Converse Jack Purcell Shoe Review/Wear Test

Converse Jack Purcell

Words By: Jason Lee

Out of The Box

Initial Impression

My initial impressions when skating the shoe straight out of the box was that the sole of the shoe was extremely grippy, possibly grippier than the Vans's waffle sole. The sole seems to have no grooves in it but when the sole flexed a multitude of close grooves show themselves which explains its grip. Being that the toe cap is rubber it took me about a day to get used to the flick and adjust accordingly so I no longer over or under flicked my tricks. The shoe has a relatively skinny shape and the minimal padding in the shoe was obvious and painful when I landed primo. Overall, the shoe seems to have above average grip, subpar padding, effective grip, and minimal breathability.

Sizing

Would recommend going a half size down.

Shape

The shoe has a very skinny shape or narrow shape which most likely suites those with narrower feet. However, I have wide feet and did not notice any discomfort, although it did look like I was wearing clown shoes from a bird’s eye view.

1 Hour of Wear

Durability

The Jack Purcell lasted about 4 weeks of skating and showed obvious signs of wear within the first hour. This is in part to the fact that this shoe is made of nubuck and the dye faded quickly causing the white nubuck to show. The nubuck leather did not take that much time to break in and developed a relatively suede like grip after about an hour of skating. Similar to shoes that Huf produces, wear is shown almost instantly but no hole appears until much later(4 weeks). Although the shoelaces were relatively close to the toe cap I did not experience any significant wear throughout the process. I did not tamper with the lacing of the shoe and it was not until mid-way through the wear test did the front of my laces start to tear. The wax coating on the shoelaces helped in preventing the shoelaces from never fully tearing apart. However, my experience could differ from yours in part to one’s flick and the fact that I do not enjoy flipping my board.

Breathability

The breathability was subpar due to the fact that the two holes on the inside sidewall of the shoe was the only way for moisture to escape. However, the insole did an effective job of absorbing majority of the sweat, as a result I hardly noticed swampfoot. But, later on in the shoe’s lifespan the insole did a significantly poorer job of preventing swamp foot. Keep in mind however that, I started the weartest in winter and near the end of the weartest weather was hitting 70 degrees.

Grip/Support/Comfort

As mentioned in the initial impression, the shoe was extremely grippy in the beginning and for the most part retained majority of its grip throughout the weartest. By the end of the weartest no hole in the sole had produced and there seemed to be very little wear prevalent on the sole. However, the already thin sole had diminished even more causing medium impact skating to hurt a bit more than usual.

At first the shoe seemed to arch towards the sky during the initial skate session but later on through its life the toe no longer curved upward. This did not affect my skating but it did feel awkward at first. I was comfortable skating stairs ranging up to a 6 stair for about an hour or so before my feet began to hurt. There seemed to be an effective mix of board control and padding for those who generally skate things from medium to low impact.

4 Weeks of Wear(30+ hours)

Conclusion

The Jack Purcell seemed to use a more effective glue on the sidewalls in that the side panel and the sole/sidewall did not fall apart(a common problem in Converse CTAS[Chuck Taylors]). The toe cap added to the flicking durability and I never developed a kickflip hole, because there was two layers of rubber on top of the shoe. The sole remained grippy throughout and lasted longer than I expected. Overall, although these shoes are relatively expensive, the Jack Purcell with nubuck leather offered above average grip, flick, boardfeel, and durability; it lacked in areas such as breathability, impact support and price. If one values breathability over durability, it may be a good decision to invest in a canvas pair instead.