IHWE-MRLOU-BLK - Wesco® - 10" Horsehide Pull-On "Mister Lou" Engineer Boot - Black
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@Autorotate said in Wesco
- 10" Horsehide Pull-On "Mister Lou" Engineer Boot - Black:@Paul9221 no SoCal cobbler recommendations… other than this… don’t judge a book by the cover. A Jedi knight cobbler could be hiding in the most humble of shops. And there are shops everywhere!
I think I'd prefer a hole-in-the-wall run by a half blind 90-year old man who can cobble fully blind to a super hipster boot shop
Take that leather insole out! That would be a great start I think. I can wear a 9E with the insole… and an 8.5E fits exactly the same without. It’s wild to think that such a thin piece of leather could make that much of a difference. I actually swap Wesco insoles into shoes that have always been annoyingly and just-so-slightly large with great success.
Good luck man!
Are these things glued in there or something? I'm tugging on them but they're not coming out. Then again, I'm not using a lot of force.
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@pechelman said in Wesco
- 10" Horsehide Pull-On "Mister Lou" Engineer Boot - Black:i'd consider checking for cowboy boot shops in the area and asking around there. Most good shops worth their salt have this service they offer to folks who buy boots from them. At least that's how Sheplers used to be in Denver. Unsure how it is these days since I think they got bought by Boot Barn.
Oh, shoot, that's a great idea! We used to have boot barns around here. I'm sure there's one near by. I'm going to look.
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@Autorotate said in Wesco
- 10" Horsehide Pull-On "Mister Lou" Engineer Boot - Black:@Paul9221 Shouldn’t be glued. Should pull right out.
my experience as well. just slides right out
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@Autorotate said in Wesco
- 10" Horsehide Pull-On "Mister Lou" Engineer Boot - Black:@Paul9221 Shouldn’t be glued. Should pull right out.
Seconded! Also agree with the blind cobbler
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@Paul9221 try getting a fingernail under the highest part of the arch. The insole is usually so perfectly cut, that you actually have to pry it out, especially when new. Just tried this with my brand new Brown CXL Mr Lou’s (brag alert).
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@Autorotate Those look like crap and will be extremely uncomfortable. I’m going to pm you my address so that you can send them to me so I can dispose of them…
F’n nice boots and I like them….a lot
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@goosehd might/might not send boots to your house, but don’t be mad if I show up in a trench coat in the rain, holding a boombox over my head blaring “Your Eyes” by Perter Gabriel.
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@Autorotate You sir, made me laugh. Thank you!!
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@seawolf said in Wesco
- 10" Horsehide Pull-On "Mister Lou" Engineer Boot - Black:I am indeed in San Diego. Where are you located?
I'm in Garden Grove (Orange County). Bit of a drive down to your area, but given the right incentive, I could make a day out of it
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WOW! Even though my toe was still hurtin', I couldn't wait to try the boots with the insoles out. I walked a whole mile in them, big strides, just like in my sneakers. It's like 95% better! I should have hit the forums earlier!
My foot definitely slides around more with the insoles out but it's not too bad. That said, if I can stretch the toe box a bit with the shoe-tree, I'd like to put the insoles back in eventually. I'll report back on how that works out.
In the meantime, thanks again for your recommendations! I can't believe how big a difference removing that ~2mm piece of rubber and fabric made to the feel of the boot.
I'll keep y'alls posted.
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@pechelman said in Wesco
- 10" Horsehide Pull-On "Mister Lou" Engineer Boot - Black:it's pretty well discussed in most of the other wesco threads, iirc, that a lot of folks remove that flat leather footbed permanently.
so long as you're keeping the boots clean inside and giving them a chance to air dry / dry out it shouldnt be an issue. I think it was neph and oaktavia who commented that they've worn their wesco's w/o footbeds without issue.I was just about to chime in- with both my brown CXL and these horsehide, I immediately removed my insoles due to instep issues, it was very tight on the ridge of my foot. I bought the CXL in december 2021 and the black horsehide about a year ago last month. Wearing the CXL at my desk right now. Both boots took a lot of work to get them to where they are today, but they are both comfortable and broken in beautifully.
I understand the idea @Paul9221 that the leather insoles make them more comfortable if they fit properly, but I still have both pairs of insoles in my closet somewhere. I tried putting them back in every other month or so just to see, because again, it would make sense that walking on cushy leather would be more comfortable than not, but I honestly do not feel discomfort at all. Maybe try walking around your neighborhood with the insoles out and see how your toe bone feels. Couldn't hurt and might save you the hassle of stretching them. @neph93 do you still have your insoles out?
Edit: I did not read past the post I quoted but glad to hear you feel better with the insoles out buddy!
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What @oaktavia said.
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Got the leather sheet in and got something that I think can work. Used the stock insoles to trim out and then hacked off the toes in front of the pinky across towards the big toe. I left it a little longer to start and heavily tapered the under side with a sharp knife (visible in picture). The difference in thickness makes a huge difference for me above the toes and I barely notice it under foot with the tapering. So far the new insole stays put just fine but we'll see how it goes. The 2mm sheet is definitely a tad thinner than the Wesco leather which could be a solution in itself without trimming for some people. Going to give this a go before fooling with adding in arch support to the new insole.
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@pechelman I was thinking of something similar on the drive home. "I'd love an insole that's half as thick as the Wesco ones!"
Maybe a stupid question, but where did you get the leather sheet that you cut into this shape?
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@Paul9221 got it from Amazon. It's marked as full grain 2mm leather. Has a ton of reviews and was ~29$ for a 12x24" sheet. I thought the veg tan would have been nice but got the brown instead because it was next day delivery. The leather itself is pretty nice. I'm not into leather crafting at all but thinking about what I can do with the rest now...
