Caboots how accurate are they?

[jacksadventures]

Hello all you slovenly yeasty cod peices lol I had a question for everyone that owns te custom jack boots from caboots. Do you have lots of pics of them do they have the correct stitching ect? Thanks shipmates

[Captain McCool]

Good question. The short answer is: no, the custom CABoots are NOT accurate. But let me give you a rundown of all the ways they differ from the screen-used boots.

First off, and most importantly in my opinion, the rear seam is all wrong. In the film versions there is a narrow (probably 1/2" or 3/4") strip of leather covering the rear seam in a neatly finished line. This is conspicuously absent from all CABoots custom orders. Instead, the rear seam is simply turned inwards, and left essentially unfinished, including on the inside, where it has been known to rub against peoples' legs and heels, causing blisters. I was told that "there were many boots used in the movies," ad that this is therefore not inaccurate. That was a lie. EVERY screen capture from all 4 movies of the back of Jacks boots show the finished seam with the narrow strip of leather sewn up the rear.

Secondly, the leather used to make the custom boots is EXTREMELY lightweight. I am not exaggerating when I say that the outer leather on these boots is at most garment-weight, if not closer to glove-weight. Furthermore, the cuffs of the boots are made of only ONE layer of this extremely lightweight leather, and therefore flop around limply, retaining very little shape. The seam at the bottom of the cuffs is a sort of hem, with the leather being turned under and then stitched. Jack's boots are not like this. The screen-used boots appear to have cuffs that are two layers thick, and the seam at the bottom is simply a line of stitching to hold these two layers together.

Finally, the color is all wrong. When I received my custom boots (which I sent back immediately because they were completely the wrong size, but I digress) they looked almost identical to the picture of the "rust" color option shown on the website. When I mentioned this I was told that the leather color "varies slightly." While that may be true, I wasn't expecting orange boots. And orange boots is what I got.


INTERESTING NOTE: Not a single one of these inaccuracies applies to the stock boots. Only the custom ones. The stock boots have the correct seam in the back, they are made from a decent weight of leather that is stitched correctly at the cuff, and they are less orange in color (although their newer stock boots do appear to be much more orange-ish in tone than their older ones, of which I have owned two pairs).

That all being said, the stock boots also have inaccuracies. The biggest one for me is the toe. I don't care what CABoots says, the "pirate toe" is NOT screen-accurate. The toes of the screen-used boots were considerably more square than the stock toe CABoots offers. On the custom boots you can choose to order the 2" square toe, however, which is very close to the ones in the film. Also, I believe that the heel on the stock boots is slightly too short - especially compared to the heels on his CotBP boots. I personally would prefer a tiny bit more height on my heel (which I requested in my original order with them, but then got stuck with a stock pair and was refused the refund for the difference. But again, I digress). And finally, the stock boots apparently come either in an all-rubber sole (which is TOTALLY inaccurate), or a black, all-leather sole with a no-slip vibram pad on the bottom (which is also inaccurate, and the vibram pad on mine started peeling off the second day I wore them).


So all-in-all, there is technically NO option with CABoots that actually offers 100% screen-accuracy.

[Captain McCool]

Unfortunately for us, there is currently no other seller that makes anything closer than what they offer.

[Captain Jack Sparrow 478]

Motor Cowboy has agreed to make Jack boots for me. Any tips McCool and others before I make the order. I am going to try get these as SA as humanly possible.

[jacksadventures]

Thank you captain! I am talking to a copany right now called fugawee they make accurate reninactment shoes an boots I've been emailing them tellin them that we jacks are longing for a better boot maker they said they can make it but they wanted a sample boot lol and all I have is my boots I hand made so I'm going to get the screen grabs that were posted in the Moter cowboy theread and possibly get something going ! If you look at there site all of there boots civial war style or whatever have the right toe which is cool I'll keep you posted I don't hve a price yet that might be a breaking point but most of their things are cheaper then motor cowboy anyway

[jacksadventures]

What price did they quote you ?

[jacksadventures]

Ok they are telling me now that the master boot maker really needs a sample to look at to get sizing and patterns right. They are looking at offering these all the time but I don't even have a caboot mine are glued hand made ones they said they would ship them back unharmed when they were done I didn't know if anyone had a spare more accurate boot that they could look at to use as refrence ?

[Captain Jack Sparrow 478]

I'm not in the US so I don't think I could ship boots to them as reference. Besides mine are not accurate and is why I am wanting to upgrade. Twice I tried ordering customs from Caboots and both times I did not get anything like what I wanted. None of my specs.

[Capt Jag]

CABoots...some cringe, some smile, some get thoughts of a deeply dark and homicidal nature...

But, for myself, I am happy with my CABoots. First off, I went with the stock boots. I know they're not 100% screen accurate, and am okay with that. As I've said many, many times I go for "Jackuracy" over 100% screen accuracy. I also wasn't going to shell out the extra money for custom boots when the stock boots fit my needs perfectly.

The main things about the stock boots are the toe and the sole. As Capt. McCool pointed out, the stock boots come with either an all leather or a rubber sole, both in black. I went with the rubber since I do fighting/stunt shows sometimes as Jack but also in other pirate/swashbuckler costumes, so I needed something that will give safe traction jumping, fighting, climbing, running, whatever. Sometimes on the wet deck of a ship, sometimes on stage, wherever. For me, a rubber sole was a must. However, after getting weathered and dirtied up, it's not really noticable anymore. The soles look fine.

As for the toe, it's rounded, not square. Period. And very, very few people are going to notice. Or care. That's strictly a personal preference - if you want 100% SA, the toe is square. End of story.

As for the leather - the stock boots are a decent thickness. You still need a strap to keep them up, but the weight and durability is good.

Overall, I have no complaints about my boots or the service I got when I ordered them (though this was 4 or 5 years ago)...

[Captain McCool]

My first order with CABoots was around the same time, JAG, and I had no problems with them at that time either. I got two pairs of boots from them (both stock, and both on super-discount, because I'm poor), and I would've just kept the second pair if they hadn't been about a size and a half too big for me (despite being listed as my size, but then, they've been known to have sizing issues). If it wasn't for that I would never have tried to order another pair, and I would not now be trying to indirectly burn their company to the ground. In the end, if you really want CABoots, the stock boots are the way to go.

As for the other makers, I'm all about finding someone else who will do their own version that's closer to the screen-used boots. But if so, they're going to have to be selling them at a competitive price. And furthermore, they're going to have to PROVE to me that their customer service is better than the alternative.

It's a bugger of a thing about them wanting a pair for reference, because if they're just going to copy the CABoots pattern, we won't get much better of a product. Still, if someone doesn't mind sending along a pair for a few while they look them over (I would, but I've got too many gigs and events where I need them in the near future), and then giving them a very specific rundown of the changes that need to be made, it might prove worth it in the end.

[jacksadventures]

Yea that's my problem I'll see what I can do because I know motercowboy did it on just pics an specs

[jacksadventures]

Also of anyone with a pair could take some measurements that would be a great help I know it's a pain but of anybody is interested in a diffrent supplyer hopefully cheaper than Moter cowboy

[jacksadventures]

And is the cuff smaller on the stock caboot?

[Captain McCool]

I've heard some people say that the cuff is smaller, but I don't believe it's true. At least, not on the newer versions. The old-old-old stock CABoots had a very small cuff, but those have been out of circulation for a while.

And in regards to the specs for a pair of really-good-screen-accurate-boots, here is what I wrote in the "CABoots: Is there an alternative?" thread (slightly edited for more clarity):

3-piece boots (as in, one piece for the toe, one for the heel and shaft, and one for the cuff at the top. This does not include lining.)

Shaft height: 18 to 21 inches, depending on the person. However, a 19-20 inch shaft for an average boot is probably right around the mark.

Toe: 2", and square in shape. VERY square. No "sort of square and sort of round" nonsense.

Sole: brown natural leather, with a single line of stitching around the edge. This may optionally have a thin neoprene slip-protector or outer-sole, but the sole must NOT have a noticeable tread of any kind.

Heel: stacked brown leather, matching the sole. Preferably 1 5/8 inch, or even very slightly taller - but not quite 2". Heel should be gently sloped inward at the rear. Heel may optionally have a rubber bottom to help with wear and shock when walking.

Finished rear seam - Meaning a 1/2"-or-so strip of leather stitched up the center back of the boot, neatly covering rear seam from the top of the heel to the where the cuff attaches to the shaft.

Cuff or bell measuring 10 or 11 inches at front and gently sloping to 8 or 9 inches in rear. Cuff should come to a slightly rounded point at front, and should be made of 2 layers of leather stitched together at bottom edge. Bell MUST flare outward from where it attaches to the shaft (my boots flare between around 4 or 5 inches from the the opening to the edge of the cuff, and this seems about right). Repeat, cuff must NOT be cut straight. Cuff to be completely stitched up the rear, with seam turned in towards the boot when cuff is folded down (or alternately, with outer seam turned in towards the lining, and lining seam turned in towards the outer portion, so that no raw seam is visible). This means NO split in the rear, NO lacing up the back, and NO raw seam sticking out in the back. There should be NO downward facing point in the back, where the cuff is sewn together.

Suede or "rough out" genuine leather material used for outside of boots (preferably of a nice, sturdy weight of leather. NOT garment weight or anything like it), and preferably smooth, softer leather used inside for lining.

Natural tan color (as in NOT brown, NOT orange, and NOT yellow, but a nice, semi-dark natural tan color. Perhaps somewhat buttery, with slightly brown or yellow undertones).

[jacksadventures]

thank you sir!!

[Captain McCool]

Quite welcome! Also, I just edited a slight typo. It should be about as precise as I can make it now.

[jacksadventures]

Do you use the nu life shoe spray?

[Captain McCool]

Nope. I did absolutely no weathering on my boots, in actual fact. I simply wore them to the faire for a few weekends, and they were pretty well weathered on their own, heh. The color was a bit on the dark side, and maybe a bit orange-ish, but they were close enough in the end.

[jacksadventures]

Got you all natural lol! So do you use the customs or stock ?

[Captain Jack Sparrow 478]

Beautiful specs McCool!!! I totally agree with you on all counts.

[Capt Jag]

I used Nu Life to weather my boots, as well as natural weathering. They look pretty good now, and get better wtih age.

I know that the OST boots are darker, but personally I don't care. My boots are somewhere in between AWE and OST at the moment. As they darken naturally, they get more OST. Now that the weather is nice again I may take them out and darken them a bit more with Nu Life.

I also use it to weather my clothes, and it works pretty well...

[TomSparrow]

Hey guys, want to chime in as I'm also interested in this topic.

Well, long time ago (2006 or 2007) I purchased a pair of A1 stock boots which fit great and delivery time was also very fast. They were natural tan as described and had a good look and feel to them:


I then used leather dye to change this color into brown (ok a bit too dark for the DMC/AWE look but anyway):


They also had the stripe of leather on the backside and the stitching on the cuffs.

The only thing I didn't like was the toe (not square and although almost all Sparrows claimed that these would be exact, I never believed this as you can clearly see the square toe in the movies). Also, they were too loose in my knee area (well, nevermind as these were stock boots and no customs)

Due to the fact that I didn't like the color anymore (and having 2012 now ) I was looking for more accurate ones in the desired color. Reading very bad stories about customer service and wrongly made custom boots, I never had the courage to order a custom pair.

Long story short, yesterday I've wrote them an email, asking if they can EXACTLY replicate the style of the boots they got in their collection (one pair of Johnny's actual boots from pirates 2/3), which can be seen in their facebook photo gallery. Here it is to show you guys:


At first, they just sent me a VERY short answer:

Yes we can sell you a pair.

Order directly on our website:

http://www.caboots.com/product/1SCSA1BRNSD/PIRATES-II-JACK-SPARROW-TAN-PIRATE-BOOTS-A1.html

So, now I wrote again and with more details of what I wanted:

Hi and thanks for the email.

I don't know if you understand my question entirely.

As far as I know, the A1 boots are not the same as in the picture (attached it). The toe is really squared and there's a leather stripe on the back of the boots. Some A1's don't have this feature. The "pirate toe" is not accurate to the ones in the movies.

So my question was if you are able to replicate the boot in the picture to my size (I already own a pair in 8.5 and they fit perfectly) or not, because I would need EXACT replicas.

I heard the rumor from a friend of mine saying that Disney doesn't allow you to sell exact replicas, so the A1's or custom boots are maybe close, but not 100% exact.

Hope you understand what I mean and can maybe help me out.

Then I got another email, this time a bit more detailed:

Yes hello, we do understand- we made the boots for those movies.
Those are accurate. Some do have the strip and some do not you are right However, we did make 7 pairs for the Jack Sparrow character and are considered accurate.
We made a total of about 400 pairs for those movies for Disney as a whole for all 4 movies.
As strange as it sounds Disney was not as concerned that the boots being all exactly the same...these are handmade period reproductions and they understood that they vary because of this but the accuracy is the period reproduction in how we make boots is why Disney ordered from us and are not costume but actual boots as they were made for hundreds of years.
..so it really just depends on what scene you are working off of.
In fact in some scenes Johnny Depp wore brown boots and others it was the natural.
It just depends on what they were going for scene to scene.

That is why we sent you the link to order directly.
If you do not want to order the stock boots and want to replicate the boots from a certain scene you can order the custom Jack Sparrow and order the exact features you want to replicate...
If you have any questions feel free to call me Priscilla

Somehow I lost interest in purchasing an accurate boot from them as obviously they don't care about serious enquiries. I also cannot believe that they made such different pairs of boots for the Sparrow character, maybe some for the stunt guys, but obviously all Sparrow boots should look the same as we all know on each and every photo and screenshot...

It's quite sad that we're not able to get 100% SA boots and just have to guess what COULD be SA looking...

Just my 2 cents...

[jacksadventures]

That is terrible I called them as well asking the same thing and it's like there giving me the run around or like they don't want the business !!! Very silly but the co that talking to the woman on charge has responded to all my emails usually within 30 min, about 15 emails already lol so I'm trying to get a price It's fugwee.com check it out they actually make period boots. The weird thing is they told me that the three peice boot was not made infill the late 1800's very strange

[jacksadventures]

There are a lot of screen caps that show a square sole with a very flat round toe like in DMc at the end

[Captain Jack Sparrow 478]

Yeah, in my opinion I thought pirate boots such as Jack's were only 2 pieces. The shaft and cuff would be all one piece (not two separate pieces). As the boots can be worn either with the cuff up (all the way up the leg) or folded down like Jack does. If you watch other pirate films, not just Pirates of the Caribbean, you can see these sort of boots worn both kinds of ways.

Oh and as for CaBoots, I have tried desperately to get them to understand the specs I desire for SA in the past, and they just don't seem interested in helping. They are so stubborn that their boots are always accurate, when clearly they are not. They always argue that they can't get as close as we are seeking cos they are hand made and that we should just accept that. Well, how hard is it really to put a 1/2 inch strip of leather up the back of the boots..... I even asked if they can't do it, can they just send me some matching leather with the boots and I'll pay extra for it and have a local boot maker put it on, but they were not interested. How hard can it be to also square the toe and make them fit properly etc to the size a person has ordered.....

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