Thorogood American Heritage 6” Moc Toe Work Boots for Men - Soft Toe, Premium Full-Grain Leather with Slip-Resistant Wedge Outsole and Comfort Insole; EH Rated

I'm a UK customer, so extra things to consider...There seems to be only one UK seller of these, and they wanted £190 ($290), and didn't have my size!With (free, Prime) P&P, Import Duty, but reduced by a Fall Sale (10%) offer, these came to £115 ($175).I'm a European 44 size, 9 1/2 UK, which equates to 10 1/2 US. I downloaded the Thorogood shoe size chart which confirmed that, and my standard width. The shoes arrived and fitted perfectly.The forecast delivery date was November 5th, they arrived October 31st. The tracker still shows them as being at customs!So, in terms of value, ease, accuracy... Everything was perfect.As for the shoes...My wife saw the design in a Sunday Magazine, as worn by David Beckham. She liked the design so we took a chance.In the flesh, she loves them, as do I. For any UK buyers who don't know the US (I worked there for a few years) there are some things our transatlantic cousins do really well, and preparing leather is one of them. These are basically oiled hide, but the leather is soft enough to be used for gloves, a bit thicker than for formal gloves but a pair of gardening gauntlets made like these would be spectacular! The colour, tobacco, is pleasant, not so garish as others which are rather yellow, e.g., Timberland. They fit like a glove, as proven by how parallel the eyelets finish when laced just snug. 6" height is just right for me. 8" is available but I suspect would irritate me. The insole seems a decent cushioned type, similar to basic running shoes. Overall construction is very good, special mention of the Goodyear Welt which is nicely executed (it's stepped in from the sole, making it less "clunk"), and a mark of quality construction:- to quote from the Crockett and Jones website "The Goodyear Welted construction is expensive, time consuming and requires highly skilled craftsmanship. Invented hundreds of years ago, it is still considered the finest method of shoe construction today". The mocassin effect is created by pinching and stitching round a cord rather than stitching 2 pieces together, obviously better for waterproofing. The top of the boot also seems to have a cord within, maintaining the shape. There appears to be a fibre (?) toecap which could be steel in another option.All in all, a great shoe, quality of manufacturing just shines through, and at the Amazon import price, a bargain.For me, only 2 minor downsides:As mentioned elsewhere, the little US flag stitched into the last is a bit of an eyesore. Good for the manufacturers to displayed the "made here" flag, but just looks a bit tatty. Underneath the loop at the back of the shoe would be better. This will be fixed with careful use of a scalpel!Heavy (125g per shoe). In my opinion. But so are Timberlands etc. I usually wear Ecco Track II (80g), which have moulded soles and welts, GoreTex lined to be waterproof, light as a feather and sprung as if on air (in fact, air filled soles!)! But they are £145. And the NuBuck marks almost at the sight of dust! These Thorogoods have really heavy rubber-like soles. But still very comfortable.

I wear a US Men's 9 in all shoes and when I tried these Thorogood black moc toes on, they were the right size, no issues. The 9 1/2 was way too long in the toe, so I ordered the black 9's.They arrived VERY stiff, so I rubbed 3 coats of Bick 4 Leather Conditioner into the boots and wore them around the house. The conditioner can be rubbed in with a finger, wait till dry, then buff off with a soft cloth, but it absorbed quite a bit to help soften the leather.Build quality is incredible, as these are my first USA-made work boots, but I did notice some minor sole burrs left by the sanding that I had to pick off by hand, but no big deal.Break-in is going well in day 2, but I am noticing, like other reviewers, that the stitch between the bottom two eyelets, and the bottom eyelet, is pretty harsh on the top of my foot, but seems to be slowly relaxing with wear. Overall, I'm really impressed with the quality and I'll update again after break-in. My break-in period will be two weeks, particularly focusing on that bottom eyelet and heavy stitching in that area. Around the house wear using two pairs of thick trail socks and more conditioner and I’ll give an update.Break-in Update after Two Weeks:Two weeks of wearing the boots around the house over two thick pairs of trail socks and 5 coats of Bick 4 leather conditioner and I can say that the initial toe knuckle-crushing pain of the bottom eyelets and stitches has subsided into a minor annoyance over a single pair of thick trail socks now.I'm confident I can wear them out to the grocery store or mall and not constantly be focusing on foot pain. The bottom eyelet area pressure is still there, but the rest of the boot is fitting like a glove and I'll probably start wearing them outside now. I'd say that if you're in the same boat as I am with the initial crushing pressure of that bottom eyelet and thick-stitched area, you may want to consider the wide version of the boot, or dedicate yourself to the break-in period with plenty of leather conditioner and mega-heavy socks.Break-in Update after Three Weeks:Wearing the boots out this past week over one pair of thick boot socks has been great with the bottom eyelet/stitching pressure almost completely gone. I could wear these all day out around town now with no discomfort. They fit my feet like a leather foot glove now. Really very nice.Two-year Update:Bought in December 2021 and now it's December 2023 (almost) and the boots are holding up very well. Still look great, especially after scrubbing the white side soles and scraping off the suds with a spoon. Clean again. Boots are easy to clean and condition with the Bick 4 conditioner. I wear them casually with jeans, so can't speak to how they hold up to physical work. Laces fraying a bit at this point, but the leather and stitching still holding up really well and still wearing them over thick LL Bean boot socks is nice and comfy.

The black leather is definitely not as tumbled and soft as the tobacco leather on my other pair of thorogood moc toes. It will take a bit of breaking in for these black ones to be as comfortable as the tobacco ones but they’re still more comfortable than any of the heritage redwings I’ve owned including my iron rangers which feel like walking on concrete. I’m to the point in my life where I’m glad when a boot has a man made insole in it because at the end of the day it’s just more comfortable and it saves my feet from hurting and if I have to replace the insoles when they wear out I will. I really like thorogood boots. They run large so size down 1/2 to a whole size from your sneakers. I usually wear a 12 in sneakers and I got an 11EE in these and they fit nicely. The only complaint I have with thorogood is they are VERY inconsistent on the color shades of the tobacco leather. I bought my tobacco pair in person from the local boot barn and it was ridiculous how much the colors of the boots varied. Some of the same pairs were even mismatched! Mine looked great but they definitely need to do better on their leather consistency. These black ones are super dark and nice though. Regardless they’re still excellent comfortable and durable boots.

Great boot, this is my second pair!!.. great fit!!.. I bought some mink oil to soften the leather!!.. a great boot for work!!..I highly recommend them!!..