• Home
    • Recent
    • Calendar
    • Register
    • Login
    Iron Heart Forum
    Iron Heart Forum

    Iron Heart Fall/Winter 2025 Collection Preview - Now Live

    IHWE-Build-5 - Iron Heart/Wesco 9" Brown Engineer Boot

    WESCO - West Coast Shoe Company
    34
    178
    56.4k
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • neph93N
      neph93
      見習いボス
      Joined:

      Exactly. I bought a pair in June and have worn mine maybe 30 times. They look like this now:


      While not fully broken in they are getting there. This leather combined with the double midsoles takes time.

      «Stevie Heighway on the wing!
      We had dreams, and songs to sing…»

      • Dame Vera Lynn
      last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • Bulatik85B
        Bulatik85
        Joined:

        thank you for the clarification. I have used mine maybe the same amount of times, but I very often have just 5 minutes of walk during the workday(of cause I walk in the building, but I am changing footwear to office pair of shoes), so this is not a real use… need to continue...

        .Net )

        last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • GilesG
          Giles
          IHUK Crew
          Joined:

          Not the same boot, but this is broken in…

          https://www.ironheart.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=7741.msg451069#msg451069

          "OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011

          last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • Bulatik85B
            Bulatik85
            Joined:

            @Giles:

            Not the same boot, but this is broken in…

            https://www.ironheart.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=7741.msg451069#msg451069

            Thank you, now I see how it should look like  😎

            .Net )

            last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • ChapC
              Chap
              見習いボス
              Joined:

              Delivered this morning… very impressed

              God has blessed you richly, so get down on your knees and thank him. Don’t forget the less fortunate or God will personally kick your ass. I’d love to do it for him, but I can’t be everywhere. Willie Nelson

              last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • DishelveledD
                Dishelveled
                Joined:

                Holy kerboom!
                Gorgeous boot, man!

                Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

                Instagram: defy_delphi

                last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • scarfmaceS
                  scarfmace
                  Haraki san Expert
                  Joined:

                  I have a general question about boots, maby shouldn't be posting under this tread but its still active and I'm actualy looking to buy 9" wesco engineers so 🙂

                  Here goes: How well will they continue to fit?
                  I've owned boots before (not from a brand like wesco) and I've learned that over time, they tend to stretch to the point of them getting to roomy for my foot, making them unwearable. Last time I had this happen I decided to only go for lace-ups  but I still love the boot look and now that I can up my budget, maby the wesco's can keep the same fit for years on end?

                  "It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt."

                  last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • neph93N
                    neph93
                    見習いボス
                    Joined:

                    Leather stretches like denim. As with denim you should look for a fit that is snug when new, but comfortable after the break in. As with denim the stretch potential is finite so when the boots are broken in you’re done.

                    Unlike denim there are things you can do along the way to affect the situtation.

                    • take out the insole when new if the boot is too fitted. Put it back in when the boot has stretched.

                    • buy a boot with heavy leather. My oil-tanned Wesco’s (7oz) have stretched barely at all, my pair of these (6oz) a little and my burlaps (5oz) quite a lot.

                    • choose your socks carefully or put in extra insoles when they stretch

                    «Stevie Heighway on the wing!
                    We had dreams, and songs to sing…»

                    • Dame Vera Lynn
                    last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • ChapC
                      Chap
                      見習いボス
                      Joined:

                      Showing some signs of wear already…

                      God has blessed you richly, so get down on your knees and thank him. Don’t forget the less fortunate or God will personally kick your ass. I’d love to do it for him, but I can’t be everywhere. Willie Nelson

                      last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • AppfaffA
                        Appfaff
                        Raw and Unwashed
                        Joined:

                        Those are looking great @Chap

                        Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

                        last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • ChapC
                          Chap
                          見習いボス
                          Joined:

                          @Appfaff:

                          Those are looking great @Chap

                          Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

                          Cheers @Appfaff really like how they get more and more comfortable with every wear. One of my best purchases…

                          God has blessed you richly, so get down on your knees and thank him. Don’t forget the less fortunate or God will personally kick your ass. I’d love to do it for him, but I can’t be everywhere. Willie Nelson

                          last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • ChapC
                            Chap
                            見習いボス
                            Joined:

                            Some indigo stains and signs of evo… shit I love those boots  😉

                            God has blessed you richly, so get down on your knees and thank him. Don’t forget the less fortunate or God will personally kick your ass. I’d love to do it for him, but I can’t be everywhere. Willie Nelson

                            last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • neph93N
                              neph93
                              見習いボス
                              Joined:

                              @Chap:

                              Some indigo stains and signs of evo… shit I love those boots  😉

                              That reminds me….

                              Excuse the poor quality of the lighting but I snapped pics of my custom boss shitkickers along side my IHWE-5 to show the MP toe shape. Both pairs are in need of a mid winter clean. Here they are...

                              «Stevie Heighway on the wing!
                              We had dreams, and songs to sing…»

                              • Dame Vera Lynn
                              last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • ChapC
                                Chap
                                見習いボス
                                Joined:
                                1. ❤️❤️❤️

                                God has blessed you richly, so get down on your knees and thank him. Don’t forget the less fortunate or God will personally kick your ass. I’d love to do it for him, but I can’t be everywhere. Willie Nelson

                                last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • C
                                  Chad
                                  Joined:

                                  Hi @neph93 , I believe you said you are a 10.5D in these. Do you know your size in the Viberg 2030?

                                  I'm an 8D in the in 2030 and ordered the Standard & Strange Axe Breakers in an 8E but they turned out to be too tight in the toe box. I wanted to see how others size compared to the 2030. I'm not sure if going 8.5E in the Build-5s is the way to go or not.

                                  last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • neph93N
                                    neph93
                                    見習いボス
                                    Joined:

                                    @Chad I have these in 10.5D yes. Perfect fit. I have some Wesco's in 10.5E because I find the extra room with some of the tougher, heavier leathers is useful, but the domain leather breaks in relatively easily.

                                    I have a pair of Viberg but not in the 2030 last, it is a wider smokejumper type boot that fits very well in a 10D.

                                    One source of your troubles could be that Viberg uses UK sizing and Wesco US sizing. So a Viberg 8D is actually more like a Wesco 9D. This could explain the tightness.

                                    «Stevie Heighway on the wing!
                                    We had dreams, and songs to sing…»

                                    • Dame Vera Lynn
                                    last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • C
                                      Chad
                                      Joined:

                                      Thanks @neph93 . Sounds like 8.5 is worth a try since these are discounted and 9s are sold out.

                                      last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • C
                                        Crit_Obs
                                        Joined:

                                        I'm the first to admit I can be annoying at (most) times but I'm back to this thread to wonder about sizing. ::) The last pair in stock is the size I would go for in footwear manufactured by other prominent bootmakers in the Pacific North-West and some, like @Chris , wear the same size across different brands… While others have to go up in Wesco. Common sense would dictate that purchasing non-returnable items is not the way to learn your way around an unknown quantity but then again I have been spending nonsensible amounts of money purchasing leather jackets from Japan this autumn, with no prior experience with leather jackets of any kind, so being smart about these things is not a part of my core skillset. ::) But I digress. The 2 reasons I keep coming back to this build are that

                                        • no more IH collab engineers shall be forthcoming, while I think I could use a pair of engineers (never had a pair before)

                                        • this build is by far the best-looking

                                        As these come with removable insoles, would it tell me anything of worth if I asked the good folks of Gosport to measure the insoles of the remaining pair, and go from there? As I haven't worn pull-on boots before I'm not savvy to all the aspects to factor in.

                                        last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • EisenherzE
                                          Eisenherz
                                          Iron Heart Deity
                                          Joined:

                                          Nice boots.

                                          last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • neph93N
                                            neph93
                                            見習いボス
                                            Joined:

                                            @Crit_Obs:

                                            As these come with removable insoles, would it tell me anything of worth if I asked the good folks of Gosport to measure the insoles of the remaining pair, and go from there? As I haven't worn pull-on boots before I'm not savvy to all the aspects to factor in.

                                            Part of the explanation for the variety of solutions people have to fitting boots is of course variations in foot shape. But as Chris  has said earlier, a lot of it is in the head.
                                            This is especially true with pull-on boots as people often dislike heel slip and mistake it for poor fit.

                                            My wife uses the insole measurement trick and I think it is fine for ballpark accuracy but you can get that from general comparison and these threads. RW has become a sort of benchmark because they are somewhat ubiquitous amongst people who like our thing. My experience is that Wesco and RW sizing is similar and that my «standard» shoe size in EU/UK sizing translates into Wesco sizing too. I go a full size down compared to Adidas Originals.

                                            «Stevie Heighway on the wing!
                                            We had dreams, and songs to sing…»

                                            • Dame Vera Lynn
                                            last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                            • First post
                                              Last post
                                            Copyright Iron Heart 2025.