The Boot Camp Clique Chronicles…

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^ Can’t tell him nuthin’!

A series of drops is long overdue featuring some of the footwear in my Timberland collection. Timbs are so much more everlasting in Hip-Hop than any kicks you might compare them to. They are greater than Air Force 1’s and shell toe adidas. At least for my era in Hip-Hop they are. For many years Timberlands were four season shoes on my feet. When I tell you that I brought (boots x shorts) to the ‘hood please believe it.

I should let Polotron tell it.

There was no pair that I had that put more work in with me than my Iditarod Superboots popularly known as the Forty Belows. I copped these joints from Paragon Sporting Goods store on Broadway back in 1987 and they are still in my collection today. I can’t fit a 10.5 any longer but I refuse to give them away because of all the shit we have been through. These shoes are Superboots indeed and I damn near treated them like athletic shoes. Let me give you some music to set the tone for this drop…

BlackMoon – ‘Buck ‘Em Down’

40 below
40 below
40 below

To be a real Timberland head you have to know the style number for your boots. This is how I was able to speak with Timberland about their products. For many years they matched my consumerism with the best customer support. If a pair of boots failed me they replaced them without haste. Timberland’s customer service >>> Nike and NorthFace combined.

The 10284 was the last of it’s kind. I’ll feature another Superboot with a similar design that was Gore-Tex insulated but even that boot couldn’t hold up wear and tear that the OG 10284 has withstood. I’ve never re-soled these boots. This is the original Timberland rubber sole. This sole is even better than a Vibram joint. That was the only problem with the 10284. It was made TOO well. You may not ever need to buy another pair of boots. Trust me. I’ve bought many.

40 below
40 below
40 below

The first thing that grabs me about these shoes is their weight. They feel like the equivalent of placing a Sherman tank on your feet. The leather is tremendously thick yet supple and pliant. The rumor was always that these boots were made from elephant skin. Whoever did the OG buzz marketing for Timberland was a boss. I remember these talking points as though it were 1987 all over again. The Timberland logo is a huge brand embossed into the side of the boot but it was never readily visible. You had to know the deal for real.

The next time you watch the movie ‘Juice’ peep the boots that Bishop is wearing. Yep, he has on the OG Forty Belows tied up to the top. I don’t care for 2Pac’s music too tough, but I would never deny that he is a Hip-Hop icon of the highest caliber. I mean, sonn has on the Iditarod Superboot. How can he NOT be iconic? I want to say that I have seen cover art with Naughty by Nature rocking the Forties as well. However, no one in Hip-Hop culture has made Timberland more official than the Boot Camp Clik. And myself (natch).

The Timberland style came from Harlem as well as Northface did. Brooklyn cats at the time were on their Fila-Prince-Le Coq Sportif shit. Harlem’s style back then was flashy too in it’s own right. Roof Of The World coats were wildly popular and pretty expensive. If Paragon was sold out then you had to go to Tents & Trails in lower Manhattan. For Timberland shoes though I always fuxed with Paragon. Polotron loved McReedy & Schreiber. To each his own.

At the height of my Timberland collection I may have owned more than sixty pairs of boots. I have since sold many on eBay and now I have a little over thirty pairs. I’ve got some heat rocks too. For the follow up drop I will feature some of my Timbs made in Italy. Those joints are Crazy Eddie aka INSAAAAAANE!

Shouts to Polotron, Marcuspekt and eskay

28 Responses to “The Boot Camp Clique Chronicles…”

  1. Amadeo says:

    I never realized how heavy boots were until after 4 years I went to wearing tennis…it was a month until I felt like I had something on my feet.

  2. Combat Jack says:

    why did they discontinue these Dallas, any insight?

  3. Never had those 40 Belows tho’ props to the sole. DP or Polo, ya’ll ever get burned on some of the later Timz with lousy blown rubber soles? Shit was blown out in like three months of admittedly steady wear; I went back to the old beef and brocs which were fucking rugged.

    “An educated consumer is out best customer”– now I have that stupid commercial in my head…

    Timz N Hood Check!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcIt2F6TNOo

  4. the_dallas says:

    C-Jack,
    In my opinion the boots were made too well. These joints should have cost about $300 in 1980’s scrilla instead of the $60-$75 I paid for them.

    Peep that the box says ‘Made In The U.S.A.’. You don’t hardly see that anymore

  5. mercilesz says:

    wow tents and trails and paragon…damn u just took me back. i used to cop smith ski goggles outa there and rock em with columbia and northface jackets and jansport bags.minus the columbia and jansport im bought to bring that old look out again this winter. ha ha

  6. Amadeo says:

    @ Dallas

    I’d co-sign that theory. The butters were popular as hell and the soles on those joints would lean with a quickness…thus making dudes go buy another pair.

  7. Polotron says:

    Yes Dallas!
    Not even the Dominoes boxes got stacked as high…

    Soundwave, what up? SkullCrusher? Whypdicus? (et al)…what up?

    The word on the discontinuation was that they were killing peoples’ feet. Apparently, while we were going with the heavy socks (doubled up), “they” were going with nylon hiker types. Also, there was something about the steel shank that ran thru the bottom and foot muscles. But I had already stopped listening (sick) by then, so..

    I don’t think I ever got caught by those weak soles (twice). But I do recall having to settle for the next gen. 40 belows (or were they 20’s then) and this dude Dallas goes to the originals.

    =Night ruined. There should have been a press release/warning about discontinuing. You’d have thought the perfect boot would last forever. Mos def would have dealt w/ those scuffs. Sick how Dallas hordes and collects.

    I don’t recall picking up the Tim steeze from the Uptown cats though. I might have to give it to the Joe Constuction guy. It was a natural progression from the lumberjack boot (remember those?).

    Timberland should be cutting checks, for real. Dallas gets it for the first w/ Tims and shorts. The 1st time I did it, I could feel the “is he crazy?” from all sides. And some chicks by Albee broke into open laughter. (Bum ass biatches heard they were bum ass biatches that day.) Done today with no thought, in many a hood.

    “…w/ my Boot Camp, Boot Camp, survive in the creep, you can’t…”

  8. Dart_Adams says:

    *Cues up Jungle Brothers “40 Below Trooper”*

    Memories! © Barbra Streisand

    One.

  9. $ykotic Don McCaine says:

    Loving it DP!

    BUT YOU EXCLUDED DAS EFX! Straight from the sewer…

    I must have tried these on like 20 times. They were too heavy for me so I stayed Cheese Boot strong with like 5 pairs every year.

    If I’m correct Uptown cats were more into the Vasque Gore Tex boots.

    Timberland did a re-issue of these boots like in 2004. Didn’t go too well.

    And today’s version they have out barely resembles them(zappos.com/product/7364284/color/222).

    PEACE

  10. $ykotic Don McCaine says:

    Oh BTW,

    Is that a Girbaud shirt you have on???

  11. How much you think I could sell a pair of only-worn-once baby blue timbs? yes, baby blue. it’s as horrendous as it sounds.

  12. BIGNAT says:

    oh man when i was younger maybe from 15-18. i wore timbs almost all year round except when summer came i got pumas.

  13. Tony Grands says:

    Talk about the timbs & shorts, “is he crazy look”, try doing it in L.A. In the summer. Cats had no idea that one could even wear timbs & shorts, & that was for the limited cats that even knew about the timbo’s.

    It’s still not a necessity out here to most, but fux that. I still have every pair ever bought since I was 18. & it’s not like you have to replace them, unless it’s for stylistic reasoning.

    *best timb story-there was a mouse in the house. Wife & son freaking. I got up, slipped on the timbs & blamo! Dead mouse! Works on lizards, also! Ha!

  14. Tony Grands says:

    @the ambassador

    Ill trade you your baby blues for my burnt siennas.

  15. HowfreshEats says:

    Is that the Timbo denim jacket with the leather collar? I remember copping 2 of those from Woodbury in the early 90’s. Problem was once the neck grease leaked that shit was a wrap. Still have them lying around somewhere.

    Best bet for baby blue timbs is a donation tax write-off. I think 40 Belows were released again after ’04. Feel like Dr. Jay’s had a real limited amount a couple years back.

  16. blackneck says:

    I still got my pair of 40 belows too.. Same color… but my soles (heels) are fucked up cuz I got flat feet. I lived in Florida for a bit and timbs and shorts were almost mandatory.

  17. the_dallas says:

    $yk, Grand$ what up? (thats my XXL commission fam)

    HowFresh you already know…

    I can tell from the hat I have on that I was wearing the cheese joints that day. FreshJive chapeau, Stussy tee. Girbaud shirt and jeans. Timb denim jacket. Downtown lady killer steez. Many a L.E.S. latina gave it up to the captain of the ladykillers.

    In my opinion the Timb denim got better with the neck sweat on the leather collar.

    The 40’s have been reissued several times since the 1980’s. The first reissue had a metal Timb tree where the old embossed logo had been placed. The worst part of the retro was fugazi brown laces that I swapped out for golden joints.

    I have an updated pair of Iditarod Superboots that demolishes these from a tech standpoint but the OG’s are the emo classic for me.

    Trust me that uptown cats broke Timberland. That was the flavor of uptown cats in the 80s. Very Northface, very Wilderness Experience, very Vasque and ANYTHING Gore-Tex. Vasques became prominent in the 90s though.

    Brooklyn cats in the 80’s were more smooth. Fila suits all day. A lot of heads sleep on Le Coq too but them outfits were paper because you could only copp them at pro shops like Spiegels on Nassau (R.I.P.)

    More hot shit from the 1985 Archives to come so stay tuned…

  18. m says:

    hahahahahahahahaha yeah went to this classy Arts,Beats and Lyrics function in the A…Dillas ma dukes got presented with an award tribute, Phiphe performed and DMC strummed some note…….I of course had on the splatterproof goretex Tims….on some submarine shit……..yesh yesh!!!!!

    also I’m in twitter jail………

    The new link is @whutdabloodclot

  19. Combat Jack says:

    ^”In my opinion the boots were made too well.”

    Then I must be an unlucky cat. I copped a pair in ’94. Rocked them for about a week until the sole detached from the shoe and they were talking. I called Timberland to get a replacement (remember when they used to do that) and they told me they discontinued them. I was heated and felt (still do) that I brought the last effin pair on earth.

  20. the_dallas says:

    ^ I can’t call it. All my experiences with Timberland were 100000.

    As a matter of fact I have an invoice now for two(2) new replacement pairs and I’m just trying to decided which ones to copp.

  21. $ykotic/Don McCaine says:

    I had a Le Coq suit. Sergio Tacchini, & mostly adidas.

    Speigel’s??? (*sniff*)

    So looking for NB 1500’s…

  22. fonzy says:

    i would like to buy those from you..what size are they? plz say 10!! lol and name your price bro

  23. omar says:

    size 8.5 thru 10.5 name your price

  24. krod says:

    where can i buy them?

  25. Jesse says:

    Wassup I need 10.5 do u have that size?

  26. Jesse says:

    Where u from I’m at Brooklyn

  27. When you hear prices like that, it makes you sick to your stomach. For some, that’s an impossible amount of money to pay for a service that frankly must be performed. “But what about insurance,” you ask. Most homeowners insurance policies do not cover sewer backups. YIKES!

  28. running a Dedicated server

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