Thorogood 814-4200 Classic Moc Toe Workboot

 

The Thorogood Classic Moc Toe Workboot, model number 814-4200, is a classic American workboot. 

 

It is a 6-inch moc toe boot, in oil-tanned Tobacco coloured leather, on Thorogood's own proprietary Maxwear wedge sole. Moc toe is short for "moccasin toe", so-called because the toes are stitched in a U-shape like Native American moccasin shoes. The vamp is made of two pieces of leather - the top of the vamp, and the side walls, and they are sewn together at the top of the side walls, forming that U-shaped apron stitch.

 

Classic moc toe designs pair the moc toe uppers with a white wedge sole, so called because it forms a chunky wedge without a discernable, separate heel block. 

 

Click the image to watch my review of these boots:

 

 

The first moc toe boot was made by Red Wing in the early 1950's, and the style was developed initially for farmers and hunters. The original Red Wing 8-inch style offered them support and comfort against the elements whether working on a farm or out hunting, and the wedge sole was designed to provide sure-footing and so their heel wouldn't catch on roots and branches as they tracked prey. 

 

Thorogood introduced their moc toe boot in 1964 and originally called it the "Hike 'n Camp" boot, and it became the official American Boy Scout boot. From there the moc toe boot quickly became a work boot, adopted by construction and steel workers. 

 

The Thorogood moc toe is rated against electric shock to an incredible degree so it was used by electrical workers, and the flat sole that doesn't drag in mud on a construction site, became useful for builders and finishing trades going in and out of a house during construction.

 

You can also get these boots in an 8-inch version, measuring 8 inches from the top of the heel to the top of the shaft but the 814-4200 is the 6-inch version. You can also get a safety toe version, but these do not have a safety toe.

 

I bought these relatively early in my American heritage boots journey. I've owned boots before of course, in the course of my life, but it wasn't until early 2020 when the pandemic struck that I really got into quality, American style or American heritage Goodyear welted boots.

 

My first buy of that sort was a Thursday Captain, which turned out to be my gateway drug because I rapidly bought more and more until I have amassed over 100 pairs of boots now. Following the Captain, I looked for affordable historic boots - and bought a Chippewa service boot, and then these. 

 

At the time, they were under US$250. They're now listed at US$270 but still available at about the same price from some retailers.

 

 

 

The Thorogood brand has been around since 1918. The brand is owned by the Weinbrenner Shoe Company which was founded in 1892 as a small cobbler shop in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the US, 

eventually moving into making their own shoes and boots a couple of years later in 1900. This makes them one of the oldest shoe companies in America still surviving.

 

Weinbrenner expanded rapidly and in 2000 the unionized workforce actually took ownership of the company through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan.

 

Thorogood is still the most well-known brand in the group. Their other brands include Wood N Stream and Shoe-In Overshoes, brands that are also here in Australia, but frankly, I've never heard of them.

 

Weinbrenner is a huge company and they own several of their own factories, and they make work, safety, military and other uniform footwear. They had an annual revenue in 2022 of $28 million, with a workforce of about 350 employees. 

 

 

There are some conflicting news articles about their "Made in USA" capacity, if that's important to you. 

 

In the middle of 2021, they bought their third Wisconsin factory amidst reports that they wanted to increase their local manufacturing capacity after the US Government changed the definition of "Made in USA" in order to raise local content requirements. Before the purchase of this third factory, reports stated that they made 65% of their footwear in the previous two Wisconsin factories, the other 35% being made outside the US. 

 

However, it appears that their heritage lines, and this boot in particular are made in the US.

 

Apart from their heritage models, they also make modern lightweight waterproof and insulated workboots with Goretex and other synthetics, as well as modern military boots used by the US military today.

 

The moc toe workboot is in their heritage line and is built in the traditional way, with some modern materials improving price, comfort, and fit.

 

 

 

Looking at the construction, we'll start from the bottom and go up.

 

You will see a few wedge sole moc toes - indeed the wedge sole can also appear in other types of boots because they are meant to be really comfortable because they fully support the whole length of your feet. Most of those soles you see will be made by the Italian sole manufacturer, Vibram. 

 

Red Wing, I believe, makes their own.

 

Most wedge soles will be made from blown rubber. Some people call them crepe rubber but that would be wrong. Crepe rubber is raw rubber that you see on Clark's Desert Chukka boots, clearly raw and just rolled or "crepiered". The wedge soles you normally see are blown rubber - rubber that's coagulated in the manufacturing process and then blown through with air, rather like a fizzy drink. That process provides tiny little air bubbles making the sole squishy and light, but less durable than vulcanized rubber.

 

 

These on the other hand, are Thorogood's proprietary version of wedge soles. They are made of polyurethane instead of rubber and are supposed to last 25% longer than Vibram's blown rubber versions. Apparently, Thorogood got complaints from people who used the boots as everyday work boots so they decided to do their own research and make their own version of the wedge sole.

 

While they may last longer, there are a lot of threads on Reddit about how they are a lot harder. 

 

I think that's pretty subjective because I haven't found a problem, which I'll talk about when I look at sizing and comfort.

 

The wedge sole is glued onto the firm rubber midsole which is Goodyear stitched to the uppers. Goodyear welting is the method of construction where a strip of material called a welt, goes around the edge of the shoe, the inside edge being stitched to the uppers inside the shoe, and separately the outside edge of the welt is stitched through the outer sole construction, in this case only the midsole, before the wedge outsole is glued on. 

 

On other boots, where the outside stitch goes through the mid and outsoles, you might see the stitching under the outsole. In this case the welt is not the usual leather strip - it's a plastic or rubber compound. 

 

To be fair, it's a pretty stiff welt, and until I researched and read about it I honestly thought it was a leather welt.

 

 

It also has a raised flange pushed against the side of the boot and looks like a Norwegian welt, which has two stitches in the welt - one normal one through the sole and another to sew the raised bit of welt against the uppers to increase water resistance. In fact, it's not. The second stitch only goes through the welt and it's a faux Norwegian welt, for aesthetics only.

 

But the Goodyear stitch construction itself is already reasonably water resistant. 

 

That's one of the stated advantages of Goodyear welting. The other is the ability to re-sole or recraft the boot when the soles wear out so you can extend the life of the boot past many re-soles.

 

In the middle of the footbed, in the cavity caused by the circle of the welt, there is a cork mid-layer.  Cork is the traditional and preferred filler because it breathes and wicks moisture, and will mould to the impress of your foot over time. In some cases, the cavity is filled with another piece of leather, and in modern and cheaper boots there may be a man-made filler like foam or rubber.

 

Embedded in the cork is a fiberglass shank - a strip of fiberglass placed between the heel portion and the ball of the foot to provide additional arch support and torsional rigidity. A shank surprises me in a wedge sole because you'd think you don't need a shank for arch-support because there isn't the usual gap caused by a block heel. However, this has its uses in a work boot because it will support your feet when you step on the rungs of a ladder.

 

Being fiberglass it's lighter weight than the traditional steel, and many boot makers now use fiberglass shanks, and not just for cost-saving purposes.

 

It is cheaper than steel, but not by much, but I guess when you're fighting your competition by a few dollars in price, every bit counts.

 

Above the cork layer is a fibreboard insole. This is where some of the controversy occurs when people compare these to the Red Wing Moc Toe boot. 

 

A traditional insole is made of leather. Indeed, the Red Wing Classic moc toe boots use a full leather-cork-leather combination instead of this rubber-cork-fibreboard combination. If you wear these as everyday work boots, you may find the man-made components don't last as long as the full leather suite.

 

Above the fibreboard insole is a Poron footbed giving the boot quite a bit of comfort even before we get to the removable Thorogood Dual Density Ultimate Shock Absorption Insert. This is a removable insert with moulded arch support in the foam, and two squishier patches under the heel and the ball of the foot.

 

Staying inside the boot, the toes have a Celastic or cellulose toe puff inside to keep the shape of the toe box and give some light protection - nothing like a steel toe though, I hasten to add.

 

The lining is a cotton drill textile and is only lined at the toes and vamp. I'm not sure how durable that cotton drill is going to be with everyday wear as a work boot.

 

The heel counter is also Celastic and is an inner heel counter inside the boot, covered by an internal, rough-out patch of leather as the counter-cover for comfort and heel grip.

 

The uppers are made from US-sourced cowhide leather. The colour is called "Tobacco". It's a full-grain leather, which makes it more durable and less prone to tearing.

 

 

What is full-grain leather?

 

When a full thickness rawhide is tanned, it is "split" by passing it through a machine with a horizontal blade that slices the leather in half. The bottom half of the split is sent for processing as suede or goes through sanding and stamping to produce so-called "genuine leather" to make cheaper leather products. The top half either remains as it is, making full-grain leather products or is "corrected", meaning it may be buffed or sanded to remove the pores and wrinkles and so on that the animal had in its life. This process makes smoother leather more likely used for dress shoes and so on. 

 

It can also be further processed to produce one version of nubuck.

 

In this case, it's full grain leather that is oil-tanned. That means it's tanned using chromium salts and then pumped full of oils to make it durable and supple. It's also tumbled in the oil tanning process and in the dying stage - a huge tumbler turns it round and round with the oils and dyes, and this process also changes the firmness or temper of the leather into a really soft, and quite stretchy leather.

 

The uppers are about 2 and a half millimeters thick, which is quite thick in the overall context of boots, but because it is tumbled leather, it is pretty soft despite the thickness. You can see that it is full of character and grain, but due to the suppleness, it can crease quite a lot and some people may not like that. 

 

I think it adds to the character. 

 

Also, despite the thickness of the leather, I think mainly due to the sole makeup, it's a pretty light boot, so if you did wear it all day, it wouldn't tire your legs and ankles. I get so many comments from American viewers of my channel, who use them for work boots, about the whole-day comfort of these boots.

 

The stitching on the uppers is interesting. All the nylon thread is in a contrasting white. Obviously, if you wear this as a work boot it would be a nightmare to clean but if you are working in it, I doubt you'd care!

 

The moc toe stitch on the apron of the vamp is puckered - it is not a true moc toe where there are two pieces of leather sewn together. I made a mistake in my original video review saying that it was. The  puckering is for aesthetics, and the creation of a taller toe box for comfort.

 

 

There's double stitching up the one piece backstay and pull tab. There's also double stitching of the internal heel counter cover, with the stitches showing on the outside. And there is triple stitching at the quarters. 

 

There's also what appears to be a decorative triple stitch along the side of the quarters. Honestly, this doesn't appear to stitch any two pieces of leather together, on the outside or the inside, but in fact, I have been told that it's a stiffening stitch to help the boot keep it's shape over time. Tumbled leather can stretch, being so malleable, and this stitch helps to support and strengthen the leather there, and stop it from stretching out of shape.

 

Sewn on to the outside of the quarter is an American flag, and stamped on the heel is the Thorogood logo. 

 

 

Up at the top - double stitching at the slightly padded collar, which is rolled and supported by an extra white piece of leather holding the padding in, and this adds to the comfort at the ankles when you cinch the laces tight.

 

The tongue is gusseted halfway up, to the first speed hook. This helps with water resistance and stops the tongue moving around during wear.

 

The hardware is brass - three eyelets at the bottom, followed by three speed hooks, and then another eyelet at the top. I usually don't lace them up through that top eyelet, but it's there for a logger's knot. The laces are looped through the top eyelet, and then the opposite ends go through the loop made by the lace.

 

Here's a link to a Thorogood video showing how to lace them through that top eyelet. I'll also leave this link to a video for a technique I've never been able to master on speed lacing.

 

I don't usually talk about the laces - because many times I change them! But I will draw your attention to the nylon or taslon laces that come with the Thorogood. They look the same as those that come with the Timberland Classic yellow boots, or with Red Wing boots, but there is one difference. They stay tied up!

 

I don't know about you but I find nylon or taslon laces need some serious double knotting or a lot of breaking in before they stay tied. These stay tied easily - they feel softer but little rough, providing a little more friction.

 

 

 

 

 

I've had these since December of 2020 and I've worn them regularly, but infrequently - not always for a full day and mostly on urban surfaces like pavements, lawns and gardens, carpets and shopping centres and pubs - that sort of thing. I do NOT wear them as work boots, I do not wear them in mud and wet concrete and they don't get dusty nor very wet. The wedge soles have stood up well, apart from some marking, and a little wear at the heel, and the uppers have needed very little care.

 

I brush them regularly - after most times I wear them - and I have conditioned them twice after a rain shower soaked them, and after a wet walk through a dusty limestone track that stuck the white limestone mud everywhere. 

 

 

As usual, I looked at what the manufacturer recommends, and Thorogood recommends KG Boot Guard to protect the toes, and KG All Purpose Leather Guard to condition. KG Bootguard puts a coat of semi-hard waxy protection layer over the toe of the boot - not something I wanted to do. The All Purpose Leather Guard is a conditioner made of oils and beeswax,

 

Look, to be honest, both recommendations reflect the most popular use of these boots as work boots. They're pretty heavy-duty stuff. 

 

I totally admit to not wearing or treating these as a work boot. I wear them in a casual sense and not in construction or any kind of workshop. So, in feeling the oiliness of the leather, I reckoned that conditioning them with a waxy, oily conditioner would be good and my experience with R M Williams' saddle dressing on their, and other oil kip type leathers, has been good. I feel that they refresh the oils in the leather - so I used that. It's a greasy balm that you can apply with a cloth or with your fingers, which I prefer because I can feel where it goes and what creases or seams it misses. 

 

I think mink oil might be ok, but it might darken the leather a lot. I haven't tried neatsfoot oil cream - that might work too.

 

Apart from a conditioning - the frequency depending on how hard you wear them - I think the most important thing to protect the oil-packed leather is to keep them clean. Just wipe with a damp rag and brush them from time to time to avoid build-up of harmful sand and dust that could build up and grind into the leather.

 

  

 

Let's take a look at comfort and sizing.

 

To my mind, comfort and size are totally related. Get the wrong size and despite all the foam and poron and soft leather, you will never be comfortable. Get the right size, in the right last and your boots will feel comfortable even if made of pretty tough and firm materials, at least after break-in.

 

 

Well! 

 

That home truth came home to roost when I was trying to find a size that fitted me.

 

My first pair were an American size 8 D, same as most of my other American heritage boots, and as advised by many websites, I went a half size down from my Brannock size. This was confirmed by Thorogood's printable measuring sheets available on their website.

 

I found the break-in incredibly difficult. My toes felt like they were too close to the tip of the boot, and my right pinky was squeezed by the toebox, the top of my toes felt rubbed by the moc toe stitching, and I had blisters on both heels.

 

At the time I got them, they were only my third Goodyear welted American boots, and watching all the YouTube channels about breaking boots in, I thought the pain was what you had to go through. In my first pair of American heritage boots, the Thursday Captains, I also felt some pinching where the cap toe stitch was on the right foot, but after about 10 days it was gone and they became very comfortable, so I thought that's the way it worked. Go through the pain and they'll be comfortable!

 

So I persevered, and after 2 weeks and it had not got any better I cried "Uncle" and returned them. I was then advised to go 8.5 double E - they don't come in single E - so, true to size, but two widths wider.

 

Although those fitted with a lot less pain, it was immediately evident that I could only wear them with very thick boot socks - not the best option when you live in Western Australia. So, after just a few days I returned them again and got an 8 double E - and finally, they fitted better.

 

 

I have seen elsewhere - primarily on the Grant Stone website, and my friend Dale @Dale'sLeatherworks talks about it on his channel - something that's quite obvious when you think about it. Going up a width automatically takes it up a length slightly - after all, the shape of the boots have to be proportionate between width and length.

 

So I think that's what happened here - my 8 double E meant that it was slightly longer than the 8 D, which allowed my toes to fill the toebox correctly. In this size, it was immediately comfortable with no blister-causing heel slip or even any serious break-in required. My advice, in this boot, go a half size down, but play around with the width if you have to.

 

By the way, as an aside, if you live outside the United States and you're buying them mail order, I highly recommend buying them from Amazon. From most stores, you have to pay for shipping if you return them, some with extra charges for restocking. Also, if you had to return them twice as I did, understandably you might have to face some questions. As an Amazon Prime member, you get free postage and returns, no questions asked.  

 

In this pair, having found my right size for this last, the comfort is pretty amazing. The leather is tough but soft - just as thick as my Red Wing moc toes but way more malleable. That means no breaking-in of the uppers was required, and in particular, I found the flexing around the ankle immediately easy.

 

It's a chunky sole, so I did have to break in the flex point where my feet naturally flexed, but that took maybe 5 or 6 days of wear.

 

Standing in them all day is a dream. Since these were originally hunting boots, I did take them for a non-hunting walk around a trail in a forest reserve outside Perth, and after a day's hike there was zero foot pain or tiredness. The squishy insert and poron insole, and the chunk of polyurethane outsole made every step soft and painless. They do have a sneaker-like feel about them. 

 

I'd give them a 10 out of 10 for comfort.

 

 

 

So finally, let's take a look at value. This is such a subjective concept but let's first see what they cost. At the time in 2020, they were under US$250 or Aussie $370. They're still at US$250 to $290 on Amazon. 

 

 

What would you compare them with in Oz? 

 

If you're after workboots, Steel Blue are in the mid $200 range, but where's the history and panache?

 

OK, a pair of Blunnies - Blundstones - cost under $200 to mid-$200. There's some history and panache but they're TPU heat-molded soles, not re-soleable so that might be a false economy after a few years. 

 

Timberland - cement construction moc toes for about $200, but again, cement construction soles.

 

Comparable quality boots but not necessarily work boots, since in Australia you wouldn't wear these as work boots anyway? Well you can get the Thursday Diplomat moc toes shipped in and landed at around $370 to $390 Australian. You can get Red Wing moc toe boots in specialist Americana shops around Australia for over $500,

 

So price-wise, the Thorogoods are in the price range of comparable boots, at least in Australia.

 

As for quality, I find them made well, nothing to complain about in regard to stitching or leather nor in any lack of attention in finishing, except maybe the components don't stack up to Red Wing's all-leather construction. But overall, my very subjective opinion is that they're about the right value - not a steal, and not too expensive for what you get.