Junkard Service Boot Review — Worth to Buy??

Junkard is a shoemaker company that was founded in 2010 from Bandung, Indonesia. They’ve expanded into some more fashion focused designs and many of their boots are handmade with imported materials like upper from Italy for the leather (Shell Cordovan) and service boot is their most popular offering.

If you’re reading this there’s a good chance you already know. Junkard is a top 3 shoemaker in Indonesia footwear. For a lot of people, the brand is basically shorthand for the highest tier boot a person can buy — if you have Junkard, you know boots. If you check out Darahkubiru.com boot forum, albums and reviews of Junkard are invariably on the front page no matter what day it is.

Junkard Service Boot First Glance

• Cuban Heels
• Pull up leather — Burgundy Chromepack
• 2 Row Stitchdown Welt

Junkard Service boot is typical of many other companies that make a service boot, which is to say that it has a minimalist design with cap toe, vaguely reminiscent of old fashioned military boots. They’re more fashion focused than that, but it’s still an area of men’s fashion that we’re all familiar with, the kind of fashion that centers on traditional, masculine looks that are simple and timeless. That’s the Service boot. People looking for an inventive, unusual, or trend bucking boot won’t find it here: this is the basic boot, the one that sets the standard.

There’s no unusual stitching or toe cap in the pair of Burgundy Chrompack that I bought, but there are still a few things that do catch the eye. The first is the stitchdown welt, an unusual alternative to a Goodyear welt that results in the upper being sewn directly to the sole. Junkard has elected to double stitch their upper, resulting in a very memorable welt that probably isn’t more durable, but still looks great.

The second thing that’s remarkable about the shoe is the leather: it’s very thick and it has a very deep, rich color. Burgundy Chromepack is a really lustrous, waxy, moist leather and while it’s true that a lot of cheap boots also use it as well — it’s very trendy — you can tell Junkard leather selection is top notch.

Another noticeable aspect of these boots is that they’re relatively wide. Junkard usually uses the 2030 last with their boots, and when I called them they confirmed that it’s an E width. The width, combined with the brass eyelets, really send home the message that no matter what anyone says, these aren’t dress shoes.

Finally, these are heavy boots. They weigh at least two pounds, and their heft is immediately noticeable when they come out of the box. The weight reinforces a persistent truth about this shoe: it’s a classic, uncomplicated boot, but it does classic right.

Junkard Service Boot Leather

• Pull up
• Slightly corrected full grain leather
• Top finish a little vulnerable to scratches
• Very thick

This is Junkard most popular boot and it comes in a wide variety of leathers including kudu, horsebutt, and more, but I picked up the extremely popular pull up Burgundy Chrome pack. So let’s talk a little more about pull up leather.

Pull up leather is aniline dyed in the drum to create deep, vibrant colors. It is finished with a combination of transparent waxes and oils, which gives the leather a very soft hand, or feel. When this leather is stretched or pulled, the color migrates and becomes lighter in the pulled areas. Hence, the name pull up refers to this change in color.

Drastic variations in light and dark areas increase as the leather is handled and stretched against the grain. The pull up becomes more evident as the leather is stretched tightly around furniture frames and other materials. As a pure aniline leather, marks, scratches, and signs of wear will show and a rich patina, or shine, will increase over time.

It looks awesome as it ages, but the downside with this stuff is that the top finish scratches pretty easily. A lot of people don’t really mind that because the shoes get a lot of character pretty quickly, but I’ve got to confess that for the first few months of owning pull up boots, I’m always kind of impatient for them to get very beat up. They can look a little shoddy during that waiting period.

Junkard Service Boot Sole

• Very heavy sole
• Consists of rubber outsole, leather midsole, cork midsole, leather insole,
• Leather and foam cuban heel seat
• Steel shank

Everyone uses pull up. What makes Junkard worth all the money?

Junkard is all about the sole.

This is an incredibly heavy sole and there is a ton going on here. For starters, there’s a rubber outsole. Rubber sole is kind of similar to Junkard: it’s a sturdy, studded, grippy rubber that works super well in inclement conditions. With a boot like Junkard, I can see some people being disappointed that they don’t come with slick, flat soles made from leather or oak but the grip definitely makes it worth it. These are hardy boots made of hardy leather with a hardy sole that won’t fail you in rain. I want non-dress boots to be functional and again, these are not dress boots.

So there’s a rubber outsole, then a leather midsole, another thin midsole made of cork, and a hard leather insole. Plus there’s a steel shank for extra stability and arch support and there’s a leather heel seat with some foam in it, so there’s a ton going on in the sole. The leather used for the insole is tanned to be very stiff, a lot of people mistake it for wood because it is very dense but this is indeed a leather insole. Needless to say this boot feels very, very solid when you’re walking in it.

Then there’s the welt. As mentioned above this is a stitchdown welt, not a Goodyear welt, so instead of having a thin layer of rubber or leather between the upper and the sole, the leather is stitched directly into the sole. It’s more of a 360-degree stitchdown though because the heel is actually connected to the upper with nails and glue.

This all sounds pretty old school but the good news is that this stitchdown should still be about as water resistant as a Goodyear welt. The bad news is that it’s a lot harder to resole. It’s by no means impossible, but the leather will probably be stretched a little when you do it, and this could potentially affect the fit — it can be done, but it’s definitely trickier to resole.

Now, I might not complain so much about this if these were 1.75 million rupiah. But spoiler alert: these boots are unbelievably expensive and if I’m paying this much, I want the fit to be perfect. I want everything to be perfect when I’m buying boots that cost this much, and the fact that it’s not even available in the “normal” width and I have to settle for a roomy E width is completely unacceptable. Not for boots that cost this much. I’m not saying these are unwearable if you’re a D width, particularly if you have thick socks, they just don’t hold the foot the way boots should when they fit right. It’s not perfect. For this money, I want a perfect boot. Sue me if I’m being unreasonable.