Shoes that look better with age...

[rayw44]

Here's a pic of the tag on the inside of the tongue. This probably isn't much help but AMERICA FUCK YEAH

As far as I know, this means it was probably from the 60s or 70s, as they used a blue embroidered tag before then, and the tag from the 80s and onward is usually hanging (not sewn on all the way around).

[pepper davies]

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Handmade Italian Fracap boots?

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I thought they might be Fracaps as well, but there no tag inside or anything. The font does look same as the font in the Fracaps best I can tell. If anyone wants to pick them up off me send me a PM.

[marineabilly]

I recently picked up these vintage deadstock Red Wings on ebay. Great condition other than being slightly smushed from being in the box for years, and the little leather heel insert is peeling up at the edges a bit. I wish I knew when they were from, but I haven't a clue how to date them

More for Engineer boots, but here's a little insight on labels

RED WING

[robotbox]

More for Engineer boots, but here's a little insight on labels

RED WING

As far as I know, this means it was probably from the 60s or 70s, as they used a blue embroidered tag before then, and the tag from the 80s and onward is usually hanging (not sewn on all the way around).

Thanks for the info guys!

[Ambivalence]

hi guys,

i just ordered the trickers malton Cshade

and im not sure how to maintain the shoes... what colour polish/ cream .. and can i use obenauf LP to waterproof it?

thanks guys

[Paul T]

Ha, great to see Ben has been busy.

I've been wearing rather than acquiring... but my Lotus shoes officially need a resole.

Any progress on yours, Killer B? I plan to get a Commando Sole - would prefer someone with Veldtschoen experience, and would definitely prefer a £50 pricetag to some others I've seen.

[CrashTestBrummie]

Ha, great to see Ben has been busy.

I've been wearing rather than acquiring... but my Lotus shoes officially need a resole.

Any progress on yours, Killer B? I plan to get a Commando Sole - would prefer someone with Veldtschoen experience, and would definitely prefer a £50 pricetag to some others I've seen.

Welcome back, Paul!

I was thinking of resoling this afternoon, as I'm looking to get those unbranded boots redone. Although I love the 'traditional' leather sole, I'm leaning towards getting a Ridgeway sole put on and using them for the winter...

hi guys,

i just ordered the trickers malton Cshade

and im not sure how to maintain the shoes... what colour polish/ cream .. and can i use obenauf LP to waterproof it?

thanks guys

Will you be wearing them outside enough to warrant waterproofing them? If so, go for gold, although I'd just use dubbin, and neatsfoot oil or similar if the leather was dry.

I use Saphir's 'cognac' polish on my Wetherbys, but any mid-brown or even burgundy would work well...

[killer b]

Any progress on yours, Killer B? I plan to get a Commando Sole - would prefer someone with Veldtschoen experience, and would definitely prefer a £50 pricetag to some others I've seen.

it's going to have to wait another few weeks, so i've nothing to show yet... as i said my dad gets his AS resoled there, and he's pretty happy. reckons there isn't any other cobblers in preston who are as good, but i've no idea how he'd match up to a specialist.

what kind of price are you looking at elsewhere?

[CrashTestBrummie]

it's going to have to wait another few weeks, so i've nothing to show yet... as i said my dad gets his AS resoled there, and he's pretty happy. reckons there isn't any other cobblers in preston who are as good, but i've no idea how he'd match up to a specialist.

what kind of price are you looking at elsewhere?

Dunno about Paul, but I was thinking of that specialist repairer mentioned a while back, price guide as follows:

http://www.rjsp.co.uk/html/price_guide.html

[Paul T]

Yup, same here, I was going to give him a call and see how the land lies.

[CrashTestBrummie]

Keep us posted, if you don't mind.

I've just dropped an email to the people for whom those shooting boots were made, years ago, to see if they can shed any light on their maker...

[milosz]

Is it possible to go from double leather sole (w/ Vibram 700) to single on White's SDs?

I love the pair I got last fall, but they weigh 6 pounds (13EE) and White's didn't offer Vibram 705 at the time, so I wouldn't mind shaving off at least a little bit of weight.

[Farhad]

Here are my Iron Ranger rough outs after some good wear. These age super fast and are one of the most comfortable pair of red wings out of the box.

Also, a shameless plug for the 2268 red wing engineers I'm selling

http://www.superfuture.com/supertalk/showthread.php?p=2803502#post2803502

[crownzip]

Beautiful Iron Rangers. Red Wing should pay you to use your photos!

Here are my Iron Ranger rough outs after some good wear. These age super fast and are one of the most comfortable pair of red wings out of the box.

[jasonfoote303]

A really nice boot from Unionmade just came in. #8 on plantation crepe

[seadog]

hi guys,

i just ordered the trickers malton Cshade

and im not sure how to maintain the shoes... what colour polish/ cream .. and can i use obenauf LP to waterproof it?

thanks guys

Congratulations on your purchase, you are going to love them. I have a pair of Tricker's Stow in acorn, and it felt like I was walking with planks strapped to my feet for the first couple of months. But they eased up, and now they are a pleasure.

The rules for caring for them are simple, the same as for any good leather footwear:

i) Always keep them on wooden shoe trees when you aren't wearing them - this will enable the boots to regain their shape, and prevent the toe from curling up. Also, the wood will absorb any moisture the leather has taken up from your feet.

ii) Wear them a day, rest them a day. If you let them recover after each wear, they will last a lot, lot longer.

iii) Brush them regularly to remove dust - dust is much worse for leather than water. If left on the surface of the leather, solid particles will work their way into the pores in the leather as the leather flexes and eventually cause cracks.

iv) If they get wet, dry them slowly away from direct heat. Stuff them with newspaper if they are really wet, and change it as often as it gets damp.

v) Polish regularly with a high-quality wax polish - if in doubt, use neutral until you find the right shade, and go lighter rather than darker if you are worried.

You ask about Obenauf LP, and CrashTestBrummie mentioned dubbin and neatsfoot oil. As far as I know, your Malton are the same finish as my Stow, which is not an oiled waterproof finish. If you put an oil finish on them, you will almost certainly change the colour and finish forever.

in any case, there is a lot of discussion about whether oil finishes actually do more harm than good, by over-softening and damaging the fibres in the leather. RM Williams supposedly make a waterproofing finish which doesn't damage the leather, and the Obenhauf LP you mention seems to make similar claims. On that front, the ball is in your court.

Enjoy!

[lazycircles]

i found these made in england 1460 doc martens at a thrift store earlier this week...i picked them up thinking they would be a nice pair of beaters to work around the house, etc...but started to notice some weird differences from some other docs i have seen...any help dating them or explaining their peculiarities would be appreciated.

the first weird thing to me was that the pulltab doesn't say air wair on it...couldn't find any info online about when they would have had a different pulltab.

then saw that there is a half insole in one of the shoes (the other one didn't survive apparently).

and lastly, the sizing information wasn't on the tongue, but could faintly be seen on the right ankle of the boot.

[xEMBx]

Maybe selling these, Red Wing boots Size ~10

Hit me up, additional photos upon request.

[CrashTestBrummie]

I've just dropped an email to the people for whom those shooting boots were made, years ago, to see if they can shed any light on their maker...

Interesting response from Thomas Rogerson & Sons (known formerly also as Simonside Footwear), and also some resoling advice.The random apostrophes aren't mine:

"Dear Ben,

Thank you for getting in touch with Rogerson shoes (with such an interesting question!)

I have been in touch with Mr Rogerson and he got back to us with some details about your shoes. Basically he says they look like they were made by Edward Green and in his opinion are "as good as it gets". I have looked up their website for you which I suggest you have a look at

www.edwardgreen.com.

He advised that it would be a shame to have a bad repair done on them and to use a really good cobbler as the shoes are beautifully made. He suggest's adding a light rubber sole and a rubber heel. He also advised you keep them away from heat particularly when wet. The veldtschoen construction is the traditional way of making shoes using a double upper turned out and stiched directly into the mid sole thus making them water resistant and durable.He seemed pretty envious that you have a pair!

I hope you enjoy them! I was wondering if you could tell us where you got them from?

I hope these detail's help!

Kind regards,"

Interesting stuff, although I'd not heard of EG having made footwear for other people historically...

[Panda-san]

Guys, I'm ready to order a pair of Red Wing 2268 Engineer boots, but I need help on sizing. I made a trace of my foot, and it's just about 10 1/4 inches. The cultizm page for the 2268s offers the generic sizing advice that "Red Wings are oversized. For the right size please downsize at least a half or one size." However, in researching these, I've come across several references here on sufu of the 2268s running true to size. Can anyone verify how these particular boots should be sized when ordering?

I don't have any prior Red Wing experience, but if it helps, I have two other pairs of boots, and they're both too big in the heel: Justin Bay Apache Ropers in 10D, and some older Sketchers motorcycle boots in 9.5. Again, both of these are too big in the heel. They rub when I walk, and if I lift my feet they start to slide off. I wear a 10.5 in Nike Cortez sneakers, and they fit perfectly.

If anyone can help with sizing advice, I would appreciate it. The 2268s aren't sold in the US, and I would hate to have to ship them back to Europe if I size them wrong. Thanks.

[erk]

I think that there is a better solution for you here. You're going to pay a premium to get those boots here from Europe and you're gonna have to do a little guess work to get the size right.

So I think you'd be better off spending perhaps a little more money and getting a wesco Boss.

I think their boots look nicer and they do custom fittings along with a completely custom boot. Plus you can do the western or patrol toe on the wesco's which I think looks better.

http://www.westcoastshoe.com Go there and click the custom fitting tab - it wont let me directly link.

I did a demo custom build on wesco's website for a total of $589 - that includes the 1 time charge of $99 for custom fit form

you can do a custom build through baker's for a little cheaper - but I think you'll still have to do the 99 bucks for the custom fit form.

http://www.bakershoe.com/shop-by-brand.cfm/brand/wesco-boots/product/custom-wesco-boss/

Happy Hooligan has a pair of custom boss from Wesco, maybe he could chime in on this.

Guys, I'm ready to order a pair of Red Wing 2268 Engineer boots, but I need help on sizing. I made a trace of my foot, and it's just about 10 1/4 inches. The cultizm page for the 2268s offers the generic sizing advice that "Red Wings are oversized. For the right size please downsize at least a half or one size." However, in researching these, I've come across several references here on sufu of the 2268s running true to size. Can anyone verify how these particular boots should be sized when ordering?

I don't have any prior Red Wing experience, but if it helps, I have two other pairs of boots, and they're both too big in the heel: Justin Bay Apache Ropers in 10D, and some older Sketchers motorcycle boots in 9.5. Again, both of these are too big in the heel. They rub when I walk, and if I lift my feet they start to slide off. I wear a 10.5 in Nike Cortez sneakers, and they fit perfectly.

If anyone can help with sizing advice, I would appreciate it. The 2268s aren't sold in the US, and I would hate to have to ship them back to Europe if I size them wrong. Thanks.

or you could wait for the White's Boots engineer -

I dont know when it will be available but, looks great and I think will be customizable through Baker's as well.

[xEMBx]

Guys, I'm ready to order a pair of Red Wing 2268 Engineer boots, but I need help on sizing. I made a trace of my foot, and it's just about 10 1/4 inches. The cultizm page for the 2268s offers the generic sizing advice that "Red Wings are oversized. For the right size please downsize at least a half or one size." However, in researching these, I've come across several references here on sufu of the 2268s running true to size. Can anyone verify how these particular boots should be sized when ordering?

I don't have any prior Red Wing experience, but if it helps, I have two other pairs of boots, and they're both too big in the heel: Justin Bay Apache Ropers in 10D, and some older Sketchers motorcycle boots in 9.5. Again, both of these are too big in the heel. They rub when I walk, and if I lift my feet they start to slide off. I wear a 10.5 in Nike Cortez sneakers, and they fit perfectly.

If anyone can help with sizing advice, I would appreciate it. The 2268s aren't sold in the US, and I would hate to have to ship them back to Europe if I size them wrong. Thanks.

I have the 2990, I usually wear a 9.5US so I ordered them in a size 9 and they are still a tad to big, almost half a size. I would say go a whole size down. Hopefully this helped.

[fre-co]

I don't understand why anyone would import a redwing 2268 back to the US and pay a premium on it. The construction on those is way inferior to several boots you can try on, or get custom fitted for a similar amount of money. I saw that Farhad spent $450 on his, which no offense to him, is nuts for a pair of redwings.

Erk has spoken the gospel.

[smittybat]

I've found that for the sub $400 budget the Chippewa Engineers (97863 or 27863) are the best bang for the buck and would look even better with a resole. Cultizm had a %30 off on the 2268 a while back and I considered picking up a pair but no way I'd pay full price plus the $30-50 to get them shipped. It really is a shame the 2268 isn't available in the US as well as some of the Chippewa models that only seem to be available in Japan. For, me my next Engineer will either be some custom Wesco's, the new White's or maybe I'll splurge on some Road Champs.

[Dexter_]

[Panda-san]

Actually, it was seeing pictures of Farhad's 2268s that got me interested in them. To put it plainly, I think they're just great looking boots. The brown details on the sole really set them apart for me, and if I could get a boot that looked 100% exactly the same from a company in the US, I would consider them. Are there better boots out there? I don't doubt it. But I happen to really like these.

[attackwithstones]

SmittyBat...

I just got an email from John at MF the other day saying that they are awaiting the final run of MF Road Champs. I had to put my name and size on a list to ensure I get a pair. He said they should be available in a few weeks. So it looks like they are done with the boot. I was on the Viberg group buy, but it doesn't seem to be progressing so I am buying the Road Champs finally.

[rayw44]

I don't understand why anyone would import a redwing 2268 back to the US and pay a premium on it. The construction on those is way inferior to several boots you can try on, or get custom fitted for a similar amount of money. I saw that Farhad spent $450 on his, which no offense to him, is nuts for a pair of redwings.

You can actually get the 2268 directly in the US by going through Red Wing. Just shoot them an email and they will tell you all about it. I sent an email asking if they would ever be available in the US again, and they explained that they are but you simply need to order them through one of the larger stores. Yes, it may require picking up a phone ( Gasp!), but it can be done without import fees and shipping costs. Still probably too much for the overall quality and look.

But I do agree that the Chippewas seem better for the price, and I think they look better too. You can get a non-steel toe, and you have a few leather options all for around $150 regularly on ebay.

I've also heard that the Road Champs will be done shortly, so I'd jump on them soon too. I did, and for the same reason as attackwithstones.

[Panda-san]

You can actually get the 2268 directly in the US by going through Red Wing. Just shoot them an email and they will tell you all about it. I sent an email asking if they would ever be available in the US again, and they explained that they are but you simply need to order them through one of the larger stores. Yes, it may require picking up a phone ( Gasp!), but it can be done without import fees and shipping costs. Still probably too much for the overall quality and look.

I just got off the phone with Red Wing. They shot me down on having a store order me an international-only pair. I'll see if I can find a store down here and try going through them, but the original question on sizing still stands.

[fre-co]

You can actually get the 2268 directly in the US by going through Red Wing. Just shoot them an email and they will tell you all about it. I sent an email asking if they would ever be available in the US again, and they explained that they are but you simply need to order them through one of the larger stores. Yes, it may require picking up a phone ( Gasp!), but it can be done without import fees and shipping costs. Still probably too much for the overall quality and look.

But I do agree that the Chippewas seem better for the price, and I think they look better too. You can get a non-steel toe, and you have a few leather options all for around $150 regularly on ebay.

I've also heard that the Road Champs will be done shortly, so I'd jump on them soon too. I did, and for the same reason as attackwithstones.

If you can get them direct from redwing then great. My whole point was it's crazy paying the premium to import them at $450.

If you specifically like the look and want a better quality boot, speak with Kyle at bakershoes and he will be able to advise on copying the style with wesco or the new whites engineers.

Bear in mind the redwing is steel toe, which is heavy, uncomfortable often and pointless for most of us desk surfing work boot wearers.