Chippewa Original Engineer Boots - Leather, 11” (For Men)

Superb, perfect engineer boot. Size is similar to other Chippewa boots where I take a half size smaller than my usual street shoe size. Width is also typical Chippewa where an E width is more like a D.
Comparing these to Wolverine 1000 mile engineers and Red Wing engineers, these Chippewa seem to be fully up to quality with the others. The sole is a few mm thicker than the Wolverine sole (a big plus), the shaft a little trimmer and looks better.
These engineers look vintage in that the forefoot shape is subtly slenderer than the more recent engineer fashion, aggressively wide-foot look. Even with the same internal forefoot width the engineer style has been toward wide look, influenced by Moto styles, like a pair of Triumph branded engineers I have. That wide look always seemed slightly clownish to me and can rattle around in your foot. So I’m glad these have the look of ordinary boots, not road house dress up. On first glance the forefoot looked narrower than the Wolverine and Red Wing but side by side it’s only a 3 mm difference.
The heel is also higher than the Wolverine or Red Wing heel, and slightly angled so it looks exactly like the Chippewa engineers you see in 40s era Chippewa catalogs or any mid 20th C. engineer boot. The higher heel turned out to be very comfortable for walking and I did some distance walking on my second outing in these and they were excellent comfort and support. Didn’t suck the sock down the heel. Trim shaft is more comfortable for walking too.
Like any quality engineer boot that fits you, these are a bear to get on and off at first. They break in and get easy, but the first half dozen times is difficult. You want them to be sized that way.