Brunt Marin Welted Review: Cool Ideas and Affordable Price

August 18, 2024August 17, 2024 by 100wears

Price: $175 / $145

Why Buy?

The Brunt Marin Welted offers several cool ideas at a price that puts them near the bottom of leather welted work boots.

Why Avoid?

The Brunt Marin Welted is heavy, and some of the choices made for comfort might result in less durability.

Specs

Model	Marin & Marin Welted
Height	6 “
Materials	Leather, Foam, Rubber
Size	12 D
Weight	Welted: 1,129 g / 3 lb 3.8 oz
Construction	Welted: Goodyear Welted, Standard: Cemented
Country of Origin	Bengledesh

History

Let me get one thing out of the way: I’m not Brunt’s target audience. Their website shows guys in the trades, doing hard manual labor. The roughest environment my boots see at work is when I drop a computer cable behind the desk and have to go fish it out. If you do want to see how these boots hold up in a work environment, this might not be the review for you.

All that being said, when talking to the brand they mentioned they wanted to send me something anyway. No strings attached other than that I would put out something, good or bad. When I asked, they sent me over a Marin. In fact, they sent over two – one goodyear welted and one not. However, one of these is head and shoulders above the other and which you should buy is obvious.

Speaking of Brunt, they are a fairly new company. Starting just after everything shut down for the pandemic, the brand has grown from selling just a couple of pairs of boots to a large line up and even workwear. The have been clear that they keep planning on improving over time. The Marin Welted is the upgraded version of the traditional Marin.

While I’m not sure it was fair to compare $149 boots to a pair of $320 boots like many of them did, there is no denying that some of those initial reviews left people a bit cold. Have the improvements on the new(ish) Brunt Marin Welted made a difference? Let’s dive in and find out.

Disclaimer: Brunt sent a pair of Brunt Marin and Brunt Marin Welted over for review. However, this is not a sponsored post. The review below was not reviewed by Brunt before going live, and everything said is true to my honest opinion of the boots.

Looks

Upper

The upper of the Brunt Marin Welted comes primarily in a tumbled brown leather, which looks nice out of the box. The brand’s previous offerings all came in a sanded nubuck, and I think this smooth leather is a nice upgrade. There are a few visible scars and discolorations, but nothing unacceptable for this price point.

The brown leather is accented by a cream-colored contrast stitching all around. High wear points are triple stitched, with everything else structural being double stitched. If you wanted to nitpick, the stitching isn’t the cleanest in some places. However, there were no structural issues and for the purpose they were designed for there is nothing to really complain about.

As for details, Brunt isn’t shy with their logo. You’ll find it pressed into the midfoot, on the tongue, and on a dubre on the laces. The collar on the welted pair features a black contrast padded area, with a cut out for your ankle on the back.

Onto the details. Here is the first of the really cool ideas that Brunt has worked into the boot that I appreciate. As anyone who has ordered a pair of custom boots knows, one of the big decisions you need to make is eyelets or speed hooks.

Some people prefer eyelets – they hold your foot better and don’t hook on your pants. Others prefer speed hooks – they make it easy to slip your boot on and tie up your laces. However, on affordable boots you typically don’t get much say in what you use. Brands can’t make different versions and keep costs affordable.

Brunt uses a combination speed hook / eyelet piece, and it works great. You can decide what works best for you. I’m really surprised you don’t see this more often.

Mid- and Outsole

When it comes to the bottom half of the Brunt Marin Welted, you’ll find Brunt’s standard look. However, if you go a bit closer there are some changes.

On first blush, you’ll notice Brunt’s traditional combination rubber/foam midsole/outsole combo unit. The outsole itself, along with the front 1/3^rd of the midsole, is a white rubber. The back 2/3rds of the midsole is a similarly white foam.

The traction on that outsole is a lug pattern reminiscent of a tire, with orange accents on one lug and the Brunt logo.

You’ll also find the brown, plastic welt they use on their other boots. However, this being the “welted” variant, this welt is functional.

What you might not see at first is the addition of a fairly thick rubber slip sole. Further, there is an extra row of stitching up front to help keep the outsole from separating – another feature limited to the welted line.

Summary

The Brunt Marin Welted looks exactly what pops into your mind when someone says “work boot.” Brown leather, black padded collar, and white wedge sole. I feel like I might be the only person who is reviewing these online with the goal of putting together a fit, but here goes.

Styling these is somewhere between a pair of Red Wing Moc Toes and Timberlands. I would definitely go on the extreme casual end with these. A pair of blue faded denim and an oversize t shirt or hoodie. Even something like thick canvas 5 pocket pants made of something other than denim doesn’t really work.

Fit & Comfort

Fit

Both the Brunt Marin Welted and the Brunt Marin fit identically. With both pairs, you’re going to find something closer to a standard boot, rather than the oversize sizing that most heritage boots come in.

My standard go-to size for a stitched boot is 12D, which is what I took these in. They are ever so slightly small for me (more on that in a minute). For comparison, I take pacific northwest boots in an 11.5E, and Red Wing Moc Toes in a 12D.

Here is where you’ll find Brunt’s second really cool idea. The boot comes with two different insoles. One fairly thick one that takes up a lot of height and a lot of width, and one thin one that takes up a small amount of height.

You’re able to mix and match these to get different fits depending on what you’re looking for. I was able to take out the thinner of the two insoles and get a much better fit out of the box. While Brunt pitches this as a sort of “do it once and be done” type of thing, I actually see a different benefit.

In warmer weather, thick heavy boots, with thick heavy boot socks can be miserable. Especially on a waterproof pair like this – your feel will be swimming in sweat by the end of the day. I found that the smaller insole is just different enough that most guys can probably wear thinner socks in the summer with the insole in, and thicker socks in the winter without it. Just be sure to size correctly when you buy your pair.

Comfort

Not to give away the ending where I do a direct comparison, but there is only one place where the non-welted version wins out of the box and that is comfort.

While I’m sure it will improve with time, the addition of the slip sole and stronger welt make these things pretty beef. Not only are they heavy – more than 3 lbs each – but pretty hard to bend due to the extra slip sole and goodyear-welt created void fill. Compare this with the standard Marin which is soft and compliant right out of the box and it’s a noticeable difference.

That being said, my expectation is that this extra break in will result in a more comfortable boot down the line. Be sure to keep an eye out for a follow up review next spring.

Materials

The Brunt Marin Welted is made with a full grain American leather, though they don’t specify the tannery. If you go for the standard Marin, you’ll get a nubuck version of the same leather. Both boots have leather thinner than most work boots, but at least for casual wear they should hold up just fine to whatever you throw at them.

Behind that leather you’ll find a soft structured toe and heel counter – though both offer a composite toe if that is what you’re looking for. The boot’s lining is also it’s waterproof barrier, self-branded.

Underfoot the boot has one polyurethane insole, one open-celled foam insole, and then a cellulose lasting board. The midsole itself is rubber, with a polyurethane wedge. Unlike most wedge outsoles, these are rubber underneath. This means that you’re going to have a bit more durability, but will lose some of the softness that comes with a full foam outsole.

The boots do have a nylon shank, though with a wedge sole a shank is a bit less important overall.

The biggest complaint I have with the materials is the use of a plastic welt. While the welt on the standard Marin is purely for style, so plastic is fine, on the welted pair they help keep everything together. While a plastic welt will likely last as long as the outsole does, it probably won’t last much longer than that. I’d love to see the next update switch this over to leather.

Ease of Care

When caring for the Brunt Marin Welted, or even the non-welted for that matter, you’re going to want to follow the standard care you would for most leather footwear. Condition them every 3 – 6 months depending on how often you wear them and how wet they get. I suggest Bick 4, though Brunt does offer their own self-branded conditioner.

I’d also strongly recommend a pair of shoe trees in these. Other reviews show that one point of failure on these boots is keep set creases. A good pair of wooden shoe trees will help prevent deep set creasing, and keep things dryer. You don’t need anything special – just go on Amazon and find a wooden pair that fits your pair of boots.

If you did want to resole these, the Welted pair will be able to hold up better. While a cobbler is just going to pull off the outsole either way, the stitched-on slip sole that the Brunt Marin Welted uses will hold up better to the stresses that doing this causes. Though, with the plastic welt it might not be financially wise to do so.

What does the Brunt Marin Welted Cost?

The Brunt Marin Welted comes in at a price point of $175. If you don’t care about any of the upgrades (and you really should), the standard pair is $30 less. Adding a comp toe is $10 more no matter which you pick.

This price point puts them near the bottom of work boot costs. Most review’s I’ve seen compare the welted to the Thorogood moc toe, which comes in at $250. The Thorogood is a better boot in a lot of ways, but is ~$80 more.

I think a fairer comparison would be the Irish Setter Wingshooter. You’ll find much more similar specs. These come in at a price of $209, though seem to regularly go on sale for $189.

Are the Brunt Marin Welted Worth It?

Before we get into if the Brunt Marin Welted is worth it, I want to highlight that going from the standard Marin to the Welted version is a major upgrade. It is absolutely worth the $30 premium. It isn’t just the goodyear welted build, but the materials, design, and more are improved with it. Brunt marketed the Welted as a sort of V2 to the Marin, and it shows.

OK, with that out of the way, should you consider the Brunt Marin Welted for casual wear? If you’re looking for a work boot to style I don’t see why not. Out of the box the Marin Welted is comfortable, waterproof, and easy to wear. It also has a few really cool features like the eyelets and insoles.

Are these boots as good as a pair of Red Wing 875s? Of course not, but that has always been a poor comparison. These come in at a lower price then Red Wing’s own more affordable line in the Irish Setter Wingshooter.