Thank you to each and everyone who sent in an entry with your stories, some of which I have posted below!
First (and only) Prize! by K. Nash.
The Essentials of My Safari Kit by Keith Fahl
Courteney Boots and W.R. & Co. Ltd. products have been the most essential part of my hunting kit for many years now. From local hunts in the Pacific Northwest to safaris in Africa, their products have given me many years of service due to the high standards and quality of their manufacture.
I ordered my first pair of Courteney boots in 2001. I had them custom made from my hippo hide, taken on safari in Zimbabwe that same year. They were a perfect fit and have definitely stood the test of time, I am still wearing these boots 14 years later. I was so impressed with comfort and quality that I decided to get a second pair. I traveled to the Westley Richards Agency in Bozeman, Montana in 2003 and looked over the Courteney line. I decided on a pair of Tracker boots. To this day, it is my favorite style and the only boots I will ever wear for hunting. The boots are rugged, dependable and comfortable. The fit is excellent. I have walked hundreds of kilometers on safari, wearing Courteney boots and Faulk sox. I have never had a blister or feet too sore to keep trekking. I now own 10 pair of Westley Richard Courteney boots and shoes in various leathers and styles that I wear for all occasions. They are simply, the best.
I purchased a Westley Richards double rifle, manufactured in 1907. This is what prompted my original trip to the Westley Richards U.S. facility in Bozeman. While there, I found many items I find absolutely essential for my hunting kit. The gun cases and slips, belts, slings, ammo wallets, cleaning accessories, travel bags, etc., etc. are all of the best quality. My personal favorite is the 4 and 5 shot ammunition wallets. I use them to carry extra rounds in my pocket. They are quiet and an easily accessible way to carry additional rounds or rounds that have a different bullet type than you have loaded in your rifle (i.e. solid or soft nose). If you ever begin using them, you will never go on another hunting trip without them.
The Courteney Boots and W.R. & Co. Ltd. products that I take hunting, I am able to pack into one large, canvas W.R. & Co. Sutherland bag, weighing up to 70 pounds. My bag has carried this load on well over 20 trips and baggage handlers have yet to damage it. It has aged well and I get many inquiries as to where I purchased it. Again, these products are of the best quality and built to last.
I will continue to purchase Westley Richards products. They have served me well and should last for many more hunting adventures. I know I can depend on them to hold up and that makes the hunt that much more enjoyable.
Totally satisfied customer of Westley Richards,
Frank Sullivan
I've easily walked a thousand miles in my Courtenay Trackers - in the field, on camping trips and at the shooting range. They've held up well partly because I don't wear them in the city very much. They prefer dirt and grass rahter than concrete.
My greatest adventure with them has to be our our trip to RSA and Botswana in 2013 when I wore them on a plains game hunt in the Kalahari desert. The trip was capped by two days of pursuing red hartebeest. I bagged my trophy as it looked back at us obscured by the setting sun behind us.They are comfortable, stylish and as tough as nails. And the Professional Hunter said he could always find me, given the distinctive footprints the tread left behind.
Robert Smith.
I walked the length of the Pacific Crest Trail (Mexican border to the Canadian border) last summer in my Courtney boots (Ostrich skin) with nary a blister. This was in celebration of my 60th birthday and to commemorate having done it 40 years earlier at age 20. My Courtney boots held up better than the technical mountaineering boots I bought from the North Face lo those many years ago. And everyone at my shooting club still says they’re the best looking shoes they’ve seen. Hell, women even stop me in the grocery store and ask me where I bought them. It doesn’t get any better than that, form and function. I’m going to buy another pair just to be sure I get out of life with them on. Keep up the great work.
Adrian.
I have had walking boots all my life - I spent 35 years in the Army! and was looking for a shoe/boot that I could wear for numerous activities, including in lieu of conventional suede 'chukka boots'. Following extensive research, including speaking to your staff, I bought my Courteney Tracker boots by mail order just over two years ago and it wasn't long before I wished I had done so years before! I have worn them on safari in Africa in 2013, walking in the Swiss Alps last summer, when fishing and also before (en route), or after, shooting and stalking. They are perfect for long sight seeing days, be it along the snow covered streets of Vienna in winter, or the wide avenues of Seville in the spring from where my wife and I have just returned. Having worn them in, they now look and feel better than the day I first put them on, I am wearing them now!
I have recommended them to any number of friends, they represent outstanding value and your brochure description is spot on, they are really comfortable, multi functional and they certainly do what it says on the tin! I do not travel anywhere without them.
Jeffery de Visser.
I bought my Courtney Safari Boots back in 2011 just before I graduated telling myself I was going to go out and explore a little before settling in. In 2012/2013 I drove 58,000 kilometres around Africa in an old Land Rover; from the Netherlands to South Africa along the eastcoast of Africa, and back up along the westcoast. I pretty much just wore my Courtneys all day every day for over a year - through jungles, cities, savannah and deserts. I settled down in South Africa now and still wear them when I go out venturing into the wild.
Vance Daigle on June 2, 2015 at 7:54 pm
Gentlemen,
My Hats off to each and everyone of you guys!! the stories you have shared have convinced me that when I travel to England and visit Westley Richards this fall I must have a pair....or two. I read where they speak well of them in the brochure, but to hear these stories I must have a pair. Thank you for sharing these great stories. I now wish I could have been on some of these wonderful adventures in my lifetime. Thank you Gentlemen!!!!!
In Christ
Vance,
Robert Kreisberg on March 31, 2020 at 5:19 pm
I found your web site by accident through Sporting Classics. I am glad I did. I am not a hunter but a fly fisher. I needed back surgery. Saw your three legged stool. Bought two. Carried one every where I went. Could not walk far, had to sit. Stool was perfect. The second was taller used it for saving. Now on to the Courteney’s. At the same time I saw this boots. Worn boots for my work life for thirty five years. All major top of the line brands. Bought a pair of these in Kudu. Best pair of boots I have owned, they are my go to when I boots are needed. The sole is the heart of the boot. If your feet are not protected you are not safe, people do not realize they carry through life.