I got rid of my Bates tactical boots earlier this year. After 4 years of hard, abusive wear they were beat. They were also bordering on too tight for my wide feet. Out they went, and a replacement went on my wish list.

The dream pair, pic 1, is fairly pricey. I'm sure they're worth the $600, but I don't have that kind of cash right now. I also can't find them in a wide width, so I'll have to actually go to a Red Wing store and see if they are available in wide widths. I desperately needed a 2nd pair of work boots ASAP, so I got to browsing and came across a killer deal on some men's boots (pics 2&3). I got them for around 90% off because they've been discontinued. They arrived Christmas Eve, so I put them under the tree to open Christmas morning.

I kind of had to guess my size, and went with something I once read somewhere on the internet (probably on reddit) that says my man-shoe size is my woman shoe size minus 1.5. Since I am an 8-8.5 wide/extra wide in womens, I went with a 6.5 wide in men's. Turns out, that was a pretty darn good way to figure out my man-shoe size. They're a close fit lengthwise, but not too small. The width is freaking perfect for my feet, leaving me room to wear nice thick warm socks.

These boots are HEAVY compared to any other combat boots I've ever owned. That's probably a good thing, since these were bought primarily for work and work beats the daylights out of my clothes and shoes. I'm grateful that Angie has long recommended that we leave no retail stone unturned, because that advice led me to one heckuva deal on some serious boots for work. Thank you, Angie, for the valuable advice!