Red Wing Iron Rangers

Pull the trigger. You want the Red Wings. My briar-brown chukkas are my go-to jeans shoes. They're going to take a bit to break in - and do your self the favor of not wearing them *every* day until they are - but they'll age very well.

3 years on mine and they're fantastic.

I won't let the Red Wing store touch mine now. The dude took mine from me and 'polished them for free' and handed them back to me completely black. He put shoe polish on them and turned the white stitching and the brown welting all black and used a power buffer to try to put a shine on them. NONE of which I wanted.

I took them home and used deglazer on them which turned them a light gray color after it sucked all of the dye out of them and I re-dyed them with Fiebings black oil based dye. So they're no longer allowed to touch my boots.

The leather from the factory has been tanned in a manner that it holds up OK in day to day city use with rain and snow. I haven't really used any oil on mine. Just that Cadillac leather conditioner which isn't petroleum based.

I don't have Iron Rangers but I own Red Wings work boots. The first time I pulled the trigger on a pair of work boots for 230 bucks was hard. I didn't mind at all after a few months of wearing them. They fit me well and lasted 3 years of daily use. The next time I bought another pair I was at work and we were working near an Amish shoe store that carried Redwings. The Amish father and son were also old school leather workers that did all types of leatherwork. The store was lighted with skylights or gas lamps depending on the weather. They were also a cash only business and used an old mechanical cash register. It was bizarre. They insisted on measuring my feet despite my protests and statements that I knew my size. A co-worker was with me and he almost had a heart attack when he saw me pay over 200 for a pair of boots(actually about 50 bucks cheaper than other stores at the time). He started making fun of me for paying so much. It was a running joke for him to come to work with a new pair of boots and exclaim they only cost 30 dollars or 40 dollars. It stopped being funny when he realized he was buying new boots 4 or 5 times a year and I was still wearing the same pair. He also had issues with his boots leaking water and getting his feet wet when it rained. The end of the second year I had those boots he came to work one morning with a pair of redwings, told me to keep my mouth shut and went to work. It was about 6 months later he apologized and thanked me for turning him on to redwings boots. He said his feet didn't hurt after work anymore.

I have about two years on my brogue Rangers. I wear them each day (indoor job), and they are super comfortable. I think they are looking better with age.

Well, I'm still in the thick of this thing and now I'm trying to figure out what size is going to work for me. I'm a size 12D in everything that I wear. At the Red Wing store, I was trying on a 12D and an 11.5EE. Judging from the fit in the store, the 12's would have very little to no discomfort breaking in because they already felt pretty good outside of the new boot stiffness. The 11.5's gave me the impression that they would be more uncomfortable to break in because one of the boots kind of pinched the top of my foot. In the brief time I walked around the store in them, they were uncomfortable, but not painful. Basing my decision on the comfort right out of the box, I bought the 12's.

Once I got the 12's home, I started wearing them around the house and as some time passed, I grew more and more dissatisfied with the fit. Upon closer inspection of the toe area of the boot, it appears that I have more than an inch of space between my toe and the inside tip of the boot. (It's difficult to say for sure because of the double thickness of the leather on the toe area.) The toe box is roomy and I can wiggle all my toes with no restriction whatsoever. It feels a bit roomy in the heel as well and I get the overall impression that once the boots stretched and loosened up, they were going to feel kind of loose and sloppy. I already plan on taking them back for an exchange.

The ideal fit I'm looking for once the boots stretch out and settle is a nice, firm fit (not tight) like a driving glove or a firm handshake with enough room to wiggle my toes without them being crowded. In order to end up in that desired fit zone, reason tells me that I'm going to have to buy boots that are going to feel tight and uncomfortable in the beginning. The $300 question is, how uncomfortable should they be in the beginning? For those of you who have achieved that firm, comfortable broken in fit, how much discomfort did you have to endure before you got there? Mild discomfort? Moderate discomfort? Verging on pain discomfort? I'll give them another try, but I seem to recall trying on an 11D and they pinched the top of my foot to the point of being painful after only a couple of minutes wear. My next step is to try on and compare an 11.5D and an 11.5EE. I just need to decide how much discomfort I might anticipate feeling with the expectation that they will loosen up and be comfortable once they stretch out. What was your experience?

I love my Red Wings, but for me the gold standard is White's Boots. The White's-related websites speak of the break-in period, and the patience required. I mention this because Red Wings are similar, and initial tightness should be expected and welcomed. The boots will stretch to your foot, and if the 11.5 EE only creates a bit of discomfort at the top of one foot, think about loosening the laces on that foot. I suspect the boot will fit with tighter lacing in a few weeks. If the 11.5 EE provides you plenty of toe wiggle room, it may be the right size. Of course, only you know your own feet!

You could look into a pair of boot stretchers. They help the initial break in period quite a bit. Make sure the threaded parts are metal and not plastic.

I don't want to make this too complicated and involved. I'll put up with some discomfort if the end result is a snug, comfortable boot. I guess I'm trying to determine what the tipping point is with peoples experience in this boot. There's going to be a point where the pain or discomfort will not go away even after the boot stretches and I want to avoid that of course. If I want these to be snug and comfortable after they stretch, then they're going to have to be tight out of the box. I'm just trying to gauge what level of discomfort I should be shooting for to eventually end up with a comfortable boot. For those of you out there who have that firm, comfortable as a sneaker fit, how tight/uncomfortable were they when you bought them?

mikelz777 said:

The ideal fit I'm looking for once the boots stretch out and settle is a nice, firm fit (not tight) like a driving glove or a firm handshake with enough room to wiggle my toes without them being crowded. In order to end up in that desired fit zone, reason tells me that I'm going to have to buy boots that are going to feel tight and uncomfortable in the beginning. The $300 question is, how uncomfortable should they be in the beginning? For those of you who have achieved that firm, comfortable broken in fit, how much discomfort did you have to endure before you got there? Mild discomfort? Moderate discomfort? Verging on pain discomfort? I'll give them another try, but I seem to recall trying on an 11D and they pinched the top of my foot to the point of being painful after only a couple of minutes wear. My next step is to try on and compare an 11.5D and an 11.5EE. I just need to decide how much discomfort I might anticipate feeling with the expectation that they will loosen up and be comfortable once they stretch out. What was your experience?

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I think if your foot feels "tired" by the end of the day, then you'll be OK. I imagine its the foot "fighting back" against the leather, helping it to mold. If you have any outright discomfort, pain, etc., I would think that's a bridge too far, especially if you're looking at a 3 width difference (12D vs. 11.5EE). I've only broken in one pair of boots (Chippewas) and they broke in pretty quickly. I have broken in lots of dress shoes (Allen Edmonds mainly) and usually after about two days they're substantially where they should be. I bought the AEs at one of their stores and the manager there stated that shoes don't really "stretch out" but conform to your foot. So if you think they are too narrow now, they probably will stay that way.

The foot feeling tired is helpful imagery, I can get my head around that feeling.

The 11.5 in the wider width is probably the thing. Until they break in, as was previously mentioned, they're going to feel stiff and a bit tight across the top of the foot. Unlike dress shoes' finer leathers which break in quickly, the toe box and vamp of boots like the IR are double-thick cowhide and not terribly flexible at first. Lace them a bit loosely, wear them for a half day at a time until they start to show flex-lines, and tighten the lacing as they start to fit closer to your foot.

Expect about the first two weeks to be stiff and tight, with the chance of a blister or two depending on how much walking you do in them. I found the problem area with mine was the thick heel counter rubbing moreso than tightness across the top of the foot. After a month, the fit should be pretty comfortable all 'round. I also found that flexing them by hand after taking them off for the first couple of weeks helps develop the natural break lines in the part of the vamp where your foot bends.

I don't know if I need width as much as I need height if that makes any sense. When I tried on a smaller size, I was getting pinching or pressure on the bone on top of the foot that leads down to the big toe, a little bit above the big toe. I have yet to try on and compare the 11.5D and the 11.5EE side by side but I'm guessing more width would eventually allow more height in that area of my foot once it loosens up.

Just joined the forum, and don't want to hijack the thread, but figured I'd piggyback on it instead of starting my own thread since based on the original post, we also have similar questions. Still Iron Ranger talk definitely. I just recently purchased myself a pair of the 8113 Hawthrone Muleskinners and wondered if anyone can lay out what they believe to be proper care for these suckers from day 1 and beyond..? I'm entirely new to footwear that needs any sort of care really, aside from the occasional water protectant spray. I'll follow up with more information and questions if anyone chimes in on my original question. I feel like much of what I've read about care/conditioning on forums is in regards to not the Roughout leather of the 8113's, so maybe you all can help. Thanks fellas.

http://www.redwingshoes.com/shoe-care

http://www.redwingheritage.eu/EUR/caresearch/8113

I also wear muleskinner IRs, and have for over a year. The Red Wing water protection spray is the only protection I've given them. I've applied it twice. I only wear them urban hiking on my train/bus commuting and walking day in a somewhat wet environment (Seattle), but they are still awesome looking. I use a touch of Obenauf LP on my other IR and White's boots, but I would stick with the Red Wing water protection for muleskinners, unless you actually "work" in your boots.

Thanks guys. I've seen the second link you showed Mike, but the first one is new and seems to mirror what 'pbrmhl' is saying. So it would seem that the Red Wing Leather Protector spray should be a given.. And the conditioning with mink oil etc, at least for quite casual use of the boot that I plan for, could be optional or even not done..

pbrmhl said:

I also wear muleskinner IRs, and have for over a year. The Red Wing water protection spray is the only protection I've given them. I've applied it twice. I only wear them urban hiking on my train/bus commuting and walking day in a somewhat wet environment (Seattle), but they are still awesome looking. I use a touch of Obenauf LP on my other IR and White's boots, but I would stick with the Red Wing water protection for muleskinners, unless you actually "work" in your boots.

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What was your motivation in not conditioning with anything? I love the way they look right now having done nothing yet, so my worry was that it would darken them up or something or change the texture. Also was concerned that I'd never put mink oil on anything and would overdo it or do it wrong. Saw a youtube video put out by Redwing Amsterdam that had a guy treating various boots and one was the 8113 Muleskinner, but it was a quick snippit, the whole process. He used the suede bar cleaner for a second and then oiled for another few seconds. A decent glimpse into the process at least.. So yeah, what were some of your thoughts entering the 8113 owning experience.. Thanks again !

Like you, hosouls, I like the look of the roughout right out of the box, and didn't want to do anything to mess them up. Unlike my amber harness or other smooth leather boots, the muleskinners don't scuff or otherwise need maintenance. They still look new, except that the leather on the toe is smoother than when I bought them. I don't plan to put mink oil or anything else on these boots, except the water protection spray. I use Obenauf LP on all my other boots.

You're doing what I hoped could be done. I just want them to last but 'our' theory goes against Red Wing's suggestion so I 2nd guess myself. What if you were to notice your 8113's lookin a little on the dry side? Side note, got a pic of the current look of them?

I'll try to remember to snap a picture tonight. They don't look a bit dry, but the climate where I live is not dry. I suspect I'll need to put a very thin layer of leather treatment on them some day, but I hope it's several years away.