Hunter boots, sale, BJs and styles

[Deleted User 415]

Hi all,
I was shopping at my local BJs store (for those of you not in the US it is a membership club store selling large cases of items similar to Costco and Sam's club here in the US) and found they had a small selection of the original Hunter boots. I fear that it was a "one shot deal" and it won't be a regular item based on numbers left on the shelf. What few were left were priced at 79.99 US dollars when the web site lists them at 125 US dollars. The sizes and colors were limited too. They had mostly yellow with one green.

The box had a puzzlement- they listed both womens US size and mens US size on each box. I was looking at my size (only had green) and the rest were in yellow only. They didn't have my wife's size either.

Does Hunter make specific mens and women's versions or are they the same?

Are there any other stores in the US that have them at cheaper prices?

It was so tempting to buy the green ones, but I really need black or brown in order to wear them to and from work in slush and don't have BillP boldness with yellow Hunters.

What suggestions for perhaps other brands that BillP's family would say won't make a guy look like a dork?

[Bill_P]

Hey, I only wear the yellow Hunters when we're positive we're not going to run into anyone we know Our family/friends have only ever seen me in the short brown ones (my mother in law & sister in law think they look quite sharp on me).

Hunter boots are unisex, but they get the sizes wrong. What they mark as a US women's 10 is actually a women's 11/mens 9. The womens' 9 is actually womens 10/mens 8. Generally you subtract 2 from a US womens size to get the mens' equivalent. Hunter only subtracts 1 from the womens size so the mens' sizes are accurate, the women's are not...this is why on any US/Canada-based online shoe retailer in the comments section most women say to order a full size smaller than their actual shoe size.

Have you tried the Tretorn Skerry rain boot? It looks very much like something you'd wear on a yacht, styled almost like a deck shoe but it's a mid-calf high rubber boot. They come in navy & black for sure, and I think brown as well, check out Zappos, or shoes.com or endless.com.

[Deleted User 415]

Hi BillP and everyone else,

Thanks for those thoughts and ideas. I hadn't considered the Tretorn ones and those do look nice but the Hunters are still best for look and style for me.

I had thought that perhaps I just stick with two pairs of boots - one a leather/rubber version for work like perhaps LL Bean ones and then knee boots for the house, snow, yard, and such.

I did come across these that would be the utility ones:

http://www.ruggedsafetyproducts.com/cgi ... n&key=0152

I haven't seen them in person but think those might work at the price they are. I'd like to find a dealer around here in order to try them on and see them in person.

What is the difference in look, smell, and function between ones advertised as rubber and ones advertised as PVC?

The same site also has ones advertised as rubber:

http://www.ruggedsafetyproducts.com/cgi ... n&key=0001

At that price, it would be something I could swing and keep dreaming for the short Hunters in brown for another day. BillP - I am glad to hear the brown short Hunters do get the good family reviews.

[Deleted User 415]

I recently visited the same store location and discovered they were down to three pairs left of Hunters. Thanks to the BillP information on how their sizes run, I saw that all three were in fact my size, but all were in yellow. Oh well. I did take a second to look closely at the style and aroma and do see why they are the wellies of choice.

[Bill_P]

My favorite thing about the short mens' Hunters is that the grain of the rubber is different than the tall wellies - it looks a lot like leather even up close, but you know you're wearing rubber - a great "camouflage" boot to wear to work on a rainy day when you don't want wet feet, but also don't want your office mates to make fun of you, as American males generally don't wear wellies unless they work on farms or are hunting.

Hopefully more fashion websites & magazines like GQ will continue to publish articles that make rubber boots more fashionable for men.

Oh and if I were you I'd grab that pair of yellow Hunters, if for no other reason then they're a steal at that price. If you lack the boldness to pull off wearing them in public, then list them on ebay & make yourself a little profit...If you listed them at say $99 with a buy it now price of $109 you'd probably sell them in a heartbeat, as women will pay anything for them, and all the better if they find them for less than the customary $125-135 that most department stores sell them for. Then put that money towards a pair of short brown Hunters.