Craft & Glory Gurkha: History Meets Heritage
Price: $228.10
Why Buy?
The Craft & Glory Gurkha offers a great historically focused boot at a very affordable price.
Why Avoid?
The Craft & Glory Gurkha won’t have the same high-end finishes as more expensive options.
Specs
| Model | Gurkha |
| Height | 6″ |
| Size | 12 US / 11 UK |
| Weight | 751 g / 1 lb 10.4 oz |
| Materials | Buffalo Leather, EVA Liner, Veg Tanned Insole, Veg Tanned Midsole, Rubber |
| Construction | Goodyear Welt |
| Country of Origin | India |
History
Historically, the Gurkhas were a group of soldiers named after the town of Gurkha (or Gorkha) in Nepal. The core of the British Army during the Raj, they were perhaps best known for their service during WWI. This history is where we find ourselves today – with the Craft & Glory Gurkha. An homage to the boots worn in the early 1900’s by those Gurkha soldiers.
Craft & Glory, if you were not already aware from a review a few weeks back, is an Indian based shoe and bootmaker. In the past year or so, they have really expanded their lineup. Adding things like stitchdown construction options, sneakers, jackets, shoes, and now these historically inspired choices. Every time I go on their website, they seem to have something new. They even have goodyear welted boat shoes.
However, most of their previous expansions have been into the more “hardcore” selections. Engineer boots, leather insoles, that kind of stuff. With the Gurkha, we see more of a refinement of their original designs.
Is that the right call, or should Craft & Glory go back to creating more American-style boots? Let’s dive in and find out.
Disclaimer: These boots were provided by Craft & Glory for the purpose of review. However, this is not a sponsored review. Craft & Glory was not given the opportunity to review this article before it went live, and the article is true to my own opinions.
Packaging
I need to start with something I don’t typically include – the box. The Craft & Glory Gurkha come in a real wooden box. It’s even nailed together! When I placed my order, it was before they included the unboxing video on their website so it was a total – and very welcome – surprise.
On top of the box the Gurka and Craft & Glory designs are both branded into the wood.
I’m more than a little impressed by this. It really makes you feel like you’re getting something special.
Also inside the box is a tote bag and a pin using the crossed Kukri logo inside of a leather-matched pouch.
Looks
Upper
The upper of my pair of Craft & Glory Gurkhas comes in the saddle tan colorway. It’s a nice reddish tan – a bit lighter than it appears in their marketing photos. My pair is the 6” version, however you can also opt for an 8” or low top version as well. They mostly share the same features, except the 8” also has a knife pocket.
As you would expect with a boot designed to pay homage to history, there are lots of historic details on the upper.
Perhaps the most notable is the rivets holding the quarter panels to the vamp. These are real functional rivets, too. Not that you will need them given the quadruple stitching holding these two panels together already. Speaking of quadruple stitching, the toe cap also features 4 rows of stitching. Though, the back heel panel “only” has three.
Your 8 eyelets come in brass, though you do get a choice of both brown and yellow laces. I think for this color the yellow is better looking, though the brown is probably more historically accurate.
The tongue of this boot is made of the same leather as the upper, and is gusted up to the 6th eyelet.
Overall, the stitching on the upper is great. My pair didn’t have a single stitch out of place.
Mid and Outsole
The midsole of the Craft & Glory Gurkha is made of a fairly substantial piece of veg tanned leather, with a leather single-piece welt on top. While the welt stitching itself is good, the welt connection is probably the cleanest welt joint I’ve ever seen.
Honestly, when I pulled these out of the box, I thought they were trying to play a fast one on me and were using a fake welt. It took me several minutes to actually find the joint – it’s really well done.
Underneath, the outsole is a rubber unit with a fairly aggressive tread pattern. It’s a single piece unit – think red wing wedge outsole. They also solved my one big complaint with their heritage line – the narrow heel. This unit has a proportional and good-looking heel.
Summary
The Craft & Glory Gurkha is a boot that acknowledges it’s history, but doesn’t stray into cosplay. The historical touches they added do a great job of adding visual interest, but the shape and pattern are modern enough that they work well with a lot of outfits.
I find that these are extremely versatile. While this particular reddish brown will keep you to traditional colors like navy or khaki, the silhouette of these boots work with denim, canvas, or chinos. I’d put them slightly more formal than something like a Red Wing Iron Ranger, and slightly more casual than something like a Thursday Captain.
By the way, if you’re looking for a very similar boot but without the toe cap, Craft and Glory also make the 1943.
Fit & Comfort
Fit
The Craft & Glory Gurkha sizing is pretty tight for a work boot. These arrived in a US size 12 / UK size 11 and they are definitely as tight as I would go. I would have fit a 12.5 better. For comparison, I typically take a size 12 D in most stitched footwear and an 11.5 E in boots like Viberg and Whites.
I should note, this pair only has one insole option – the padded one. This will almost certainly compress with time and give slightly more room, but I would still recommend going up in size compared to most other brands.
The last itself is very accommodating, with a fairly rounded toe. It is true to a US D width (assuming you size correctly), so if you’re really wide footed you might want to consider going up another half size, but most people will find the last accommodating enough.
Comfort
The Craft & Glory Gurkha is a pretty comfortable boot overall. The foam insole, veg tanned midsole, and soft rubber outsole all combine to provide a noticeable amount of squish overall. This particular leather is a bit stiff out of the box, but did loosen up after just a few wears. If you want to speed up the break in, the Vintage Brown leather does come out of the box with a softer hand.
While I do believe a full leather insole like they offer on the Heritage line would provide better comfort in the long term, there is no doubt that this boot is one that’ll be easy to throw on right out of the box. I would have no concern wearing these all day after a few days of breaking them in.
Materials & Construction
Materials
The materials used on the Craft & Glory Gurka are impressive, especially given the price.
The upper is made with full grain buffalo leather. The tannery isn’t mentioned – I expect it’s local – but the leather feels great. What they do mention is just about everything else. The leather itself is ~2mm thick, with the lining coming in at ~1.4mm.
In between these layers, a very stiff clastic heel cap and toe cap means these boots will definitely keep their structure.
Under foot, there is a substantial layer of EVA foam topped with a thin leather lining to keep it from sticking to your sock. [Correction: The EVA foam is a sock liner, there is also a veg tanned insole.] Moving down you have a 4MM veg-tanned midsole below a 3 mm welt. They make their own welts, and again, do a great job here.
Inside the boot you have a metal shank embedded in a thin layer of cork, which should help the boot take the shape of your foot.
As we continue to move down, there is a very thin slip sole connected to a single piece outsole. The outsole is a nitrile rubber compound. It’s a slightly softer than most which helps comfort, though might wear a bit faster than a harder outsole. For most people, it’s probably a worthwhile trade off.
Construction
The Craft & Glory Gurka are made in India using a goodyear welt construction, with a bit of twist. On this boot, a piece of leather (the welt) is attached to the upper, and is then sewn through the midsole and slip sole. That slip sole is then glued to the outsole, which is the unit you see.
This style of construction offers great weather resistance and extremely easy resoleability. As for drawbacks, goodyear welting is one of the most expensive ways to make a shoe.
Ease of Care
The Craft & Glory Gurka should be a pretty easy boot to maintain. Mostly the standard stuff applies. First, you’ll want to make sure that you keep a pair of shoe trees in the boots when you’re not wearing them. Name brand options look great, but a wooden pair off of Amazon will work 99% as well for 50% of the price.
Next, you’re going to want to make sure you keep your boots conditioned. Exactly how often will depend on wear, but I wouldn’t recommend any more often than once every 4 months. Most people will probably want to do every 6. As for what to use, Craft & Glory offers a conditioning kit with a brush for $29.98. I’m sure it works well, but I’d recommend getting a bottle of Bick 4. It costs less and does a great job.
When it comes time to resole these, it’s going to be a bit easier than most goodyear welted boots. As these have a unit sole, it’s just a matter of pulling the old sole off and gluing a new one on. This isn’t quite as secure, but should be cheaper to do.
Craft & Glory Gurkha Pricing
The exact price changes a bit due to currency exchanges, but at the time of writing the Craft & Glory Gurkha comes in at a very reasonable $228.10. They run a 10% off for new orders using the code “NEW10,” which should bring them to almost exactly $200.
This price puts them right near the very bottom of the Goodyear Welted boot cost pyramid. Thursday Boots do come in at a slightly lower price point, though I’d say that the Craft & Glory boots have better materials.
It’s hard to argue with the price point of the Craft & Glory Gurkha. If you’re looking for a pair of affordable goodyear welted boots, these are tough to beat. I’ve spoken with several brands that have indicated that they wouldn’t be able to build this boot for the price Craft & Glory are charging, much less sell it and keep the lights on.
Are the Craft & Glory Gurkha Worth It?
I’d say the Craft & Glory Gurkha boots are definitely worth it.
Let’s set aside the price for a moment. These are simply good boots. The materials are good, the design is good, the build quality is good. If you are looking for a pair of boots with a primary goal of looking fashionable and you like the military design of these, they are a good option period.
That being said, you can’t set aside the price. For someone who is looking for a pair of boots on a budget these go from good to great. Are there a few things I would change? Of course. I would love to see them switch to a leather insole, and I personally prefer a softer toe box. However, those are personal preference items – and, knowing Craft & Glory, they would probably build you one that way if you asked before placing your order.
These are not going to be a replacement for your Trumans, but at less than half the price, they don’t need to be.