Thursday Boot Company Captain Men's Lace-up Boot

I finally succumbed to the nonstop barrage of Thursday Boots ads on Facebook and YouTube, and I’m glad I did. Bought mine through Amazon Prime rather than Thursday’s website because Prime has faster shipping (delivered SAME DAY!). Plus Amazon doesn’t charge $4 extra for the shipping box, which is what Thursday charges with their “free” shipping.Admittedly, when the boots arrived I was somewhat underwhelmed. Out of the box, they look very generic and monochromatic. No personality whatsoever. But once you put them on and walk around in them, the leather begins to crease and lighter-colored undertones emerge, giving the boots a vintage patina that’s really beautiful. You can intensify those tonal variations by taking the boots off and bending and squishing them.Conceptually, the boots are in kind of a no-man’s land. They’re not heavy-duty enough to be hardcore construction boots like Nick’s or White’s boots and they’re not refined enough to be classified as dress boots. Instead they strike a really nice balance. My wife loves the way mine look on me, saying they look rugged and manly yet classy enough to wear out on the town or to the office. (She hates the construction worker or Shawshank vibe of most of my boots!)I’d initially ordered two pair of Captains: in Arizona Adobe and Terracota. I initially liked the color of the Terracotas better but construction-wise, the Arizona Adobes seemed like they were of higher quality. When compared to the Adobes, the Terracotas used thinner leather for the uppers and the eyelets and speed hooks seemed haphazardly installed, leaving sharp-edge rivets on the backside of the uppers that started tearing up the tongue the first time I laced the boots up. I preferred the antiqued brass eyelets on the Terracotas over than the chrome used on the Adobes, but ultimately returned the Terracotas for the aforementioned reasons, though both versions were equally comfortable right out of the box. Also, as mentioned earlier, once the undertones of the Adobes began to reveal themselves, I was thrilled choice.Oddly, the Adobes were packaged in a much sturdier box than the Terracotas. Checking out Thursday’s website explained why: the Terracotas are an older version of the Captains and were packaged in a different box. The Adobes had a few other refinements the Terracotas did not get. You can compare specs for the many different colors of the Captains by going to Thursday’s website, selecting any of their boots, clicking on PRODUCT FEATURES, then clicking on RELEASE NOTES.

This was my second attempt at a pair of Thursdays. My first was the Dukes on the old RT3 last. These Captains came on the new Kingmaker, which is rounder. I don’t wear the Dukes because of too much pressure on the tops of the toe box, a problem which unfortunately seems to replicate itself here, despite having ordered a different boot, in a different size, made on a different last. But, I can’t fault the obviously high quality and build of this product. So I will speak to that first.I loved the workmanship on the Captains. I ordered these in Arizona Adobe. The leather was beautiful, thick, and durable. I would agree with other recent reviewers that it was definitely more of a chocolate brown than the burnt orange that is pictured. Some folks have theorized that a certain batch of Arizona Adobe leather came in darker that others this time, and that this batch just needs to work its way through the product line. If you’re looking for something closer to the burnt orange pictured, try another color or wait until other folks (or the company itself) can attest to a batch that more closely matches the Arizona Adobe pictured. That all being said, I actually liked the chocolate brown these turned out to be, so your mileage may vary.Regarding construction, there’s no question they would hold up to years of hard wear, the studded sole is tough and the leather remarkably scuff resistant. Laces felt strong and durable. Welt was clean and there were no errant stitches that I could find anywhere on the boot. The rubber studded sole was beautiful and high quality. The quarters seemed a little flimsy, I was expecting something similar to cowboy boot quarters which are often firmer leather or reinforced with plastic, but these felt more like dress shoe quarters to me. Obviously in a boot like this, and any shoe really, your heel doesn’t bend or flex or move much compared to your instep and forefoot, so the need for super tough heel quarters may be unnecessary, I only mention it because it felt strange given the heavier duty feeing about the rest of the boot. Apart from that, craftsmanship was truly punching above its weight class on these, and they represent a great value on construction quality alone.The problem, and it’s why I returned them, is the shape and design of the last does not work for my feet for some reason. I’m a 10.5E on a Brannock device but I fit a 10D in most shoes and cowboy boots with a few exceptions depending on the boot maker. 10.5D in Vans. I followed Thursday’s recommendation of sizing a half size down and ordered a 10D. The resulting fit was appropriate for most of my foot. They fit well everywhere, perhaps even a little wide in the midfoot. Heel felt comfortably snug despite my reservations about the quarters. The issue is the toe box. I can feel the toe box with the tops of my toes and it exerts a mild to medium but constant pressure on them. I’ve had trouble with ingrown nails in the past and after a few days, my toes just hurt and I start to feel that if I keep wearing them, my ingrown nail issues will return. Maybe I have abnormally large Big Toes on both feet, but this issue is usually not a problem with other shoes in similar sizes, including multiple pairs of Dan Post and Capitan cowboy boots with R toes and cutter toes respectively. Never had a problem. Going a half size larger with these, (as I did with my other Thursdays Dukes) makes my foot swim in the boots, they are much too large. Half size down or wide size wouldn’t fix a toe box that isn’t tall enough.The only thing I can chalk it down to is that the shape of the last just doesn’t work for my feet. Every bootmaker and shoe maker has different lasts around which they build their shoes to make a consistent product across multiple size and width configurations. I’m sure last development is very difficult, and based on the huge number of five star reviews on these things, Thursday has obviously created a great product that works well for a lot of people. I wish they had worked for me.I suspect I might have more luck with the heavier duty models that come with lug soles and puff toes, but I find lug soles unfashionable for my sense of style. It may just be that I’m out of luck on Thursdays. I really wanted to like these and to have them work out, but for that reason I had to return them.

These Thursday Boot Company Captain boots are a stellar investment. While the leather felt snug initially, it beautifully conformed to my feet after a few wears, creating a custom-like fit that’s both supportive and comfortable. the lace-up design ensures a secure, adjustable feel.The quality is undeniable—the leather exterior and sturdy rubber sole are clearly durability. I’ve worn these for urban walks and light outdoor activities, and they’ve held up impeccably. The break-in period was minimal (about a week of casual wear). Five stars without hesitation!

They are great and awesome. Best quality. Looks awesome . Very comfy. But they are the old version of the captain line. Pointed toe box. I preferred rounded toe box like red wing. You can get the updated version in their website Thursday.com.

These boots score high in the attractiveness category but low in the comfort and practicality category. I’d reserve these for date nights, nights out, city walking maybe. I like them a lot but for an everyday boot that feels great and protects my foot I’d go with a modern boot by Keen or Merrel or some other modern shoe manufacturer. The Captain boot uppers literally took more damage in one day than my Keen Flint II uppers took after a thousand miles of heavy use. Modern boot construction has evolved to be better than heritage boot construction in every way other than aesthetics, in my opinion.Update: I like these boots more every day. They clean up great and are breaking in nicely. The sharp look gives them the edge over other boots that I have in many situations.