Thorogood 1957 Flyway 8” Waterproof Moc Toe Hunting Boots for Men - Full-Grain Leather with Slip-Resistant Heel Outsole and Shock-Absorbing Footbed

I was looking for a good quality, uninsulated boot for summer hiking. Never owned Thorogood before (Danners, Mendels, Rocky, Cabelas were what i wore in the past.) Boots arrived and were obviously high quality and well made. The leather was a bit stiff out of the box so i have been breaking them in daily. They get broken in fast. They fit me well. Seem to be sized properly compared to others i have worn. The tread is not aggressive looking...BUT after a few times walking in the woods on steep leafy hills to muddy paths...the tread is great. Great grip and really seems to shed the mud well. I am no longer tracking clumps of dried mud throughout my garage. The soles flex well when walking. And the best feature...they are grippy on smooth surfaces like wet rocks and wooden decking/stairs. My other boots...well, let's just say if you stepped onto a wooden bridge in the woods or a slick rock, you most likely were taking your life into your own hands. Slick as ice. These Thorogood's however, amazing grip. LOVE that about them. The laces seem stiff to me...BUT they really tie well and "stick" when pulling them tight and tying a knot. Have come to like them. They are comfy right out of the box, but the leather is stiff and one would do themselves a service breaking these in gradually over a few days. I did and i am already noticing an improvement in the leather getting more flexible. I can imagine it will only get better. Have waded streams and they seem fully waterproof. One thing to note, on my other brand boots, i can just slip my feet in while standing. These ones however, i have to use the loop to pull on the boots. A bit stiff but once on perfectly comfortable. I believe because of this they have good ankle support. Another small benefit...because they are tighter to get on, there is not as much tongue leather to have to fold up (remember they are waterproof so the tongue leather goes up high) when tying, so that seems to be nice. Have had them a month now and have worn them at least 25 times...assuming they last a long time i will be buying more Thorogood boots in the future.

I'll start off by saying, I don't deserve these boots. I work a desk job and I don't hunt. I like the idea of heirloom class footwear that may get handed down to my sons. These boots can be sent back to Thorogood for a near complete rebuild should it come to that. They can also be resoled by your local cobbler (for as long as we have them in the world). I demand a lot of my shoes, and I am hard on them. My weekends are often filled with any manner of construction projects around the house and family "farm" in Northern New Mexico. With an over pronation in both feet I have to run arch supports in every pair of shoes I buy. I tried both the wide and standard width since my funny feet sometimes require the extra volume especially with the arch supports. I decided to go with the standard (medium) width version. The wides were great right out of the box, very little pressure anywhere. The thing I've learned after 40+ years of boot wearing, is that the initial fit should be slightly snug. The leather will stretch slightly, and conform to your foot as it warms an wears. I've got some wide Ariat work boots that are pretty sloppy now, so lesson learned. It may not be the case for long, but when I bought my boots there was a choice between "new" and not "new" versions. Not used and new, an updated version and the previous model. The wides I tried, were the new version and the differences are these. New version has smoother full grain leather on the whole boot. The older version has a slightly pebbled texture on the shaft. The new version has slightly less material in the tongue, making it less "bunchy" when laced. The toe on the new version has an insert that is not a safety toe, but not as "soft" as the older version. This gives it a small bit of extra height to the toe for what I consider a slightly more "Frankenstein's Monster" look. I went with the older version in the medium width. If I were a more patient man, I might have traded them in for the new version in the medium width, but I liked what I had and I appreciate anything that diminishes the appearance of these hulking bunches of stomping power. To break them in, I've been wearing them almost exclusively for the last two weeks and the break-in period has been very easy. I've started with thinner socks, and a switch to a dedicated Superfeet arch support/insole from the stock insoles with an insert underneath has made the fit quite nice. I'm slightly annoyed by shoemakers that place stitching along the heel and Achilles tendon, which these boots also "feature", but so far, it's smooth enough I don't have any blister problems. I do recommend these boots. With some luck, they'll be the last I have to buy, making the hefty price worth it.

After getting into GYW boots with iron rangers last year I decided I wanted something a little more rugged for winter. These caught my eye and I bought them with pretty much no hesitations. My first impression as soon as I saw them in person was that they are VERY dark. They are almost black compared to the maroon/brownish leather as they appear in the pictures. I'm actually really pleased with this since I wanted black leather but they didn't sell them in this style. I ordered them a full size down from what I wear in sneakers and was kind of worried I got them too small until they showed up and they fit perfectly. I found them a bit too snug with the included insoles, but they are actually very comfortable without them anyway. The leather is very soft and supple out of the box so I expect the break in to be pretty easy. They still need to be broken in though especially if you have wide feet. I ordered wide and it's still fairly snug width wise on the mid foot but should break in nicely over time. I've only just gone for a short walk in the woods with these and after getting a couple little scuffs, the maroon-ish leather starts to show through. After the leather gets stretched and scuffed and worn these are going to look really nice. I will update this review after breaking them in and putting them through their paces to show how they've held up TL:DR: Buy a half size to a full size down from what you wear in sneakers. The leather is almost black in person, but with wear it will show through to maroon/brown leather. Very well made and comfortable out of the box

Awesome and good quality too