DR MARTENS Vs SOLOVAIR: Which are better? (DM'Made In England',DM'Hardlife'&Solovair'8 Eye Derby')

[michaeljustice]

I had a pair of the Maid in China steel toed Docs about 4 years ago. I was helping a friend move, the glue or binding on the heel came loose (unknown to me!). I was going backwards down som stairs and the heel caught, I fell, shattered my wrist, banged the crap out of my elbow... 5 surgeries later (4 for the wrist, one for the elbow) and I’m just now getting back to normal. Ive had several of the Made in England’s and have never had the heel separate like that. Needless to say I’ll never buy the Made in China ones again!

[southernpimp]

*Short answer:* Solovair.
Quality is 10X better.

[shack]

I'm old enough to have wore DMs in the early 80's and have witnessed firsthand the drop in quality since the mid late 90's. I now own both MiE and Solovair and have to say Solovair are the closet thing to the originals, maybe that's because that's what they are!. Still both great boots but the price is now getting out of hand. Back before they became trendy the retail price for DMs remained the same for years. And that price £19.99. Shocking.

It will be interesting to see what the long term reviews tell.

[AshGreen]

I've had Doc Martens for years. I have a pair that's over 15 years old still made in the UK.
I also have a 10 year old pair made in China. The two were of identical quality.

However I bought a new pair a year ago and they are already falling apart.

So sad to see this great company turn to garbage.

[andrewarthurmatthews]

Having only ever purchased one pair of the boots, can’t recall what they were other than lace ups in tan hide, I absolutely had no problems and literally wore them out. Both the sole and then the upper were worn through so these did everything required. Bought in Ealing 1978

[jossyDread]

Solovairs are wider, I wear a 8.5 in DM's and a 8 in Solovairs, soles are thicker and they're really easy to break in

[jamesfeeney]

There is a video on the solovair factory bring the same facility that originally made the DMs they still use the same equipment.

[andrewarthurmatthews]

Just awaiting my new pair on Dr. M’ s Chelsea boots and then came across this video that is very interesting. I like the voice, well clearly spoken description, good pace to the piece and no silly background music ( or back to front baseball caps ) Well done you

[holt]

Since I saw so many Videos prasing the Solovair Boots I decided to buy them, they are my first Boots with laces and so far the quality is perfect, but the Boots realy hurt on top of my feet. I'm guessing it is because there is the stich that combines the tongue of the boot with the Rest, has anyone had similar experiences and did the pain Go away?
Cheers

[paullynch]

I bought a pair of Dr Marten Chelsea boots a few years ago. Lasted a few wears before the sole split, to my shock. Have recently bought a pair of Solovair boots and shoes. Amazing quality.

[MrCouchIncident]

First thing, thank you for this video. I didn't realize I could order Solovair where I live. Second, I love the SKX you are wearing.

[sputumtube]

66 Rockwell for the Solovairs? That's harder than the M4 steel of my Benchmade Contego.!! My For Life DM's which I bought on your recommendation are still going strong. No complaints at all. The Made In England DM's are so much more handsome than the Solovairs (which look like Dickies Workwear made them). The M.I.E. DM's are far more than just boots to those who wear them. They represent a lifestyle choice. Solovair are just...boots. Personally, I'd rather spend the extra on the M.I.E. DM's with a slightly shorter (sole) lifespan.

[littlesammyf]

Please reassure Mrs DR that we are super grateful for the extra level of ‘science’. I can’t wait for your 6month update on the Solovairs, I bought mine after watching your videos and I love them

[b.p.stimemachines]

As an American I used to wear Dr martens when I was a young punk rocker then they went Chinese. I have had tons of them 3 eye bump toe steel caps, 14 eye, 8 eye in Black blue and oxblood, 3 eye in blue purple cherry black, 12 eye steel cap cherry red. Finally the moral of my story not being English I switched to a boot make in my Homeland. Cochran paratroopers with lug soles and Carolina tanker boots with straps instead of laces and a lug soles, and Belleville rough out usgi boots for field work. The only downfall is that the paratroopers only really come in black and brown which I polish with oxblood to give them a slight hue. They aren't as trendy as Dr Marten boots but to me it's cheaper to wear an American boot than a Chinese doc let alone an English boot. Cheers for keeping your boots English whilst I keep mine American; thing is we both give enough of a shit to take pride in the boots we wear. Just one more thing, can you get your docs resoled? I am on the 2nd set of vibram lugs on my tankers and not sure if you can or if it is even worth it to resole. Thanks for hearing me out

[jquill]

I just ordered a pair of solovairs, can’t wait to see what they’re like. I owned several pairs of docs from the late 80s/early 90s. Even then I had problems with the insole of them.

[anarchy_of_dirt]

Use a tire tread depth gauge to measure the sole tread depth

[stillstonedd]

Thank u for thee detailed observations. Been a DM user for all my life and Nana now thinking about you giving the other guys a try.

[RyanOuellette]

Looks like Docs has now scrapped the Hard Life collection as well, slashed the price from $160 to $96 and only available in Men's sz 14. In recent months they've been putting out colored "leather" 1460s (I hesitate to even call them a 1460, I guess they resemble what that boot used to be anyway) that I think are meant to appeal to people who want the look of the unique colored Docs that were iconic in the 80s (blues, reds, greens, yellows etc.) but these things can barely be called leather, it's like some sort of press-board composite garbage they're selling for $150.

[lriper]

I thought solovair’s were of better quality so I bought 2 pairs of 11eye boots. Oxblood and black. After a year the soles wore out like docs, but the worst was the heels leather fall down and touch the sole... no support at all. they have completely different shape too. They don’t look like docs.

[seth_]

I’ll be interested to see the long term wear results. I do not believe that hardness is a tell tale sign of how a material will erode, however I agree in the guess that the Solovair and MEI will be longer wearing then the outsourced DMs. The Solovair thread pattern looks quite superior to me. Your measurement of hardness is an interesting thing though. Love your comparisons and reviews! Many of us appreciate them. Keep it up 😎