I just met a guy in an airport who was wearing some great looking boots that caught my attention. Our conversation started by me inquiring about the type of leather, where he got them, etc. He said they were elephant and that he bought them for their durability at Westley Richards. I have done some searching....I found Hippo, Cape Buffalo, etc....but no elephant. I would like to know where to look for other high quality, durable, safari type footwear. I have looked at Courteney Boots but I don't know the names of other good brands. Please help educate me.
Thank You
Rick

You do know that Courteney Boots are available at WR in Bozeman, Montana.

If he was wearing Elephant, I would suspect he got them in Africa, or shot his own Ele there and left hide with instructions on boots.

Send me a PM Monday the 24th and I will look at the WR booth at Reno if you do not get an answer before then.


Rich

Check this out...

http://www.russellmoccasin.com...ari/elephant_ph.html


Russell Moccasin makes 1st class boots (and other stuff) that is completly custom fit to you! Truly bespoke footware.

I have a custom pair of Joe's P.H. (special), and love them!


Hope this helps.

Russells are the best I have ever worn!

I do like my Russells as well; made from my Ele.

Soft Ele leather makes good boot leather but the harder leather can be quite uncomfortable and hard to break in.
I have a pair of Couteney safaris.

So far Courteney and Russell are the brands mentioned. Rich, I did find WR in Montana but the website was set up the same as the UK site with no prices in US $. It left me with questions and few answers. Are these the only sources of such quality boots? How do you know if you are getting "soft" Ele or a harder leather....before you buy? Is it possible to see an inventory and try the boots on, or are all boots custom fit/custom made? Are there US based sites? Thanks for your replies.
Rick

akrick - W Richards will have a big booth at SCI Reno and stock plenty of all the Courteney boots, so you can look, feel and try them on and purchase if so inclined. They will not have boots made from ele as it is illegal for them to do so. As mentioned before if it's ele Courteney boots you want the options above are out there. I spoke with a USFW official two years ago at a small show in New Mexico and they had a pair of the ele boots that they confiscated from a guy trying to wear them back into the US. While a lot of people have brought/worn ele boots back from Africa, if caught they most likely will be confiscated and other penalties may be forthcoming. Even leaving your own ele hide for them to make boots and send you is a little iffy if they fall into a disgruntled USFW inspector on US entry.

Not worth the risk of possibly having an entire trophy shipment confiscated and destroyed for a pair of boots is my take on this.

I have some of their boots made from cape buff, ostrich and the like and really like them a lot.

Larry Sellers
SCI Life Member

quote:

Originally posted by akrick:
So far Courteney and Russell are the brands mentioned. Rich, I did find WR in Montana but the website was set up the same as the UK site with no prices in US $. It left me with questions and few answers. Are these the only sources of such quality boots? How do you know if you are getting "soft" Ele or a harder leather....before you buy? Is it possible to see an inventory and try the boots on, or are all boots custom fit/custom made? Are there US based sites? Thanks for your replies.
Rick

Thank you Larry. Well said.
Rick

Courtney boots use elephant and buffalo hide as the primary source of leather - strictly speaking and from the CITES point of view, any boot which is made from the elephant hide ought to have some form of certificate from CITES to cover its manufacture and its new owner - hell, one guy got nailed for an elephant skull! The serial number on their products has nothing to do with CITES, it is just a production line number.