Yesterday, I received an email from someone who visited my website’s page about Chippewa Firefighter Boots and posts on this blog about them who informed me, sadly, that…

I have discovered when looking for Firefighter and Engineer boots from Chippewa that they are now discontinued.

So I did my own independent verification by visiting over a dozen websites of vendors from whom I have made purchases to look for these Chip Firefighter boots (models 27422 and 20422) and Engineer boots (models 27909, 27908, and “high shine” models 71418 and “strapless” 71419.) I regret to confirm that only a few pairs of each of these styles of boots remain available in very odd, small sizes.

I explained to the person who wrote to me:

Justin Brands, maker of Chippewa Boots, drives me crazy with their frequent stock-outs of their most popular boots. The same thing happened last year and the year before that around Christmas.

On inquiry to Justin Brands, once I got past their public affairs kid who initially triages email and phone calls, I spoke with an Inventory Manager who told me that they have been having a lot of trouble sourcing the leather they use for boots in adequate quantities, and also have been dealing with some trade restrictions and tariffs imposed by the current U.S. Administration under pressure by the bloviating buffoon in the White House.

But what the company won’t say anything about in email or on the phone is that they were hit with a class action lawsuit by claiming their boots are “made in USA” and implying that the boots were sourced entirely in the USA when some of their products were made with imported parts (mostly from Mexico and China.) Someone in California started this lawsuit. Justin Brands (Chippewa brand) was found guilty (though technically they did not admit guilt).

The settlement caused Justin Brands to do three things:

1. Make clear that their Chippewa-labeled boots are “Made in the USA of global parts.”

2. Reduce inventory by selling off boots with labeling that violated the terms that they agreed to in the lawsuit.

3. Refuse to ship or allow sale of their boots in California. (My opinion — refusal to allow sales of their boots in California was retaliatory, but also to prevent the State of California from accusing them of wrongdoing again.)

Justin Brands is still suffering from a combination of factors — tariffs, quantity of quality-sourced leather, and the lawsuit.

An alternative for a well-made style of this boot remains available from All American. I have a pair of these boots, shown here.

I like them just as well, though the style is a little bit different and they took much longer to break in. But these boots are a great substitute for the Chips.

Let’s hope that this is only a temporary shortage and that eventually Justin Brands will return to making these boots available again. Probably won’t happen until the U.S. gets an honest President and trade restrictions are lifted.

Life is short: keep aware of the changing boot world.