Red Wing Heritage Men's Moc 8" Boot

First of all these are great boots, luxuriant leather and an honest piece of true Americana. Now about fit, I see most people buying Red Wing boots sized down a half or a full size then remark or complain about the break-n period. I say you should get a boot a half or full size large and that Red Wings are sized about right for all-round use, so if you wear a size 10 in other shoes, get a 10 in Red Wing Heritage. I live in a town on a hill with a big mountain with steep trails to the east (Ogden, Utah). I was in the Marine Corps in Vietnam so that tells you my age and my experience with boots in general, and one thing you don't want is a tight boot with your toes up against the front. Hiking down a mountain trail, or just walking to town down hill on a sidewalk can be torture. If a boot tightens properly around your ankle and it's not too wide, your foot will be held in place inside the boot. When I buy a boot there's no real "break-in" needed, at least not the painful kind described, endured and self inflicted by so many.Now, my feet are pretty big I guess, but I'm a slender 6'2" and 175lbs. I wear a 13D in Red Wings, a 13 in Clarks, a 15 in Basque and 14s in most of the knock-about shoes I buy at Big-5. So, my feet are 13+ I guess. I owned a pair of Red Wing engineer boots (2268's) for 20 years. They were sold to me by a Red Wing store salesmen who said I should come down a size. The WERE painful and never got any better, I rode motorcycles with them, but couldn't walk anywhere, just too painful. Right now I have four pair of Red Wing Heritage boots, the 877's, Iron Ranger's, and two pair of engineers, the black 2990 and brown 2991. They all fit perfect and the only break in I've suffered is from the 2991 from the pull-up tabs rubbing on my leg. I put on taller stockings and fixed that. To reiterate, if you wear a 10 in everything...especially if you tend to a 10+ I wouldn't downsize but go for a 10 in any Red Wing Heritage boot. Buy a pair, wear them with pride, look like Steve Mcqueen or an ornery old X-Marine like me, they won't be mistaken for Birkenstock's!

These are great simple unlined boots that are made of thick high quality leather. The craftsmanship is supurb, every stitch is perfect, and the leather is cut cleanly and accurately. I usually wear a size 10 sneaker, the size 9 boot fits me perfectly.Because they are made from thick leather they are a little stiff for a few days. After wearing them for about a week, and applying some boot conditioner (otter-wax boot wax) they are the most comfortable boots I’ve ever owned, and they are only just beginning to wear in.One of my favorite features is that the tongue is attached almost to the top of the boot, this makes it so that if you step in snow or water past the laces it doesn’t flood into the boot around the bottom of the tongue.I got the Copper Rough and Tough leather color (model 8830) but I found that the actual color is a little lighter and more orange than the photos (almost like the Oro Legacy color #887). I was hoping for a darker brown than I got. However after applying boot wax (boot oil would work as well) they look more like the pictures on the redwing website. The photos I posted are after the boot wax.One thing that I find a little odd is that the laces they came with are not long enough to lace all the eyelets, you can, but then there isn’t enough left to actually tie them. Pick up some 72” laces as well if you intend to lace these all the way. I got some at the local pharmacy that look just like the original laces, but are longer.

So I just got my pair of boots, and primarily I got these boots for several reasons, I wanted something USA made, Price point not an issue for me, because you get what you pay for right? This boot is amazing on all fronts, Its just well made, yeah the break in period will probably destroy your feet, but once this process is done, nothing else will feel as comfortable, one other reason that I got this boot is because of the sole, I really wanted a boot that when the sole wears out I can bring it to a redwing store and they will be able to resole it, I live in Brooklyn and they have an official official Redwing store in Queens where you can have the shoe resoled,That was my primary reason, I had or better said have a pair of Timberlands and I've heard you can resole them, But Where? So there they sit lonely until I find that magical place to be resoled. But Back to Redwing, Yes you can have them resoled thats the magic of this shoe, Google it and you can probably find a center to do this, and if its not close by I'm sure you can contact them or send them in and they'll come back looking like new, The Redwing website is very helpful in this. Informative and you can also see other styles of boots you might like, But anyhoos, The boot is amazing , I'm looking foward to many years of this boot, I got the 8'classic, and I have a pair of 6" classic, ANd i will never ever go back to anything else. One small detail that left me perplexed although is the shoe lace it's not long enough so you might have to skip a couple of eyelets to reach the top of the boot, Well That's all folks!!! Hope this was helpful in making your choice, don't be afraid and take the plunge, and remember don't gripe about the blisters, theyl'll go away and if you don't like em, send em right back.HAve a great day folks!!