Engineer Boots, Harness Boots...

[Dav]

Iron Heart Wesco 1930 Boss today

 

[Bfd70]

Yours have seen more action than mine!
@Dav, are your Viberg 8” or taller. Currently 8” is all they offer. If that is what you have, do they stay under the pants cuff as you go back and forth sitting standing or do (would, i know you roll casual) they require adjustment?

 

[Dav]

Mine are 9" and yes pants can require adjustment, especially the wider ones. As much as I love them I do now realise I have the wrong size, so don't get as much wear as I'd like. A bit taller would be handy as well, 8" sounds short to me.
I'll pop them on later and put up a pic.

 

[Dav]

Here ya go, Iron Heart Viberg Wild Ones, lovely boots, but a size up would have been better. These were my first pair of engineers, tbf I was given bad sizing advice but they're alright, just not as comfortable as my others, they got me hooked though.
As you can see they do keep under my pants when sitting but not a lot, 8" I think would be too short for me, these are 9".

 

[Bfd70]

Awesome thanks.
Do you wear the same size in Viberg as in Wesco?

 

[Dav]

Probably, the Wescos are 10D, Viberg 9.5D but I think the 10 would have been better.

 

[VestCoast]

My vote is Wesco. Their domain leathers just evolve so well and they have the perfect amount of give--they mold over time but don't get too "flappy". I have the Brown Domain Iron Heart collabs in the 1930 make-up (7400 model) and they are such a great boot. I lucked out last week and found a pair of seconds on the Wesco website from the recent Standard & Strange collaboration in British Tan. They had an incredibly minor blemish and I picked them up for a steal, especially compared to the collaboration mark-up price. The model for these is the 7500 which has a narrower shaft, sounds like that's what you're looking for. My first pair of engineers was a pair of Red Wings in Klondike leather with a steel toe--great boots too but the materials and finish are clearly not as high.

 

[Bfd70]

Vestcoast we are in the exact same boat. I have the IH domain collab. I agree the finish leather are really gorgeous. I’m not sure i could process anything nicer. I also have the klondike redwing. Agree that they are nice but certainly not in the same league. However, the red wing fit me very well. I like the tight instep, narrow shaft and wide toe box. For the IH i need to remove the inner footbed for my toes to fit but needed to have a cobbler attach an instep pad to bring the instep closer. The shaft is ok but a little wide for narrower hems.

Today i got some pretty cheap education. I bought a pair of used RW 2990. I didn’t really need them but for the price i couldn’t pass them up. Their finish is slightly lower than the klondike. They have RW branded buckles as opposed to roller buckles. The leather is much more pliable than my klondike but that may be partially due to mileage.
The education came from the fact that they have substantially lower heals than the IH or Klondike. I realized i prefer this. I finally understand the “feels like a pair of slippers” bit.

 

[Dav]

Style free, steel toed, Wesco Boss clunkers. Love these, so glad I invested, perfect chore boots.

 

[VestCoast]

View attachment 180466 Vestcoast we are in the exact same boat. I have the IH domain collab. I agree the finish leather are really gorgeous. I’m not sure i could process anything nicer. I also have the klondike redwing. Agree that they are nice but certainly not in the same league. However, the red wing fit me very well. I like the tight instep, narrow shaft and wide toe box. For the IH i need to remove the inner footbed for my toes to fit but needed to have a cobbler attach an instep pad to bring the instep closer. The shaft is ok but a little wide for narrower hems.

Today i got some pretty cheap education. I bought a pair of used RW 2990. I didn’t really need them but for the price i couldn’t pass them up. Their finish is slightly lower than the klondike. They have RW branded buckles as opposed to roller buckles. The leather is much more pliable than my klondike but that may be partially due to mileage.
The education came from the fact that they have substantially lower heals than the IH or Klondike. I realized i prefer this. I finally understand the “feels like a pair of slippers” bit.

I actually have an essentially brand new pair of 2990s laying around somewhere, I got them a long time ago and the low heel is actually why I didn't like them. Also the hide is struck through, and the brown-base klondike leather appealed to me a lot more then. As soon as I picked up the klondike engineers I never picked up the 2990s again. Glad the low heel works for you!

 

[Edward]

My big hang up is that i can get the Wesco made to fit. I currently have a pair of Redwing that fit pretty close to perfect and a pair of Wesco that now fit with the help of a cobbler. I need a somewhat wide toe box, a relatively low instep, and prefer a narrow shaft as I have SKINNY calves. Interestingly my redwings check all of these boxes but the overall finish when compared to the Wesco is quite low.

I'm sure the Wescos are markedly better, given the significant price difference. Sometimes, though, I wonder if we can get too caught up in chasing the 'best quality', bearing in mind the boots the liokes of the Boozefights or the 13 Black Cats actually wore back then were probably closer to, say, Grinders today. I also have a pair of black engineer boots sitting in my office that meet the significantly high ECE standard for protective motorcycle boots. Cosmetically, not quite as nice as my £300 Redwings, but that ECE means they're a damn good pair of boots for around £100 (TCX brand). My first engineer boots, my Grinders, were £80 in 2005; I believe they're not much more expensive now, and they're still gonig strong. (Huge, chunky cleated soles - not my first choice nowadays from an aesthetic standpoint, but boy are they the best footwear I've ever had in snow, especially since I snuged them up with a quality insole).

Of course, I still want a pair of Wescos, and maybe even some Clinch boots. Also, the Lewis A10 'Mechanic's Boots'.

I’ll add Lone Wolf’s and Road Champs to the election as well. At this point I’m keeping RC out because I’m afraid to custom order boots at that price point and have them not fit PERFECT, even though like most here I’ve done that with jackets.
Though it seems that Road Champs are currently made from unobtanium.

I think part of the issue is we're much less familiar with measuring feet than jackets..... I know that's what gives me the collywobbles at the idea of relying on my own measurements. Especially also given half an inch out on a jacket for the most part doesn't redner it unwearable, but with boots it could mean the difference between the 'slipper fit' and agony!

View attachment 180466
Today i got some pretty cheap education. I bought a pair of used RW 2990. I didn’t really need them but for the price i couldn’t pass them up. Their finish is slightly lower than the klondike. They have RW branded buckles as opposed to roller buckles. The leather is much more pliable than my klondike but that may be partially due to mileage.
The education came from the fact that they have substantially lower heals than the IH or Klondike. I realized i prefer this. I finally understand the “feels like a pair of slippers” bit.

I've handled both together new, and there isn't much at all in it qualitatively. If anything, what for me made the Klondikes feel more "expensive" is the extra work in the shaping of the heel and such, whereas the 2990s with the flat heel are just a touch more utilitarian.

Interesting to note that if you look at the vast majority of British takes on the engineer boot (as well as boots of a similar motorcycling pedigree, but with the more British neater fit, achieved via a zip up the back - think Lewis/Aviakit's Motorway or Westway boots), you will see a flatter heel profile. I am convinced this comes from the link to riding boots. While engineer boots in the US started out with a very different application, once they became seen primariyl as motorcycle boots, you see a preponderance of heels that reflect the old cowboy boots with their cuban heels, whereas traditional English (horse)riding boots always had a lower heel, much like any, good-quality Northampton shoe. Surely it is far to much of a coincidence for there not to be an evolutionary connection to the same differences being seen in US and British motorcycle boots. Perhaps there was even amilitary influence of some sorts, given both would have seen motorcycles slowly replace horses for at least some military applications from c.1916 onwards....

 

[Bfd70]

Thanks for the well thought reply Edward. I definitely don’t disparage RW and for me they are they sweet intersection of quality/cost. Terms like laser stitching fall flat for me. I’m 100% fine with good. I do care about durability and enjoy a nice leather. I think the appeal of Wesco for me is primarily the custom fit option. As you mention the tolerances for acceptable and unwearable are quite small with footwear.
I rode the bike with the 2990 last night. They worked out better than the klondike but it was primarily because the klondikes celastic toe requires more thought to get under the gear shift than the flat 2990.
Mostly i think i need to get to @davs and work in the yard with the dogs a bit to get them broken in and earn some good patina!

 

[Edward]

Thanks for the well thought reply Edward. I definitely don’t disparage RW and for me they are they sweet intersection of quality/cost. Terms like laser stitching fall flat for me. I’m 100% fine with good. I do care about durability and enjoy a nice leather. I think the appeal of Wesco for me is primarily the custom fit option. As you mention the tolerances for acceptable and unwearable are quite small with footwear.

Oh, yes - custom fit is another thing altogether, especially with boots as notoriously hard to size just right as engineers.

I rode the bike with the 2990 last night. They worked out better than the klondike but it was primarily because the klondikes celastic toe requires more thought to get under the gear shift than the flat 2990.
Mostly i think i need to get to @davs and work in the yard with the dogs a bit to get them broken in and earn some good patina!

Ha, as I've said before, I love Dav's willingness to use these things hard,as they were designed for, rather than pay out the big money for durability only to then baby them!

 

[kenucklehead]

Wesco boots are definitely heavy duty. However, if fit is a concern, make sure you get a custom fit. They will guarantee the fit if it's custom. Really important if you're not sure of sizing.

I had a problem with the company a few years ago. I was in Oregon and stopped by the shop to double check sizing (I'd been buying 9D/9.5D) and wanted to get their feedback on the best size. I tried on a few pairs with different lasts but did not do a custom fit. I figured if I could go with a standard fit, I was fine, especially by doing at their shop. The guy that helped me wrote down all the sizing for me on a piece of paper and I proceeded to place two orders a few weeks later after I got home and figured out exactly what I wanted. Then this happened.

I got my boots and one pair was huge. Felt like a full size too big. The other was made incorrectly. I contacted Wesco about the problem, explaining exactly how I was in the shop, tried on boots, got the sizing from their staff and still something went wrong with sizing. As it turns out, the last for that particular boot actually fit larger than the numerical size and they didn't mention it at the shop but wrote down the same size I usually wore. Because it wasn't a custom fit, they at first refused to take the boots back. After speaking with three different people over the course of the next week, they finally agreed to take them back... as long as I stopped being a customer! I of course agreed and decided to never buy from them again.

That's the customer service you might get from them. For $500 boots, you couldn't be blamed to expect better.

 

[Bfd70]

Interesting. I’ve had pretty good experience with them so far. If going with Wesco for the next purchase i would definitely be going custom. I know the instep and shaft are too big for my liking in their stock boss boots.

 

[deaner33]

What is the top of the vamp that overlaps and goes up the shaft called? That part really bugs me on Wesco boots - too rounded. Probably nitpicking, but it’s the little things that make or break engineers for me. Other dislikes - rounded strap ends & stitchdown construction. I know, I’m weird.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Edward]

Wesco boots are definitely heavy duty. However, if fit is a concern, make sure you get a custom fit. They will guarantee the fit if it's custom. Really important if you're not sure of sizing.

I had a problem with the company a few years ago. I was in Oregon and stopped by the shop to double check sizing (I'd been buying 9D/9.5D) and wanted to get their feedback on the best size. I tried on a few pairs with different lasts but did not do a custom fit. I figured if I could go with a standard fit, I was fine, especially by doing at their shop. The guy that helped me wrote down all the sizing for me on a piece of paper and I proceeded to place two orders a few weeks later after I got home and figured out exactly what I wanted. Then this happened.

I got my boots and one pair was huge. Felt like a full size too big. The other was made incorrectly. I contacted Wesco about the problem, explaining exactly how I was in the shop, tried on boots, got the sizing from their staff and still something went wrong with sizing. As it turns out, the last for that particular boot actually fit larger than the numerical size and they didn't mention it at the shop but wrote down the same size I usually wore. Because it wasn't a custom fit, they at first refused to take the boots back. After speaking with three different people over the course of the next week, they finally agreed to take them back... as long as I stopped being a customer! I of course agreed and decided to never buy from them again.

That's the customer service you might get from them. For $500 boots, you couldn't be blamed to expect better.

THat's useful to know; I'd have assumed that it would have been the other way around, i.e. no returns on custom sizing, returns on stock only. Either way, of course, I'd hate to make a mistake at this distance as UK-US return shipping is killer.

 

[Bfd70]

Kiwi polish and elbow grease have the RW lookin good today.

 

[Bfd70]

But.......WIWT

 

[Bfd70]

View attachment 180466 Vestcoast we are in the exact same boat. I have the IH domain collab. I agree the finish leather are really gorgeous. I’m not sure i could process anything nicer. I also have the klondike redwing. Agree that they are nice but certainly not in the same league. However, the red wing fit me very well. I like the tight instep, narrow shaft and wide toe box. For the IH i need to remove the inner footbed for my toes to fit but needed to have a cobbler attach an instep pad to bring the instep closer. The shaft is ok but a little wide for narrower hems.

Today i got some pretty cheap education. I bought a pair of used RW 2990. I didn’t really need them but for the price i couldn’t pass them up. Their finish is slightly lower than the klondike. They have RW branded buckles as opposed to roller buckles. The leather is much more pliable than my klondike but that may be partially due to mileage.
The education came from the fact that they have substantially lower heals than the IH or Klondike. I realized i prefer this. I finally understand the “feels like a pair of slippers” bit.

So after my experience with the lower heel on the 2990 I decided to take my 2966 to the local cobbler for a heel reduction. Brilliant! Who wants to go for a long walk?