I am an electrician, I work in snow, rain, dust, mud, concrete floors and anything else a jobsite throws at these things, and they are incredible work boots.
This leather is about as rugged as it comes. The break-in was great! It has formed to my feet and ankles very comfortably. Care was very minimal. The leather was so waxy when I first got them and surprisingly the waxes held to the boot only until a month ago. I conditioned these boots with Smiths and I brushed them every few days or whenever they got covered in drywall dust. The leather really started to shine about 4 months in, after my first conditioning. The red undertones began to take hold more, and the leather softened even further. Eventually, I did have to put Delta Arches in as there is no shank and the lack of support would lead to some fatigue on some days. The insoles fixed that.
I love them. The fit is great. The width was almost perfect. Being slightly shorter than I'm used to, there was a bit of squeeze at first and a small amount of stretch was required, but the are very good now. I find for my job that I really need a shank, or a couple extra layers of leather beneath the insole to stiffen the boot enough to not cause fatigue. Working off of ladders all day was an issue as the outsole was not stiff enough to support my less than 200 lbs all day without issue. Delta Arch from Nicks really made this boot great. While it didn't stiffen the boot, it supported my foot so much better that ladders haven't been a problem since.
Love the design. These are as classic as they get! Overall a very high quality boot. Everything from the stitching, the welt, the fully gusseted tongue, bottom to top eyelets were all flawless. Love that they have no lining, there was no slip ever and was able to wear wool socks and they were fine through the AK winter.
Outsole was very grippy. The Irish setters I had before had a terribly slippery wedge sole, but the traction tried was never an issue, even on snow and ice. Wish it were stiffer, though. The impact cushion was very nice and made working on concrete fine, knees never hurt the way they do with traditionally lugged work boots. These show almost no sign of wear after all these months
I have really enjoyed working in these boots. I will certainly keep these as my work boots going forward until they can no longer be resoled. These boots are a great value. Almost if not the best value you can get in a boot. Thick, stiff leather uppers and a thick leather insole is hard to beat at the retail price, let alone sale prices. I love that these boots were made in the U.S. and that my money supported jobs for people whom continue to manufacture in this country. They make a great product that is very affordable.