Made In The USA: Frye Logan

This is going to be a "first" for the Made In The USA series: The Frye Logan boot is made right here in America, and after a couple of weeks using it to walk around and ride my Honda CB1100 I can attest that it's a very nice item indeed.

There's just one little problem.

Frye has had a remarkably troubled history that includes its recent purchase by a massive Chinese trading company. Its original Massachusetts factory was closed years ago. Today's American-made Fryes are assembled in Arkansas, a fact alluded to by its Arkansas Prison Boot, which apparently comes complete with an inmate number on the heel.

In case you're wondering, the boots issued to residents of Ohio penitentiaries are suede chukkas made nearly entirely from materials harvested within the prison system. They're remarkably uncomfortable, or so I've heard. You'd really rather have a set of New Balances or something like that.

Back to the Fryes. Compared to my Allen-Edmonds Sturgis 2.0 boots, the Frye Logans are made from thinner, more delicate leather. They're more comfortable and the fit is remarkably good. I'd be surprised if they lasted as long as the A-Es, but they are pretty nice and given that I got them for $214.99 at the suggestion of Michael, one of our commenters, I'm not going to complain.

I can't deny, however, that I feel a little iffy about recommending them to all of you out there on the Internet, however. Yes, the boots are made here, but the ownership is Chinese. I'd really rather you buy a pair of boots where the labor and the management is American. With that said, I'm a bit of a populist at heart so the equation is going to go something like this:

US ownership/US labor (Allen-Edmonds) > foreign ownership/US labor (Frye) > US ownership/foreign labor (Ralph Lauren) > foreign ownership/foreign labor (Ugg)

I'll keep all of you posted on my Frye experience. I bought a set of Danners when I was in Portland, and I have my Lanonas coming in the next month, so pretty soon we should be able to have a regular Boot-Out!