The Wheat Nubuck Icon - Timberland's 6 Inch Waterproof Premium Classic Boot

The Timberland 6-inch Waterproof Premium Classic boot - a bit of a mouthful - is recognisable in almost every country in the world.

 

This is the first boot that I bought consciously as a "proper" work and casual boot, not as a fashion item out of a high street, mall or shopping centre store.

 

I bought my first Timberland boot in the mid-1980s long before they became the fashion choice of hip-hop musicians.

 

The accounting firm I was working for sent me to their in-house educational facility in St Charles, Illinois in the United States for 3 months, to teach a load of newbie accountants how to advise small business clients, and on my way home to Australia, I stopped in New York and walked into a men’s shoe store and fell in love with the boot.

 

It clearly did not suit my sartorial style in those days – all corporate three-piece and double-breasted suits – but it really talked to me as a boot – to wear with jeans and to go bush with it.

 

I mean look at it – it’s yellow, it has a big bulbous, kick-up toe, and it has a grippy rubber lug sole that shouted hard-wear and outdoors and knife-between-your-teeth commando movies.

 

Check out my Bootlosophy YouTube channel review here:

 

 

This particular pair is my third pair of Timbs.

 

And this pair is already 7 or 8 years old, bought, of all places, in Singapore where Timberland as a brand is a popular fashion brand of shoes and clothing.

 

It’s seen a bit of hard use, not only in casual situations, - it’s had a few beers spilt on it - but I’ve worn it when I go out bush for work in the northwest of Australia, I wear it when I’m doing chores in the yard or on the house and on small construction projects like working on my wife’s investment property.

 

It’s a firm favourite.

 

 

Let’s start by taking a look at the overall style of the Timbs.

 

This is clearly a work boot, with the chunky sole and the stumpy toe and the slight toe bump. It’s not light – weighs in at about 1.6 kilograms per pair, that’s about nearly 4 pounds. As a workboot, they feel substantial on your feet, even though they do not have steel-capped toes.

 

The company itself was founded in 1928 in Boston as the Abington Shoe Company. And in 1952 Nathan Swartz bought an interest in the company and eventually changed it to his family business moving it to New Hampshire.

 

In 1973 Abington under Swartz designed and made the wheat nubuck 6-inch boot calling it “The Timberland”.

 

It was designed with the “working man” in mind, originally used by farmers and construction workers, quickly becoming a popular working man’s boot because of its relatively low price, solid construction, and being fully waterproof.

 

Not water resistant, waterproof.

 

It became popular with recreational outdoor hikers and hunters because it was waterproof, and because it was sturdy, using a new injection moulding technique to fix the sole onto the boot.

 

In 1978, it was such a staple of the company that the whole company was renamed Timberland after it. In the 1980’s it became a Wall Street icon as well when young mergers and acquisitions specialists started to wear it to work with jeans and a button-down to, well, to basically signify they could flout the rules because they were Masters of the Universe.

 

And then in the 1990’s it really took off when rap singers and hip-hop artists made it a streetwear fashion item.

 

 

The classic yellow or “wheat” coloured nubuck is immediately recognisable, as is the padded leather-covered collar that wraps around your ankle giving comfort and further added waterproof protection. I’ve worn it into a creek with water over the top of the boot and not had a drop of water in the boot.

 

 

The sole is a honey-coloured chunky commando pattern sole, grippy and tough. Great for slippery ground, mud and snow.

 

The Timberland Classic Boot is so popular around the world, especially in South East Asia and other parts of Asia that it is the most copied boot in the world. This leads to a danger of course if you try to buy it cheaply in Asia or online from an unofficial website.

 

There are plenty of fakes out there.

 

If you’ve ever been to a night market or a street market in Malaysia or Thailand or Indonesia or walked through a street of shoemakers in Vietnam, you’ll have seen cheap Timberland boots, even with the Timberland stamp on the heel.

 

But buyer, beware, if they are cheap, they are likely fakes.

 

And Timberland itself cashes in on the popularity of this Classic boot by making a cheaper alternative they call the Timberland 6-inch “Basic” boot!

 

The "Basic" Boot is also yellow. It has a recognisable brown collar. It has a similarly luggy sole – but not in the regular “Commando” pattern of stars and lugs – and it’s supposedly also waterproof.

 

But it is not lined with leather and Gore-Tex, it has thinner insulation, the outsole is plasticky rather than grippy, the collar is plastic, not leather, and the whole midsole construction is weaker and less durable.

 

 

How is it put together? Let’s look at the construction and materials from the bottom up.

 

I guess generically, the Timberland is a cement construction boot. That is, the sole is not stitched to the uppers, even though you can see stitching along the edge of what appears to be a welt.

 

That’s faux stitching – it’s moulded into the top side of the sole.

 

More correctly, however, it’s not an ordinary cement construction boot. The sole is actually thermal injection moulded to the upper – it’s attached while molten – and makes for a better waterproof seal than just glue.

 

It’s also extremely durable – I’ve never had the sole peel off the boot no matter how badly I’ve treated my previous Timberland boots. They’re pretty much there to stay until the rubber actually wears down.

 

The sole pattern is Timberland’s proprietary commando lug sole, made of a grippy polyurethane rubber compound. It’s quite sticky in texture and the lugs give a good grip.

 

Sometimes, too good a grip because there’s a tendency to pick up gravel and stones and bits of twigs between the lugs, and definitely accrues mud that you track into the house if you’re not careful!

 

Heading north, there is a lighter-coloured rubber midsole that you can see on the outside, and inside is more rubber and a cardboard insole covered by Gore-Tex, and then a removable comfort insole.

 

There is a shank in there – and it seems some of them have a steel shank, some have a nylon or fibreglass shank, depending on where they are made. I’ve never had to take these off at the airport so I’m guessing I have a nylon or fibreglass shank in these.

 

It is an extremely comfortable boot, despite the weight, and I can attest to many hours standing in one of these without my feet complaining. The weight of around 1.6 kilograms for a pair adds to the feeling of sturdiness and doesn’t make you feel tired in them because of the great shock absorption of the sole construction.

 

The upper is made of wheat-coloured nubuck leather.

 

Mine has darkened quite a bit with age.

 

Nubuck is a full or top grain leather that’s been sanded enough on the grain side or “hair” side of the skin to create a fuzzy feel to the touch. It is not suede which is a split leather revealing the fibres inside the "skin" that form the nap of the suede.

 

Nubuck is pretty resilient leather.

 

Yes, it does scratch and scuff but it’s tough enough not to split because it is full grain leather, with the fibres closely packed together. Timberland treats their nubuck to be fully waterproof. It’s not just coated on the outside, it’s treated through the tanning process and silicone injected so that the whole skin is waterproof.

 

I mean, I’m sure that eventually, they might lose their waterproof nature so you should take some care of them, and we’ll discuss how in a minute.

 

They use contrast stitching in the construction, which helps with the look of the work boot aesthetic.

 

There’s one piece of leather forming the toe box and the vamp, and it curves around the sides all the way to the back. It’s like a boat shape to further provide water protection up to at least the first eyelet.

 

There’s a pretty prominent Timberland logo on the heel – but I guess if you bought these as a fashion statement or to show that they are Timbs, you want that.

 

There is a one-piece backstay covering the heel counter to give it some rigidity in the heel.

 

Both the toebox and the heel counter are structured – the heel counter quite rigidly to give it stability.

 

The tongue is sewn onto the vamp and is partly gusseted, up to the fourth eyelet, again adding to waterproofing the boot.

 

The inside is leather lined in the shaft and Gore-Tex lined in the foot, with their proprietary “Thinsulate” insulation around your feet and ankles, making it a worthy winter boot as well.

 

There are 7 rows of hexagonal eyelets, fully backed so they don’t tear, and the iconic Timberland nylon laces. There are no speed hooks. Great for stability and no hooks to catch on jeans and so on – but they can be a pain to put on and take off. I usually take the laces out of the two top eyelets before I take them off and then that creates a little more room to open up the shaft to put them on.

 

But that means a little time to thread the laces through the two top eyelets every time.

 

 

As for leather care, you care for nubuck as you would care for suede.

 

Any stains or imperfections can be rubbed off with a suede eraser – literally, an eraser, like what you used to use at school -  and the nap can be brushed clean and into shape with a stiff suede brush.

 

If it’s really dirty, you can use a little suede or nubuck shampoo, but, you know, it’s a workboot.

 

If the leather feels a bit dry, you can condition it, but with special nubuck or suede conditioner.

 

Do not for goodness’ sake use any of your smooth leather conditioners or polishes on the nubuck! That’s going to flatten the nap and make it smooth and glossy, not the classic Timberland look,

 

You can use Saphir products designed for suede or nubuck, but they’re a little expensive, especially down under, and Timberland products are available so why not use the maker’s products?

 

This brings me to a favourite tip of mine.

 

Quality bootmakers will want you to take care of their products. So, check out what they say you should use to care for their products. In this case, Timberland makes a range of leather care products, including nubuck conditioners, so my advice is to go with them.

 

Here are a couple of links to their care products:-

 

Timberland dry cleaning kit https://amzn.to/3GNXAwP
Timberland Renewbuck Foaming Cleaner https://amzn.to/3sJQAvN

 

 

 

Now, let’s take a look at sizing and fit.

 

What’s my Brannock size?

 

A Brannock machine is one of those things you stand on in a shoe store with sliding levers that measure your foot size.

 

My true Brannock size is a UK 7 and 1/2. That’s equal to a US 8 and 1/2.

 

Generally, American boots run large so I usually fit into a US 8D  – I drop at least a half size down from my Brannock. That’s equivalent to an Australian or UK 7G. The “D”, or in Australia the “G”, signify "average" width.

 

These Timberlands do run large, I got these in a US 8 “Wide” – Timberland comes in Standard or Wide only – and while a little roomy, they fit me well. A pair in US8 Standard was a little too snug in the toes. I think at a pinch I could fit into a US7 and a half wide but these are comfortable as they are because I like a little room in my toes.

 

With these in an 8 Wide, I can wear them very comfortably all day with thick boot socks on.

 

The last is a pretty universal foot last, with some generosity. The heel grips securely and the waist is proportionately narrow. It surprised me when I looked at it properly – but the toe shape, while generous and round, has a surprisingly almond shape to it if you look carefully.

 

 

That doesn’t deter me from the comfortably wide fit, my toes have room to wiggle while the rest of the foot is secured.

 

As for break-in, I’ve never really had to break in a pair of Timberland boots – one of the advantages of the thermal injection moulding – is there’s no welt and leather to break in under your feet, and the nubuck is soft enough leather to adapt to your feet quickly.

 

Don’t get me wrong though – the first time you wear these, you will feel the weight and that will take some getting used to, particularly if these are your first pair of "real" boots. And the sole is remarkably grippy when new so I found that the breaking-in process was really a "getting-used-to-having-them-on-your-feet" process.

 

The one thing that had to break in was the way the puffy, stuffed collar at the top of the shaft bit into my leg – it took a while for the collar to feel soft enough to not irritate the skin.

 

So, no pain, but potentially some embarrassing stumbles as you get used to the weight and the grip.

 

 

Now, what about styling it with what you wear?

 

This is clearly a casual boot. It has an undeniable work boot aesthetic.

 

They look great with work pants, and jeans, and maybe I’d go so far as to say that they would go with chinos and an Oxford Cloth Button Down shirt or a chambray shirt. The Wall Street Masters of the Universe in the '90s wore them with their '90s baggy, pleated cream chinos and Polo Ralph Lauren Polo Shirts (can't tell a lie, I did too!).

 

But I wouldn’t pair them with formal pants.

 

They are chunky boots so I’m not sure I would wear them with skinny jeans – I don’t own any anyway – but I’d certainly wear them with straight jeans or slim-fit jeans.

 

Shorts? Yeah!

 

 

As I said earlier, I wear them for work in renovation projects – plastering, some concreting, remodelling the kitchen, gardening and yard work, that sort of thing, so I wear them mainly with jeans and work pants. However, I have been known to wear them out on very casual outings, to the pub on a Sunday afternoon or to friends for a barbeque, but never out on date night or anything where something more formal is required.

 

 

Now, let’s look at how much it costs, and is it worth it?

 

The cost of the Timberland Classic boot is pretty regular wherever you buy it.

 

You can buy it for under US$200 in the US, but in Australia and Asia, they’re steady at around AUD$300 or whatever the exchanged local currency is – for example in Singapore, where the Singapore Dollar is about 90 cents to the Aussie dollar, they’re available for about $300 as well.

 

You can buy them discounted from time to time, and probably the most reliable and often discounted space to buy them is on Amazon where I’ve seen them sell for about AUD$200 to AUD$260.

 

Are they worth it?

 

“Worth” is a contextual term.

 

In Australia, $300 is not a cheap boot. But then, you’re comparing prices with high-street mall shops that sell mass-produced fashion-forward boots that really won’t last the distance in quality or durability.

 

If you compare it with a workboot like Caterpillar or Steel Blue steel capped boots, those also sell for a couple of hundred dollars. However, the Timberlands are better constructed, and waterproof, and you are buying an icon for less than a hundred dollars more.

 

So, is it worth it?

 

Mine have lasted me – not with daily wear I hasten to add – for 8 years so far. Previous Timberlands have lasted me until my feet grew too big for them, at least 10 plus years. So, that’s $30 a year.

 

Not bad cost per wear.

 

Look, if you’re looking for an iconic, waterproof, durable, workboot-looking boot that you can wear as a casual item as well as a light workboot – yeah, I think they’re worth it.

 

 Well, those are my thoughts on the Timberland six-inch Waterproof Premium Classic boot in wheat nubuck.

 

Still a mouthful.

 

I hope you liked the review, and you should go over to my channel on Youtube and watch the review there.

 

I’ve got plenty of boot reviews and boot-related topics to come on this blog and on my channel, so stay tuned.

 

See you soon!