I bought these boots a few years ago as boots that I could wear casually, or maybe do a little work in them. It was a case of finding these boots for a great price for my hard-to-fit feet. (I’m kind of borderline 13B/14A depending on the boot.) I was kind of waiting for the right time to start wearing them. They just did not excite me though, so they sat unused. My son is extremely hard on his boots and quickly destroyed the Doc Marten and Solovair boots that he liked. I decided to buy him a pair of Red Wing 953s because I knew that they would hold up a lot better. He insisted on black boots though, so I dyed his black with leather dye. Six to twelve months later he complained that they were not as black anymore and asked me to redye them. I picked them up and the teacore effect was incredible. I hated to do it, but I dyed them black again. But seeing his boots inspired me. As much as I like his boots, I didn’t want black boots myself. I mixed up some leather dye to create a deep dark black cherry and dyed my own pair of 953s, hoping to achieve a similar effect over time.
It can be difficult to find size 14A boots, but I just happened to find this new old stock pair on eBay. They arrived quickly, but the leather was a little dry. I applied some leather conditioner when they arrived, but did not wear them for a long time.
I wore these Red Wing 953s for just about everything. I wore them to take the dogs outside for long walks, shoveled snow, mowed the lawn, and dug out a few ditches with them. They handled it all. I had a partial tear of my plantar fascia in December, which cut down a bit on my activity for a while. Then I adopted a dog who insisted on long walks — even in the snow. My daily mileage and step count with these increased significantly over the last couple of months and it seemed that it really showed up in the patina.
I dyed these boots with a dark black cherry leather dye prior to wear. It took a while for the patina to break through, but I’m happy with how they’re doing. When they got dirty, I just cleaned them off with a wet cloth. I applied a little VSC conditioner a couple of times, which added a little shine. I brushed them nearly every day to remove scuffs and dust. These boots broke in pretty easily with daily wear. I did not experience any hot spots or significant discomfort.
I like the plain toe design for boots that are going to get dirty. It makes the boots much easier to clean. The leather quality seems pretty good with no bad wrinkling. These are unlined boots, which probably helped them break-in easily.
These boots have the Red Wing Supersole. I was really impressed with the combination of comfort and traction. I did notice some separation between the sole and the midsole after over 5 months. This happened after doing some digging in the yard using the boots. These boots were new, old-stock, so although they were unworn it might be possible that the age of the boots contributed to the separation. One other unexpected benefit was that the soles do not have deep lugs, so they did not clog up with mud and were pretty easy to clean.
I have been pleased with these boots overall. They cleaned up easily each time that they got dirty. The sole was very comfortable and had really good traction on smooth wet concrete. I would recommend these boots without hesitation. Red Wing boots are generally a good value and the 953 is no exception. The 953 is also available in a wide variety of sizes (length and width). I would recommend these without hesitation.