Three makers. We buy the full size run each of them produces rather than skimming the easy sellers, which is the whole reason the range is this short.
Samelin — Tartu, Estonia
A Tartu boot factory: four local workshops merged there in 1945, and AS Samelin has traded under its own name since 1994. Samelin’s M77 was delivered to the Norwegian army in the 1970s and is still in production on the same lasts; several NATO armies have specified it since, and the Estonian Defence Forces field it today.
These are boots built around being repairable: full-grain leather thick enough to take a resole, stitched construction, and hardware you can replace. Samelin’s own reported return rate is around 10%, against a 19–24% norm for footwear — mostly because the sizing is honest and the leather does not collapse.
The range runs from the M77 and 2077 combat boots through the 511 and 517 aviator patterns to the 598 desert boots and 553P hikers.
OmaKing — Estonia
A small workshop making anatomically shaped leather sandals, shoes and natural-felt slippers. Most of the leather range is cut to order, which is why it takes 5–10 days and why it fits properly: wide toe box, flat flexible sole, no synthetic lining.
The TOKU line — Athens, Brussels, Kyoto, Stockholm — is the one to know. The felt and lambswool slippers are pressed from natural sheep wool with no plastic anywhere in them.
Nesna Lobben — Norway
The Norwegian felt boot, more or less unchanged: thick pressed sheep wool, a solid sole, and nothing else. It is the traditional answer to a dry Nordic winter, and it works because wool keeps insulating when it is damp.
We stock the Polar Lobben and the Nesna Lobben in adult sizes and the 724 in children’s.
Why only three
Most shops in this trade list whatever their supplier offers and hope volume covers the gaps. We would rather buy the full size run in three ranges we can describe honestly, and tell you when something is not worth buying.