some very formal, all very high quality.

 

[mcnuonuo]

In today's pricing, $140 for those are quite quite good.

 

[One Drop]

I bought a pair of black low cap toe Derby boots from them about 15 - 20 years ago, to wear when working in my cocktail bar. They look nothing like their classic designs, of which I knew nothing at the time - they were on sale at an upmarket department store who was dropping the brand. They are a perfectly proportioned and very classic design, extremely comfortable and the leather is as high quality as any boot or shoe I've ever worn - they held up to lots of wear, and frequent wettings, though I can't speak to the durability of the soles as I wore them indoors mostly, very little on concrete. I forgot about them at some point after moving on to other things and found them again covered thickly in dust a few years ago and they quickly became my favourite shoes for when I needed to dress up a bit, visiting customers, they go perfectly with dark denim, navy wool and cotton trousers, etc.

The proprietary rubber sole is softer than Dainites but seems more resistant to wear, is very grippy, equally in wet or dry conditions, probably the best rubber sole I've ever come across. The leather is thick but supple, and looks like a classic dressy calfskin, they barely crease and still look like a good pair of boots after being barely broken in. I imagine they aêxcel at clicking and only select the best part of the hides.

I don't know what they've got going on there in their factory but they are an exceptional boot in terms of resistance to wear while still looking dressy.

This is the closest I could find in their current models, except in a lower cut, same sole, and without the iconic green outside label. I can only guess they were trying to expand their market outside of their traditional designs, or that maybe they had always made similar boots but have now dropped them to focus on their now very popular own unique classic designs.

https://www.paraboot.com/en/men/derbies/dickens-galaxy-noire-lisse-noir-2/

edited to add : I took a few quick photos but can't upload them, am getting the 'files too large' message. After looking at them to take pictures I was reminded of the beautiful, fairly thick cognac lining, and the way they create rolls more than fine creasing, almost like a shell cordovan leather. I paid more than I ever had for a pair of shoes at the time, even on sale, and their prices have not increased since then as most quality brands have.