Favourite Boat Shoes Wear Out - Blucher Mocs As Replacement & The Differences Between Boat Shoes, Camp Mocs and Blucher Mocs.

My favourite pair of knock about shoes, a pair of Marks & Spencer boat shoes has finally worn down a fair bit. The leather upper part has some cracks at the sides of the vamp, and the sole has started to disintegrate. The non-stick rubber sole has started cracking on the right shoe and water actually enters if you step into a puddle. 

I have another pair of cheap BATA boat shoes, but the old pair seems to be a little bit more comfy to me. It is the insole of the shoe. The M&S one (which I believe was made in Thailand, above & below) is quite comfortable. I need to get a better insole for the shoe before I wear them often. But the thing is, I managed to buy another pair of shoes for me to wear.

The shoes in the main picture and down below are Airflex branded Blucher Mocs. I bought them when they were on sale in Perth, Australia sometime last December. They cost me AUD60 which is a heck of a lot cheaper than the RM329 or so that I paid for the pair of M&S boat shoes. As cheap as the Bata boat shoes actually after conversion. 

Blucher mocs may look the same as boat shoes. The construction is the same moccasin style construction that you see in boat shoes or camp mocs. The differences between these three are actually quite a few. They look so darn similar but they are different.

Boat shoes usually come with a non-slip, non staining rubberised sole. The sole has no knobs or deep grooves so that the sole does not ruin the wooden decks of boats. It also has two eyelets for the laces and the laces are (usually - unless you buy some cheaper ones) connected all around the collar of the shoe (where you put your feet in). You should also never, ever wear boat shoes with socks. The reason is very nautical also. Being boat shoes, you may get them wet when you're sailing. Wearing socks with them is usually a no no unless you like wearing soggy pieces of fabric on your feet. This usually means that Boat shoes are actually at the very most three season shoes. Keep the boat shoes for warmer weather. Not winter. This is how it is. I'm not saying its wrong to wear socks with boat shoes, but if you want to break the rules, know them first.

Camp Mocs have a more knobby sole. There are visible grooves and cuts to the sole and it is suited for use around the camp site. This is the shoe for knocking about at the campsite after a hard day of trekking where your hiking boots are taken off and put aside to dry whilst you slip on a pair of camp mocs to laze around the camp. They usually have a single eyelet for the lace and is quite similar to the driving shoe (with the laces) if you want some comparison in terms of how it looks. Of course, take aside the very knobby rubber bits of a driving shoe and put on a more traditional sole with some grooved pattern and you have a camp moc. You can wear socks with these shoes.

The Blucher moc is the most macho of them all. It comes with usually three or four eyelets for the laces (usually leather and not fabric - just like the two shoes above). These lend an air of ruggedness to them and a bit more control as the laces may allow a more snug fit. The sole usually gets a same type as a camp moc or like the ones I have, with a heavy duty commando sole. 

These are exactly like the super expensive Made In the Dominican Republic ones sold by Timberland. The leather here feels a little bit thinner and it also looks a tad bit more treated than the Timberland ones but the main thing is that they do not cost RM699 a pair. Secondly, I treat these shoes as beater or knock about shoes where I wear them around the neighbourhood and almost never anywhere else. 

So they fit the bill as my pair or pairs of super casual shoes that I wear to go grocery shopping, sending the kid to school or even going to the neighbourhood mall. 

I also have to note that it is actually quite hard to find affordable blucher mocs here. I can find cheap boat shoes easily but never blucher mocs. If you earn Australian dollars, this is actually super cheap at AUD60. It was on sale at 50% off and of course, it felt very reasonable for a pair of casual leather shoes.