Has anyone purchased wood boot trees recently that they really like? I have a good set I purchased in Germany 20 years ago, but they only work with pull on style boots with loops.
My new boots have zippers and no loops. Is there a good option out there, or is it better to get loops sewn onto my boots so I can use my old boot trees?
Following!
Can’t you just zip your current boots and insert the wooden tree? Effectively, the tree mimics a leg inside a boot so the boots don’t sag and crease and I can’t quite visualize your problem with zips v pull on.
I am guessing that they use the loops to stay in the correct place. Since there are no loops they slide further down in the boot and don’t have the fat part in the correct spot of the boot. With the newer spring loaded ones they don’t have to sit on the sole of the boot to be in the right place.
Hmm, possibly. All the wooden trees I have known were made to fit the boots so loops simply weren’t an issue. They go right down into the foot.
It depends what you are calling boot trees. There are some that include wooden leg shapers and some that just have a sprung centre post that you hook through the pull loops. There are also leg shapers you could possibly use with an existing shoe tree. https://www.containerstore.com/s/clo…uctId=10020411 Also can be found much cheaper in plastic.
@Equibrit, yes mine are the type with the sprung centre post that hooks through the pull loops! They don’t work with the custom boots with no loops (other than the foot shaper part). Thank you to the link for the shapers, I would prefer wood ones!
@Willesdon I actually had never seen wooden trees made to fit the boots, I will look into those.
The old fashioned type of wood trees always used to be custom made and were sold with the boots they were made for. They also tend to live their whole life with those boots, and are usually passed on if the boots are sold. As far as I know that is still the case (it’s the nature of the beast) and you can find them for sale used, with boots, for lots of money !
Those look really good. Any idea about the pricing?
Customers generally meet them at shows e.g. Badminton Horse Trials, and are measured there by Mr Davies’ son-in-law. They ain’t cheap, but then neither are Rolls Royce cars.
If you are interested, I suggest you contact them directly and ask what they can do for you.
Just looked online: prices over ÂŁ1200 for hunting boots
Sorry. I meant the trees not the boots.
Probably same response then, contact them and ask if they would sell trees without the boots. The trees are usually made to replicate your leg measurements, same as the boots. Alternatively, look on e.g. eBay UK for secondhand trees. Or by boots with trees in, which might be cheapest. Or e.g. www.thehuntingshop.co.uk
There are some used ones on ETSY - several hundred dollars.Also on ebay (some with boots, approaching $1000)
PS.
There is a reason they are only custom made.
Neat, in a slightly creepy way
I got mine from my local tack store - they are solid wood and have a hinged bolt in the in middle - so you zip up the boots, slide them in at an offset, and then push the high side down so that they are locked in the boot. I don’t know the brand, and they don’t have a molded foot (I’ve never had an issue with the foot needing a tree in any of my boots).
They are like this:
I covet the brown Davies boots…
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