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ranger/blucher moc

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Good evening

I'm looking to purchase a casual pair of shoes I could wear with shetland jumpers, corduroy pants, ocbd, a barbour bedale and jeans also. I already own a pair suede chukkas and a pair of brown penny loafers. Someone suggested me a pair of blucher moc ( or ranger moc as rancourt calls their blucher moc). Do you think these shoes could have such versatility? What do you think?

https://www.rancourtandcompany.com/men-s/ready-made/classic-ranger-moc.html
 
#2 ·
Sure, although you could find a much less expensive but fundamentally similar version and try it out first. I'm thinking Bass, Timberland, that sort of thing.

If you like the look, go ahead with the Rancourts. If you don't, you can give the cheap version to the deserving poor.
 
#3 ·
I have a few pair of Rancourt Ranger Mocs that I've been wearing as you describe for about 7 or 8 years now. My brown chromexcel ones (like the ones you've linked to but with a slightly different sole) have been my most worn casual shoe since I got them and are one their 3rd sole and still holding up great. I've also got a blue suede pair and a natural CXL pair and am currently waiting on a custom shell cordovan pair from them.

As Patrick mentioned above, there are less expensive options out there but I love my Racourts. I really like the looks of Quoddy's blucher mocs too - they look a little more casual to me but I wouldn't consider any of these to be "formal".

All in all, I think it's a very versatile style and goes great with jeans, cords, chinos, and moleskin trousers. In the spring and summer I'd also usually rather wear a pair of these with shorts than a boat shoe or sneaker.
 
#4 · (Edited)
I’ve been talking about it a lot recently, but I love my Rancourt camp mocs (Carolina brown CXL), as well as my beefroll penny loafers (color 8 CXL). The blucher Mocs in natty CXL will be my next purchase from them.

I think they’re certainly very versatile, but I also think the blucher Mocs go best with more casual pants- chinos, jeans, etc. The camp moc goes a little better with shorts than the bluchers imho, but can still be worn just as well with pants. Boat shoes are strictly with shorts for me- I used to wear them with chinos in college, but I have options that work better with chinos now.

Rancourt is definitely more expensive (as is Quoddy, OSB, Russell, etc), but compared to the disposable LL Bean version, Rancourts are MiUSA of CXL and can be resoled, which makes it worth the investment imho. Like Patrick said- if you’re hesitant about the style go with something cheaper, but if you like the style already, it’s worth the upgrade.

Edit- as an aside, I still buy Sperrys for boat shoes, because I wear those specifically as beaters. My current pair is 4 years old and has fallen off the back of a boat, had countless beers poured on them, and still perform like a champ. I treat my Rancourts as a dressier version of those- keep them on shoe trees, condition/brush, etc. Durable as they are, I wouldn’t recommend using these as beaters unless you’re secretly Bill Gates or something

Edit 2- I know Rancourt’s site says to size down .5 for most styles (and that’s the same advice you’ll see elsewhere online), but I would go TTS. I sized down on my penny loafers and it made them awful to break in- they’re fine now, but I would’ve been fine with my usual size. I ordered my camp Mocs TTS, and they were snug at first (and the top of my feet were sore after wearing them for 7 hours straight the first time), but have broken in nicely after a week or so of wear. If I had sized down, I wouldn’t have been able to get them on my feet.
 
#6 ·
Just received a pair of Ranger Mocs from Rancourt last week and am wearing them as I type this. Ordered a mini-lug sole as I wear them year round and think they will be a versatile shoe that I'll wear for years. Actually they are my 3rd pair as I got new orthotics and had to go to a wider and longer shoe to accommodate the extra width and volume of the orthotics. I heartily recommend this shoe.
 
#8 ·
Semper Jeep said:
I have a few pair of Rancourt Ranger Mocs that I've been wearing as you describe for about 7 or 8 years now. My brown chromexcel ones (like the ones you've linked to but with a slightly different sole) have been my most worn casual shoe since I got them and are one their 3rd sole and still holding up great. I've also got a blue suede pair and a natural CXL pair and am currently waiting on a custom shell cordovan pair from them.

As Patrick mentioned above, there are less expensive options out there but I love my Racourts. I really like the looks of Quoddy's blucher mocs too - they look a little more casual to me but I wouldn't consider any of these to be "formal".

All in all, I think it's a very versatile style and goes great with jeans, cords, chinos, and moleskin trousers. In the spring and summer I'd also usually rather wear a pair of these with shorts than a boat shoe or sneaker.
Click to expand...
I have Rancort Ranger Mocs in burgundy CxL, fitted with white Christy wedge soles and in raisin hued Bison Leather, fitted with the Lactae Hevea soles. The Lactae Hevea soled version works well worn in the manner described in the OP, but I would not recommend such wear with the white Christie Wedge soles! But then, to each his/her own. ;)
 
#9 · (Edited)
I have Rancourt Baxter Ranger Mocs in both Natural and Carolina Brown CXL. The Natural CXL pair feels like the leather is thicker and a bit less pliable than the brown. The brown pair feels like it was lasted more tightly and fits a bit better than the natural. The natural pair is a smidge larger than the brown. I don't know if this is specific to my pair or if it is normal. I wear both a lot. I also have brown CXL camp mocs with the camp sole and bison camp mocs with the Reltex Lactae Hevea soles.

I would opt for one of the ranger moc models with one of the RLH soles. They are as comfortable as plantation crepe but more durable. Obviously, I prefer the RLH soles to the camp soles. I think they are worth the extra money. The RLH soles also make the shoes a smidge taller compared to the camp moc soles. I find that if I wear a pair with camp moc soles with longer pants, I sometimes find myself stepping on the cuffs of my pants. I have a couple pairs of jeans which I can't wear with my camp mocs with the camp moc soles but I can with my camp mocs with RLH soles. The jeans will eventually shrink to be just right, but they're not there yet.

The RLH soles are bonded to a leather midsole which is sewn to the shoe. The midsole adds some rigidity. The camp moc soles are sewed onto the bottom of the shoe directly. You can easily fold the camp soled camp moc shoe shoe in half. It's very pliable. I'd expect the same from a blucher moc with a camp sole.

I should note that my camp moc soles are the older Amazonas brand camp moc soles, not the newer Rancourt camp moc soles. I would be interested in how the new ones are different.
 
Discussion starter · #11 ·
thanks a lot for the detailed answers.

Dragoon said:
I ordered a pair of the Baxter ranger Mocs a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully they will be here in a couple more. Will post my impression of them when I get them.
Click to expand...
Semper Jeep said:
I have a few pair of Rancourt Ranger Mocs that I've been wearing as you describe for about 7 or 8 years now. My brown chromexcel ones (like the ones you've linked to but with a slightly different sole) have been my most worn casual shoe since I got them and are one their 3rd sole and still holding up great. I've also got a blue suede pair and a natural CXL pair and am currently waiting on a custom shell cordovan pair from them.

As Patrick mentioned above, there are less expensive options out there but I love my Racourts. I really like the looks of Quoddy's blucher mocs too - they look a little more casual to me but I wouldn't consider any of these to be "formal".

All in all, I think it's a very versatile style and goes great with jeans, cords, chinos, and moleskin trousers. In the spring and summer I'd also usually rather wear a pair of these with shorts than a boat shoe or sneaker.
Click to expand...
what's the difference between the baxter and the "regular" blucher moc?

Yes, I'm looking for shoes I can wear in winter, when I'm basically almost everyday in a shetland jumper, a ocbd shirt and corduroy pants/jeans and a barbour bedale on top. I think these blucher moc can work fine in this outfit.

I don't really care about wearing them with shorts, since I would wear boat shoes or espadrilles in that instance.

I also like Quoddy, but being a size 6/6,5 US I've noticed they won't make shoes smaller than a size 7? They're also more expensive than rancourt which is in my budget.

frankmartin said:
I have Rancourt Baxter Ranger Mocs in both Natural and Carolina Brown CXL. The Natural CXL pair feels like the leather is thicker and a bit less pliable than the brown. The brown pair feels like it was lasted more tightly and fits a bit better than the natural. The natural pair is a smidge larger than the brown. I don't know if this is specific to my pair or if it is normal. I wear both a lot. I also have brown CXL camp mocs with the camp sole and bison camp mocs with the Reltex Lactae Hevea soles.

I would opt for one of the ranger moc models with one of the RLH soles. They are as comfortable as plantation crepe but more durable. Obviously, I prefer the RLH soles to the camp soles. I think they are worth the extra money. The RLH soles also make the shoes a smidge taller compared to the camp moc soles. I find that if I wear a pair with camp moc soles with longer pants, I sometimes find myself stepping on the cuffs of my pants. I have a couple pairs of jeans which I can't wear with my camp mocs with the camp moc soles but I can with my camp mocs with RLH soles. The jeans will eventually shrink to be just right, but they're not there yet.

The RLH soles are bonded to a leather midsole which is sewn to the shoe. The midsole adds some rigidity. The camp moc soles are sewed onto the bottom of the shoe directly. You can easily fold the camp soled camp moc shoe shoe in half. It's very pliable. I'd expect the same from a blucher moc with a camp sole.

I should note that my camp moc soles are the older Amazonas brand camp moc soles, not the newer Rancourt camp moc soles. I would be interested in how the new ones are different.
Click to expand...
could you explain to me what is exactly chromexcel? What's the difference with regular leather?

I also won't go custom but probably purchase the ready to wear ranger moc I've linked which costs 250$ ( with the camp moc sole), since custom raises the price to 400$ and it's out of my budget. I also live in Italy and the international shipment costs 45$.
 
#12 ·
Look at the soles, the Baxter has a sturdier midsole construction and the Classic has a thinner sole.

Chrome excel is just a premium leather produced by Horween. It makes nice shoes, not too soft, not too stiff, just right
 
#13 ·
Speaking of the different sole options, I'll agree with eagle2250 and frankmartin that the RLH sole is great!

Of my three pair, I have a pair on the minilug, the camp sole, and the RLH. I like the classic-ness of the camp sole but I think the RLH sole is far and away the most comfortable of the three and they blend in nicely and can easily be worn with nicer cords or whatever. I've worn my suede range mocs with the RLH soles into the ground since I got them about 5 years and only just recently decided to send them off to be resoled.

eagle2250 mentioned the Christy wedge sole and I think that is an insanely comfortable sole (I'm wearing a pair of Alden boots on a very similar sole right now) but they are sort of ugly soles and I definitely wouldn't wear them with anything more formal than jeans or the very casual chinos I have on today.
 
#14 ·
Semper Jeep said:
Speaking of the different sole options, I'll agree with eagle2250 and frankmartin that the RLH sole is great!

Of my three pair, I have a pair on the minilug, the camp sole, and the RLH. I like the classic-ness of the camp sole but I think the RLH sole is far and away the most comfortable of the three and they blend in nicely and can easily be worn with nicer cords or whatever. I've worn my suede range mocs with the RLH soles into the ground since I got them about 5 years and only just recently decided to send them off to be resoled.

eagle2250 mentioned the Christy wedge sole and I think that is an insanely comfortable sole (I'm wearing a pair of Alden boots on a very similar sole right now) but they are sort of ugly soles and I definitely wouldn't wear them with anything more formal than jeans or the very casual chinos I have on today.
Click to expand...
How durable have you found the RLH sole compared to the standard sole? Because I find the standard sole on my camp Mocs comfortable, but they seem really durable- like just short of Dainite durable.
 
#15 ·
orange fury said:
How durable have you found the RLH sole compared to the standard sole? Because I find the standard sole on my camp Mocs comfortable, but they seem really durable- like just short of Dainite durable.
Click to expand...
I think the RLH is a bit less long-lasting but it's a much softer, quieter sole. But for how often I've worn my shoes with the RLH shoe and on long walks on concrete (through most of the year, they are my go-to shoe for my 7-mile morning walks) they held up very well. However, late this spring I noticed they would probably need to be re-soled sooner rather than later but thought I still had 6 or 7 months worth of tread but they seemed to sort of hit a "point of no return" where the tread just began to disintegrate. That said, the RLH is so grippy that they didn't become slippery or anything (like the camp sole can after a certain point) but because of my natural gait and pronation they were starting to wear very unevenly at certain points and becoming less comfortable for long walks.

I probably should have had them resoled last year but in the end I knew when I bought them that they were softer than other soles so I am happy with the amount of wear I got from them.

Even though I don't wear them that much more, I've had my camp soled mocs resoled more frequently because I am much rougher on them. I spend most of the summer on a rocky beach on Lake Huron and wear them into the water on occasion. The sand and the water and the rocks beat the leather to hell but Rancourt's premium refurbishing makes them look almost like new. I send them off before the soles are completely destroyed mainly because the stitching is beginning to breakdown in spots and the footbeds and insoles are falling apart. FWIW - I actually managed to remember to take an old pair of tennis shoes to leave at the beach house this year to wear in the water and not my CXL mocs!
 
#16 ·
Semper Jeep said:
I think the RLH is a bit less long-lasting but it's a much softer, quieter sole. But for how often I've worn my shoes with the RLH shoe and on long walks on concrete (through most of the year, they are my go-to shoe for my 7-mile morning walks) they held up very well. However, late this spring I noticed they would probably need to be re-soled sooner rather than later but thought I still had 6 or 7 months worth of tread but they seemed to sort of hit a "point of no return" where the tread just began to disintegrate. That said, the RLH is so grippy that they didn't become slippery or anything (like the camp sole can after a certain point) but because of my natural gait and pronation they were starting to wear very unevenly at certain points and becoming less comfortable for long walks.

I probably should have had them resoled at the start of this year.

Even though I don't wear them that much more, I've had my camp soled mocs resoled more frequently because I am much rougher on them. I spend most of the summer on a rocky beach on Lake Huron and wear them into the water on occasion. The sand and the water and the rocks beat the leather to hell but Rancourt's premium refurbishing makes them look almost like new. I send them off before the soles are completely destroyed mainly because the stitching is beginning to breakdown in spots and the footbeds and insoles are falling apart. FWIW - I actually managed to remember to take an old pair of tennis shoes to leave at the beach house this year to wear in the water and not my CXL mocs!
Click to expand...
See, that's exactly how I use my Sperrys- water, dirt, beer, anything where I don't want to think about keeping my shoes nice. They've held up like a champ and I can replace them easily if need be
 
#17 ·
It sounds like Semper Jeep's shoes are a more extreme use case than mine. Mine are rotated and treed with split toe shoe trees, but not worn in extreme conditions. They do get worn in all kinds of weather. I'm not nice to them, but I think I'd remove them before hopping into a lake or ocean. My Rancourts (2x Baxter Ranger Mocs, 1x Gilman Camp Mocs, and 1x Sherman Camp Mocs) are my go-to shoes on a daily basis. The Sherman Camp Mocs are newer than the other pairs.

I don't wear boat shoes. These are my boat shoe equivalents.

The Camp mocs get worn more than the Ranger mocs when it's warm and less when it's cold. I rarely wear socks with camp mocs. I figure I wear my 2 pairs of Baxter Ranger Mocs and my Gillman camp mocs about equal number of times for each pair throughout the year. I bought all three during the last half of 2015. I've worn flat spots on the camp moc soles, but my RLH soles still look great.

I would guess that where the Aspen RLH soles will wear out first would be the toes as that part seems to be the thinnest. Semper Jeep, is that where they wear out first?

These are cool, do any of you guys have any experience with the flint kudu suede?
 
#18 ·
orange fury said:
I've been talking about it a lot recently, but I love my Rancourt camp mocs (Carolina brown CXL), as well as my beefroll penny loafers (color 8 CXL). The blucher Mocs in natty CXL will be my next purchase from them.

I think they're certainly very versatile, but I also think the blucher Mocs go best with more casual pants- chinos, jeans, etc. The camp moc goes a little better with shorts than the bluchers imho, but can still be worn just as well with pants. Boat shoes are strictly with shorts for me- I used to wear them with chinos in college, but I have options that work better with chinos now.

Rancourt is definitely more expensive (as is Quoddy, OSB, Russell, etc), but compared to the disposable LL Bean version, Rancourts are MiUSA of CXL and can be resoled, which makes it worth the investment imho. Like Patrick said- if you're hesitant about the style go with something cheaper, but if you like the style already, it's worth the upgrade.

Edit- as an aside, I still buy Sperrys for boat shoes, because I wear those specifically as beaters. My current pair is 4 years old and has fallen off the back of a boat, had countless beers poured on them, and still perform like a champ. I treat my Rancourts as a dressier version of those- keep them on shoe trees, condition/brush, etc. Durable as they are, I wouldn't recommend using these as beaters unless you're secretly Bill Gates or something

Edit 2- I know Rancourt's site says to size down .5 for most styles (and that's the same advice you'll see elsewhere online), but I would go TTS. I sized down on my penny loafers and it made them awful to break in- they're fine now, but I would've been fine with my usual size. I ordered my camp Mocs TTS, and they were snug at first (and the top of my feet were sore after wearing them for 7 hours straight the first time), but have broken in nicely after a week or so of wear. If I had sized down, I wouldn't have been able to get them on my feet.
Click to expand...
I agree - I was TTS in Rancourt pinch penny. And I don't have unusual feet.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#20 ·
^ They were $730. Not inexpensive by any means, but they were also a MTO shoe and not part of their typical stock. Once upon a time, they offered color 8 shell cordovan as a stock, ready-made shoe for the Ranger Moc and back then it was $550, but that was a loooong time ago.

Before that, I purchased a MTO beefroll penny loafer from them in the navy blue shell cordovan and I think the price for those was actually about $450.

Rancourt has definitely raised their prices for their shell cordovan shoes/boots over the years.

Regarding cigar shell - it doesn't look like they have that shade (or one close to it) in their offerings. They do have a calf leather they call "olive bulldog leather" or something like that (I think they now call it "olive CXL") that looks very similar to cigar shell in person (yes, I understand that the CXL is not shell cordovan). On the site, it looks very green but if you were interested in it you can contact them for actual photos or to have a swatch sent to you.
 
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