I have worn these boots during most of my activities for the past 6 months. I work in a clinic with children and although they get regular use but for 8 out of 12 hours they were mostly indoors.
The Tan Waxed flesh is, in my experience, a resilient leather. I have had other nicks leathers that were also robust and durable that showed patina after only a few weeks or months of light (2-4 times worn/week) wear. This leather challenged me and I always referred to them as "slow burn" patina. After around month 3 there were some faint evidence of nap showing through the wax and the intensity of the exposure of nap never grew drastically in magnitude through the duration of dome but the nap was exposed in wider swaths of leather throughout the boots. Only care needed was daily use of horse brush.
Overall all I am very pleased with the fit of the boots. This was my first boot that I followed the guidelines of heel to ball, versus heel to toe and it seems it makes a large difference. During the dome I sold a few of my other boots that were 9.5 D because I became accustomed to the correct proportions of space in these pair. They were comfortable from the get go for me and the break in was not unpleasant. However, after a month my foot had to get used to the structured toe (my other boots were all unstructured). It appeared that it made the area right under the toe cap collapse and bend toward the bridge of my foot. It was not too uncomfortable and after about a month the discomfort completely dissipated and these boots became by far my most comfortable and best fitting pair.
These nicks I feel are top notch. I love the 7 oz heritage leather that nicks uses for their heritage leathers and this pair of TWF were clicked exquisitely. The finishing on them was very clean and another excellent pair from nicks.
I don’t think that my experience will be indicative of all but I found the sole and heel very robust. There was minimal degradation of the heels and the traction on the v bars held up exceedingly well. I prefer the super grips on my iron boots but V bars hold their own.
I really love these boots and would recommend them to anyone who wants legitimate value for their money. There are other boots with better finishing, sleeker patterns, and more hype; however, these are proportionate to their cost. I think in stepping into higher end boots a newer customer wants to believe that the higher cost reflects real tangible added value and with these boots I believe their can be an objective answer that they are worth their cost. Heavy materials, great clicking, Horween, Seidel, or W&C. Subjectively, these boots mean a great deal to me. I went to every baby appointment with my wife in these, I started new habits over the past 6 months that were life changing while doming this pair. One habit is since the end of September/ beginning of October I’ve been consistently running at least 10 miles a week. Regardless if the joist impresses anybody, they have impressed me. The thunderdome is what a fashion hobby should be, life and memories; not raw consumerism.