Red Wing Iron Ranger Boots - what's the dilly yo?

[red81]

just a heads up for those of you looking for the hawthorne iron rangers, ball and buck has some sizes on final sale for $196.

no 9.5's or i'd be all over it.

 

[linafelt]

ive got a pair of brand new amber harness in 9.5 if anyone is interested

D width?

 

[Erkle]

yes sir. i am sending you a pm now

 

[3leggeddog]

Hello everyone. I finally picked up some Amber Harness Iron Rangers last month after pondering the idea for quite some time (a couple of years, actually).
They're great boots, flawless quality, and made only a couple of hours from where I live, which is cool.
I ordered an 8.5 D (usually wear a 9 in boots, 9.5 in running shoes). They fit good through the heel and arch area, seem to have loosened up a bit, but seem almost too loose in the toe area.
Is it normal for these too fit OK through the foot, but have excess room in the toe box? Anyone else experience that? It's not necessarily excess width, but definitely length. There is a good inch to 1-1/4" of space between the end of my foot and the front of the boot. They're not uncomfortable, but don't want them to end up being sloppy after getting fully broken in.

 

[DesmondD]

Hello everyone. I finally picked up some Amber Harness Iron Rangers last month after pondering the idea for quite some time (a couple of years, actually).
They're great boots, flawless quality, and made only a couple of hours from where I live, which is cool.
I ordered an 8.5 D (usually wear a 9 in boots, 9.5 in running shoes). They fit good through the heel and arch area, seem to have loosened up a bit, but seem almost too loose in the toe area.
Is it normal for these too fit OK through the foot, but have excess room in the toe box? Anyone else experience that? It's not necessarily excess width, but definitely length. There is a good inch to 1-1/4" of space between the end of my foot and the front of the boot. They're not uncomfortable, but don't want them to end up being sloppy after getting fully broken in.

The boots do have quite a bit of room (particularly width) through the toe-box, however I'd think about going down half a size. It sounds like you'd have no problems finding a store to try them on, so why not find and try a pair of 8D?

I ordered a pair of 9.5D (on Red Wing's recommendation) that fit pretty well in the heel and arch, but which I thought was a tad long. I took a punt and sent them back for a pair of 9D (paid the return shipping cost) and I'm glad I did because the new ones fit great all round.

 

[Distorbiant]

Hello everyone. I finally picked up some Amber Harness Iron Rangers last month after pondering the idea for quite some time (a couple of years, actually).
They're great boots, flawless quality, and made only a couple of hours from where I live, which is cool.
I ordered an 8.5 D (usually wear a 9 in boots, 9.5 in running shoes). They fit good through the heel and arch area, seem to have loosened up a bit, but seem almost too loose in the toe area.
Is it normal for these too fit OK through the foot, but have excess room in the toe box? Anyone else experience that? It's not necessarily excess width, but definitely length. There is a good inch to 1-1/4" of space between the end of my foot and the front of the boot. They're not uncomfortable, but don't want them to end up being sloppy after getting fully broken in.

The most important part isn't extra length. It's that the widest part of your foot matches up with the widest part of the boot. If it falls short, the boot is too long. You should be getting a nice crease between the toe cap and where the lacing begins.

 

[Erkle]

my IRs are a 9D and fit great. im looking at a pair of chukkas now that are a 9.5B. does anyone know if they may fit similar to my IRs due to the size changes?

 

[lackluster]

my IRs are a 9D and fit great. im looking at a pair of chukkas now that are a 9.5B. does anyone know if they may fit similar to my IRs due to the size changes?

I've got the Iron Rangers, Brogue Rangers, Chukkas, and the moc toe 8131's. All are 10D's, all fit pretty much the same. I had a pair of 8130's in a 10.5D and going up just a half size was enough to make the boot WAY too loose, to the point that I didn't even like wearing them and sold them. If your 9's fit really well, I wouldn't venture up to 9.5. Good luck!

 

[3leggeddog]

You'd think I'd have no trouble finding other sizes to try since I live in MN, but here in the middle of the state it seems few dealers stock the Heritage series. Ended up ordering mine, and Im past the return period. I think Ill end up getting used to the little bit of extra room in the toe.

 

[3leggeddog]



The most important part isn't extra length. It's that the widest part of your foot matches up with the widest part of the boot. If it falls short, the boot is too long. You should be getting a nice crease between the toe cap and where the lacing begins.

Which is exactly where mine are bending. There certainly isnt anything uncomfortable about the extra length, I think Ill just get used to it. Its easy to be a little 'over analytical', I suppose, about such a beautiful (and spendy) set of boots. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[3leggeddog]

Had a change of mind, ended uo ordering 8's, the 8.5's are a little too long. If anyone is interested in a nearly new pair of 8.5's, let me know.

 

[DesmondD]

Gave my Amber harness 8111 IRs a treatment using the Crane method (but with Obenauf's oil and LP instead of Snoseal and Filson boot oil) this week.

Here are some pictures to compare colours:

Boot on the left has been treated with Obenauf's Boot Oil, boot on the right untreated.



Boot on the left treated with boot oil and one coat of Obenauf's LP


Boot on the left treated with boot oil and two coats of LP, boot on right untreated.



As you can see, the boots darkened significantly - they're now a very dark chocolate brown, almost black. Hopefully they'll lighten up a bit with a few weeks of wear. Given my time again, I might have stopped after the boot oil but it's nice to know that they won't let the water in.

 

[Distorbiant]

Goddamn that is dark. Do IR's really brighten up over time or something? It looks so bright untreated.

 

[TheSoonest]

Goddamn that is dark. Do IR's really brighten up over time or something? It looks so bright untreated.

they do get brighter but i think it's mostly bc scuffs do show up as pretty bright so after a while, the whole boot looks brighter until you condition and treat them again. These are some before and afters using just a standard leather conditioner. I condition them every couple weeks or so. Had them about a year now.

 

[DesmondD]

@distorbiant - Yeah they really got dark! I was pretty liberal with my applications though - gonna be tromping on some muddy trails, so I wanted them to be really proofed.

Also, in regards to the original colour, I was surprised at how light (in colour) they were out of the box as well. Looked almost more like the copper rough n tough stock pictures. I actually sent back another pair (wrong size) that was similarly light, so I guess it's not uncommon.