Overall Great Boots!
I bought these boots to replace a pair of soft toe Justin Gypsy boots that I have owned for the past four years. The decision to switch to steel toe did not derive from my work environment. I use my Justin boots as "everyday boots". I have other pretty and fancy boots that I wear when I dress up. I chose to go with steel toe for the toe protection. I wear my boots everywhere. I wear them hunting, hiking, fishing, and horseback riding. I ordered the same size steel toe boots as I wore in the soft toe and they fit perfect. I like the 11" gypsy boots because I find that it helps with the heat. I live in Texas and it is hot and humid and when you sweat all day the longer boots are less comfortable. People have mentioned that the steel toe boots are more hot in the summer and cold in the winter. To be honest it has been in the 90s this week and they feel no different from my soft toe boots. Boots are hot, end of story. I wear my boots with thin ankle socks. I shave my legs so I do not have to deal with men's issues with their leg hair being pulled or rubbed off. The shaft of the boot (part that goes up your leg) is pretty loose on these boots and the interior of the shaft is a padded high weave nylon cloth. This makes the boot more comfortable for wear because you do not have the backside of leather rubbing against your legs. When I first took them out of the box I noticed the leather looked a little dry so I rubbed the entire leather exterior of the boot with mink oil. This helped to soften up the boot and make it easier to wear in. This is also the reason why my pictures of the boots look a bit darker than the advertisement pictures. I also burned all of the loose strings hanging from the boots. The boots were a tight fit at first but loosened up within an hour of wearing them. The heel is a little bit roomy compared to my soft toe boots but so far it has not been a bother. Overall I am happy with my experience with the boots. If you have any questions feel free to ask and I will answer as quickly as I can get to my phone. Read more
