WESCO-MRLOU-BLK - Wesco® - 10" Horsehide Pull-On "Mister Lou" Engineer Boot - Black

[Giles]

Added to my answer above....

[Crispy Heron]

@Giles - thanks.

[John Galt]

@Crispy-Heron I wear IH tag size 28 & 29 in the 555 cut hemmed to 30” and the only Wesco engineer I can wear them with is the Ship John Derrol boot because it is roughout and not lined, so the shaft is thin and floppy and allows the shaft to be slightly folded inward to allow the jean to pull down over the boot shaft - but it is tight. The 555 cut in my waist size will not fit over any of my three Mr. Lou’s. I wear the 666 cut in the same tag size and length with my Mr. Lou’s without an issue. However, I’m a 30” inseam as stated above which will also make a difference - longer inseam having less leg opening. John

[Crispy Heron]

@John-Galt - thanks for the response. As I feared, I think that the 555 and these Mister Lou’s plus my tag/hem measurements mean that I either don’t take the risk or buy some 666s or other cut. Hmm. Food for thought.

Thanks to everyone for your contributions - this is exactly why this forum is so good.

[Paul9221]

Heya folks, I come seeking help.

I picked up a pair of these from Baker's last year (IHUK was sold out in my size) and I love the look, but I just can't get past this pain in my big toe, just on the right foot.

I can wear them around the house without issue, but when I go walking around the neighborhood, the big toe on my right foot starts to hurt after maybe a quarter of a mile, sometimes less. I know that these require break-in, but I'm starting to think my toe's going to break before these When I first got them last year, I wore them pretty much non-stop for several weeks around the house, to the office, the store, etc., so it's not like they haven't been worn. All-in-all, with my neighborhood walks in these things, they've probably seen 15 miles of action. I'm not sure if they're considered broken-in at this point.

The left foot feels fine. I know no two feet are identical, but there's no noticeable difference between my left and right. I've stuck my hand in the boot to feel around, just to sense if anything's different on the right boot, but I haven't found anything.

I've tried different socks, I've tried a shorter stride (this actually helps!), but I'm about out of options.

Any thoughts or advice?

[goosehd]

There are shoe stretchers out there and a technique to do it. I believe reputable cobblers would be able to help you or you could try looking it up on the internet/YouTube.

My wife had a pair of cowboy boots stretched out using a stretcher and the technique. I can’t remember exactly how they did it and am hesitant to mention what I think the technique was.

It should be fairly easy to find.

[goosehd]

Looked it up to confirm my thoughts:

[pechelman]

50/50 alcohol and water in a spray bottle works OK imo. If it's convenient, you can send them back to Wesco for them to do the stretching.
I gave up with the low height of the toe box and had them do this. Just be very clear on what you want stretched and dont want stretched.

[goosehd]

Another thing I remembered: It took them 3 days to stretch the boot by using the spray and slowly stretching. We went in 2 or 3 times over the period to see how much they stretched and where they needed to keep going.

I can’t imagine any of my Wesco’s failing, but some exotic skins or thinner leather’s may.

[Paul9221]

Dang, you guys are FAST! Thanks!

Thanks for the recommendations! I'd rather try a local solution, first. I mean, if I had a Wesco near me and could just stop by, I would do that first. I just don't want to ship them off if I can help it.

@goosehd in your wife's case, was it both boots? It's just odd to me that only my right toe hurts. Gives me pause to stretch one over the other, but then again, I can't walk much in them now on account of the right foot.

@pechelman I think you nailed it...I think it's the low height of the toe box that's causing the problem for me.

I'm not even sure where I could take these locally...do I just look for a cobbler with good reviews on Google?

[flannel slut]

Cue the banjo music… I cured my low height toe box by shoving a wrench in like shoe trees over night for about a week.

[Paul9221]

@flannel-slut "The shoes still hurt like hell, but now I've got a place to put all my wrenches!"

[pechelman]

i tried the wrenches and sockets thing as well
It helped a little, very little. That's why I reached out to Wesco.

Are you using the thin leather footbeds? Taking them out helps.
Unfortunately for me, it seems when they stretched the toe box they also stretched the instep, so now I need to use the insoles. And when I use the insoles I'm right back to having low toe height volume.... So I bought a piece of 2mm leather to make my own footbeds. Going to attempt making one with a cutout for my big toe or toes.

[flannel slut]

it’s most use my wrenches have seen

[goosehd]

She stretched both boots, but one more than the other. Finding cobblers now is like finding buried treasure and it’s not going to be easy, but they are out there.

I do like the thoughts of using wrenches, until I can’t remember where I put it and start yelling at everyone for taking my tools…

[goosehd]

By the way, no two feet are identical. My right foot is a 1/4 size larger than my left. I size to my right foot…that was until I discovered Wesco custom which took care of that issue.

[Paul9221]

@pechelman said in Wesco - 10" Horsehide Pull-On "Mister Lou" Engineer Boot - Black:

Are you using the thin leather footbeds? Taking them out helps.

It looks like they came with some sort of insole. I'm not sure if it's removable, but I think I'd rather get a shoe tree/stretcher in there to get some toe box height before I remove that insole, mostly because it makes them comfy.

@pechelman said in Wesco - 10" Horsehide Pull-On "Mister Lou" Engineer Boot - Black:

So I bought a piece of 2mm leather to make my own footbeds. Going to attempt making one with a cutout for my big toe or toes.

Now that's a project I want to get updates on

[Paul9221]

It's times like these when I really appreciate the forums

Thanks everyone for your input. I am leaning towards buying a shoe-tree/stretcher and leaving it in there for a week or something and checking again. My toe should heal by then I'll report back. I think I'll look for a local cobbler if that doesn't work. I'm in southern California, I'm SURE there are some around here.

[goosehd]

@Autorotate used to live there and I think @seawolf is/was in California somewhere. They may have someone in mind. Good luck and keep us updated!

[pechelman]

it's pretty well discussed in most of the other wesco threads, iirc, that a lot of folks remove that flat leather footbed permanently.
so long as you're keeping the boots clean inside and giving them a chance to air dry / dry out it shouldnt be an issue. I think it was neph and oaktavia who commented that they've worn their wesco's w/o footbeds without issue.

On the footbed project, I'll definitely post updates. I've got enough leather to also experiment with building up a bit of arch support to a new liner.

But if you're in SOCAL, I'd strongly recommend sending them back to Wesco. If you were overseas I'd understand the hesitation.
2 days shipping there for ~15$ and you'll get your boots back in ~2weeks.