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

[Dmart]

I would agree. Firm handshake sounds pretty much perfect. Heel slip is normal, especially in the beginning breaking them in. The length of the shoe should not be an issue, it is more important that your feet/toes align with where the boot wants to bend.

[bluemantra]

Thank you gents! I'm going to keep these and hopefully they'll break-in nicely.

[A Former User]

@bluemantra I recently had the same at first i thought they didn’t fit but after 2 weeks of wear they start to give a little and are getting better by the day

[bluemantra]

@Heavy_blue Yeah, they are very stiff currently and I'm guessing after the leather softens and bends more easily that should help with the heel slip. Sometimes you gotta take a chance. So hard to know when they're new and stiff.

[Oaktavia]

@bluemantra FWIW I thought my pair was too small for about 6 months before the leather started to stretch and become pliable. Now, the boots are nearly 2 years old and completely different than when they were new. It just takes time and wearing a lot. The heel slip is hardly noticeable now too, while before my foot was all over the place in the boots. Now, I don't think about how they fit because they are molded to my feet.

[Luijim78]

my Mr Lou size 9D have always been good from day one (even though I have a size 8/8.5D) probably the shape adapts to my foot, no slipping of the heel (which for example I found in the 7500 shape E) the only problem was the tip of the big toe on my right foot, (my grandmother always told me to cut my toenails a lot, especially at the corners and from what the beautician told me it was one of the billion mistakes I have done in my life), so I discovered that a very small callus had formed on the inside side on the nail bed and Mr Lou made me walk like rusty Robocop for months ... then I solved the problem and now they are perfect like a glove even if after a couple of years they are still very rigid (characteristic of vegetable tanned leather) sooner or later they will break, for those who have chosen the Horween CXL version everything will be simpler and faster. Good evening dear friends, sorry if with my broken English I tried to tell the story of my life in a post

[flannel slut]

rusty Robocop!

[bluemantra]

Maybe a silly question, but are you supposed to remove the instep buckle when putting on and taking off engineer boots?

[pechelman]

Sometimes you can put shoes on without undoing the laces, sometimes you can't. Do whatcha gotta do here as well.

[Oaktavia]

@bluemantra I only unbuckle mine when cleaning. Slip 'em on and off.

[Dmart]

Same here.

[Luijim78]

@bluemantra it depends on whether you need it to put them on or not, I only started untying the lace when I got to tightening it at the 5th hole, until the 4th I didn't need it, after a few weeks I no longer needed to untie it. Undoubtedly vegetable tanned leather is quite rigid and requires more time for everyone, but it also has extreme elasticity.

[A Former User]

I never unbuckle them only when i clean them to be honest.

[goosehd]

@bluemantra Read this on how I wear mine and find as an excellent resource. I know not everyone will agree:

https://nicksboots.com/blog/post/getting-engineer-boots-fitted/

[bluemantra]

Thanks all. I was just concerned because they've been a bit tough to take off and didn't want to stretch the leather, thereby making them looser without the ability to tighten them back up.

[pechelman]

fwiw, and i should have been better about it in my first reply (sorry about that), I do unbuckle/buckle when taking them off/on. They're juuust a little too snug for me to slide in and the time it takes me to buckle them is about the same as the time i'd spend struggling.

[Oaktavia]

Also with mine, I used to have the lower buckle on the loosest setting, but over the yearsthe leather stretched and stretched to the point now I am yanking and pulling the strap all the way down to the last hole.

[bluemantra]

@Oaktavia And yours started off tight correct? I've got the insoles out now so that if needed they can be placed back in to tighten the fit up.

[Oaktavia]

@bluemantra yeah they were definitely snug when new. They fit like a slipper now.

[rwc1313]

Hi guys, I'm sorry if this specific question has been asked numerous times but I was wondering if anyone here has or have tried on the Red Wing 2966 (soft toe) that was a limited release a few years ago in the US and how those fit compared to the Mr. Lou? I have the Red Wings in a 9.5d but feel I could go a half size up and am considering the Mr. Lou in a 10d as a replacement if I can find a pair. I've read here that they generally run the same size as Red Wings, however Red Wings sizes can vary greatly between models/lasts. IIRC the RW 2966 was slightly narrower than standard red wing fit, which is a good thing for my 10.5C size. The Mr. Lou apparently runs narrow as well so it seems the sizing between the two is similar. Just wondering if anyone here has tried both and can comment on how the fit on each might compare.