| Author | Message | ||
     Pkforbes87 |
After asking for some advice here about good work boots a few months ago, I ended up buying a pair of Red Wing model 2426. One of the few boots I could find of any brand that met the Black leather & steel toe requirements for me to wear these at work. I've also been using them for riding, working, playing, and pretty much everything. I must say.. $250 is about 4x more than I'd ever paid for footwear before these boots, but they have been worth every penny and at this pace they'll last forever. I've proven that they are 100% waterproof multiple times, including stomping around in nearly calf-deep clay mud yesterday after getting my Uly stuck. A good cleaning with the hose, and a generous dose of boot oil later, they're back to being beautiful comfortable boots! I actually get compliments at work all the time about how good they look, despite never polishing them. (any military guys will know how important boots are to overall uniform appearance) So.. if you're in the market for an AMAZING pair of work boots that will last forever.. I highly recommend Red Wings. BTW, I can't give my opinion on the handful of Red Wings that are made outside of the USA, but the 2426 pair I bought were made right here in the US of A. Missouri I believe. That was one of my requirements when searching, and the reason I turned down a cheaper pair of Wolverines that also met the black leather & steel toe requirements. | ||
| Xl1200r |
Red Wings are pretty much the best things going. I used to have a pair for work as well. | ||
| Badlionsfan |
I've been wearing red wing boots for 6 years and will never switch. | ||
| Balloyd66 |
Red Wing is the only brand that will add a 1/2" to the sole of my shoes and boots at the factory for my gimpy right leg. They can't do this for all the models, but enough. They charge an extra $40 to do this, but it would cost me $95 at the local cobbler. +1 for Red Wing. +1 for mostly American made. | ||
| Pwnzor |
I have sworn by Red Wing shoes ever since I got my first pair as a youth. I had mine resoled for $60, which includes bottoms, insoles and shoelaces. They also shaved off the little bits of leather from the divots and oiled them up real nice. I know a lot of the lower end models are now made in China, but after visually inspecting them they seem to also be of very high quality. I may have to try a cheaper pair just to put them to the test. +100000 for Red Wing Shoes. | ||
| Badlionsfan |
my local red wing store offers free laces for the life of the boot. | ||
| Pwnzor |
my local red wing store offers free laces for the life of the boot. I'm pretty sure they all do, or at least every store I've visited. | ||
| Pkforbes87 |
Just out of curiosity.. what is the normal life expectancy of a pair of Red Wings when exposed to LOTS of use? I wear these boots at least 6 days a week and keep them well maintained. Boot oil every couple of weeks, saddlesoap if they get really dusty/muddy. Anyone here had a pair for 10 years? 20 years? | ||
| Kenm123t |
7 is the best in so fla but they are wet 24/7 here I live in a swamp | ||
| Cyclonemick |
I have had my pair of Redwings for 6 years now and they are still holding up strong! They do have slits in the leather in the toe area from kicking wooden skids around from when I used to operate machinery but still great boots! I have had a pair of Gortex Montrails for 8 years and they have been through the ringer and are still good to go! If looking for workers I say Redwings, If looking for Hikers, Go with Montrails! | ||
| Pwnzor |
Of the two identical pairs I now own, the oldest is 17 years, and the newer pair is about 9 years. Both are still 100% waterproof. The older pair is steel toe, the newer pair is the "tech toe" which is plastic and actually stronger. 2 benefits to the plastic toe are: 1) they don't get cold, and 2) they don't set off metal detectors. | ||
| Nukeblue |
i work in an oily nasty auto shop. i get three years out of a pair. exposed to oil, coolant, various degreasers & cleaners | ||
| Cyclonemick |
Pwnzor: Plastic toes are also lighter! | ||
| Dwardo |
I wear a pair of the "offshore" Redwings. The guy at the Redwing store actually talked me out of buying the real thing and into these. He felt that my feet needed a sturdier boot, and he seems to know a lot about shoes, so I went with it. I regret that now. The boots I bought are fine as motorcycle boots because they are very sturdy and would be good protection in a getoff, but they are also extremely heavy and not flexible. I hate walking in them. I'm going to buy the real thing and just keep these other boots strictly for biking. | ||
| Stirz007 |
Pwnzor - one other benefit to plastic. It won't crimp onto your toes like steel can. (seen it happen, not pretty). Good boots are never a bad investment, IMO. +1 on Redwing | ||
| Pwnzor |
Stirz007, that's actually the reason I chose the tech toe boot last time. The salesman told me a story about some poor jerk getting his toes crimped off by a set of steel toes, although according to him, they were not steel toed Red Wings. Either way, simple logic dictated the purchase of these boots a second time. Since the first had served me so well, and are in fact still in service as backup boots I couldn't mess with perfection. This is my newest pair, the outside has seen some heavy action but maintains waterproof integrity.  The insides still look like this after more than 9 years. That is a new insole, but look at the stitching and the leather. All in perfect shape.  They are as comfortable as the day I purchased them. That's another thing about these boots, comfortable from day one. I haven't had a set of the Chinese boots yet, so I can't speak to those. | ||
| Stirz007 |
The guy I worked with only lost his little toe, but we had to cut the soles off so the EMT's could get his foot out the bottom of the boot. (Angle grinder with cut-off wheel and some tin snips - quite the episode). I adopted the 'lighter boots help me get my foot out of the way faster' strategy from that day forward.... | ||
| Strato9r |
Have two pairs, they are the best boots I've ever owned! | ||
| Gunut75 |
When I was doing masonry full time I strayed away from overly expensive boots. They just get trashed doing that job. Now that I machine full time again, I'll be in the market soon for a high quality pair of boots that will hopefully go a couple years. I'll still be doing masonry part time, so I would expect them to last about 2 years. | ||
| Ducxl |
I can't say enough praise for the fine company that Red Wing is.I've had several pairs of steel toe oxfords and steel toe loggers.I get about 2 years max of machine shop wear out of the oxfords and about 4-6 years out of the loggers.I'll keep purchasing Red Wing's as long as they maintain American Manufacture. THese Hoffman boots manufactured in Idaho look interesting too http://www.hoffmanboots.com/ | ||
| Dynasport |
I bought my Red Wings about three years ago when I was looking for some new boots to wear on my bike. Here are the good points for me. Made in America (a few are, most are not). Good service at the store by a knowledgeable salesperson. Good service after the sale (the stitching on one boot was coming loose, I took it in and they had it repaired for me for free, it took about three days I think). The bad, they are fairly expensive, but I think that just goes with American made products compared to Chinese made products. One boot has never been waterproof, while the other has, even though they treated the same. They are heavy. I have had much lighter work boots that are more comfortable to me for long days in them. So, when I decided to buy a new pair of boots I went with actual motorcycle boots for the first time ever. I bought a pair of Alpinestars that have proven to be totally waterproof, easier to get on and off, more comfortable to wear, and much lighter. I saw a bit of stitching coming loose on one of them recently, though and they are not made in the U.S. | ||
| Loki |
Love my Red Wings. Took two years to finally where a hole thru the sole. Got to figure they live a hard life tho. I go from ballast stone(rr tracks)to fine sand, steel grating to concrete. I dont need to reoil mine, the job does it for me. | ||
| Court |
My last pair lasted about 5 years and I beat the crap out of them during the construction of two 500MW Combined Cycle Power Plants. I had them resoled a couple times and finally had to replace them. I bought precisely the same boot they are amazing. I look at it this way . . . .the plants were roughly $1,000,000,000 each for a total of $2,000,000,000 and the boots cost around $150.00. My effective "boot cost per construction dollar was $0.00000075. Find me a better deal than that!! I'll add another thing . . . Red Wings Customer Service is WORLD CLASS.
| ||
| Just_ziptab |
 |
