Red Wing Men's Heritage 8146-6" Moc Lug

Perfect ! The quality is so good!Very Authentic!

The intent of my review is to make buyers aware of what to look for if and when you order these Red Wing Heritage boots from Amazon. I'm normally a size 12 or 12.5 in normal shoes and also have a removable orthotic footbed that in place in all my shoes due to my high arches. I ordered 2 pairs of Red Wing Heritage Moc 6" boots in Briar Oil Slick from Amazon in size 11.5 and 11. I recently purchased a pair of the Red Wing Heritage chukkas boots in briar oil slick and the 11.5 fit me perfectly. I liked the chukkas so much I ordered the 6" boots. When I purchased the chukkas, the person at the Red Wing Store showed me on the tag on the inside of the tongue of the boot that my chukkas were made on "10/15" - essentially since I purchased the chukkas in December, they were made 2 months prior.The 6" moc boots in size 11.5 arrived first from Amazon and when I opened the box, the first thing I noticed was how the boots looked "broken in" and the leather was faded, dried out, and old. The first thing I did was look at the label on the tongue and noticed the date was 2011 - these boots were almost 5 years old! Yet Amazon was selling them as "new." I tried the boots on, just to get a gauge on size and found the 11.5s to be too big. So I returned them. However, if they had fit, I would have certainly complained to Amazon for trying to sell me a new pair of expensive Red Wing boots that were obviously old and not up to any sort of Red Wing standards. Buyers - be aware of this issue and make sure you check the date the boot was made on the tag inside the tongue - the date is on the lower, right part of the boot below the model number. It's one thing if the boots are a few years old and still look brand new, but the boots Amazon sent me were definitely sub-par.2 days later the size 11 6" moc boots arrived and I wasn't sure what to expect. I opened the box and immediately inspected the boots for quality and the date they were made. Fortunately, the date was "10/15" so I was sure these were recently made. While the boots looked as if someone had tried them on before, I could tell the size 11 was perfect for me and the boot fit great. The color of the briar oil slick along with the crepe sole looks amazing. I've been wearing them around the house for about a week now and I hate having to take them off. Every time I wear them they get more and more comfortable. I think of them as more comfortable than my favorite pair of running shoes, but the Red Wings provide far more support. I am very happy with the 6" moc boot and actually find them easier to break in than my chukkas. Once you decide on a color(s), and once you find your fit, I think just like my you will be sold on Red Wing Heritage boots. I am using these for wearing in the office, out in the field (construction), and for style around town.

This is a high quality boot. Heavy but comfortable. Thick leather, classic design.

Here is the scoop on these Red Wings. First they are 100% Legit, they are not knockoffs. I was worried myself because I didn't notice the logo on the side, after doing some research I discovered that Red Wings do not imprint their logo on the side of some of the newer makes.Size wise I read a bunch of mixed information. I ordered 1 full size down originally but I had to send them back for only a 1/2 size down. So make sure you order 1/2 size smaller than your normal sneaker size. To give you more context, I wear size 9 in Nike tennis shoes, so 8.5 Red Wings worked perfect.Okay here is the most important part, the break-in period (I can only speak to the "Charcoal Rough and Tough" model I purchased)... the leather on these boots is quality thick leather. It is no joke and breaking them in is no joke either! I'm used to wearing soft leather Frye and Kenneth Cole boots that aren't necessarily built for work... so breaking in these Red Wings was hell, I'm not going to lie to anyone. Every forum you read online you will discover this is almost a given with Red Wings, you earn them. For me the piping at the top of the boot was digging into my ankle bad until they finally broke-in.Here are a couple tips to help others. If you have problems with the piping digging into your ankle like I did, then for the first two weeks leave the top two eyelets of the boot unlaced. Once they're broke-in you can lace them all the way up with no issues at all.This is a big recommendation here. I used "Sofsole Leather Lube" (you can find it here on Amazon) on my boots to soften the leather. This helped the most, and also add protection to the boots in the process. NOTE: It did darken the leather though, the gray turned almost black (which is what I kinda wanted anyways), I attached a picture of them after I lubed them. Just massage the lube into the boots really well and let them sit over night, the next day wipe off any excess and brush them up.It took me wearing them as my main boot for about 2-3 weeks to break them in. BUT, once they're broke-in you have the best boot you could ever want... they take the shape of your foot and feel great.Hope this helps others.