Over the years, I have put away my high school Doc Martens for Iron Rangers and now I have graduated to PNW boots! After months of researching followed by half a year of waiting, they have finally arrived: my first pair of Nick's boots. I'd like to thank the many people in this thread and staff members at Nick's for patiently answering my questions as I agonized over nearly every detail, from the last and leather to the backstay and edge dressing color. 

These are essentially Americanas with the 55 last and brown edge dressing. People warned that the arch support could feel imposing at first, but it feels natural. I am glad I went with the less common combination of the 55 last (high arch support) and moderate heel stack. I can see that they are definitely handmade boots. There is some inconsistent stitching, though that isn't something I am too concerned about. 

Like many Nick's customers, I was quite concerned about the sizing and worried that after such a long wait, they wouldn't fit correctly. I was even more worried that I might not know whether they fit right or not. In Iron Rangers, I am a B width (they are the women's IRs), and those fit perfectly, and I'd been encouraged to use my Iron Rangers size. However, the Nick's print-out sizing ruler told me that I was solidly in 5C territory. I am glad that I went with the 5C. My new boots fit the way I wish my IRs fit, but didn't know it. They're handshake snug when I wear my thick boot socks (though I can move my toes around, which I can't do in my IRs), and when I wear thin socks I have more room but my foot is still well held. 

I wasn't sure whether I'd know if they fit right when I got them because I'd heard that well fitting boots can be uncomfortable at first. But what customer service told me now makes a lot of sense: the boots fit and feel good out of the box, though I don't think I'd want to walk around in these for more than an hour or so to start. I'm coming from the women's IRs, which are a thinner leather than the men's IRs. IBC is a big jump! Man, are these stiff! I don't think I realized how little of a break-in period I had with the IRs. Last night when I first laced them up, I almost thought they were not the right size because I couldn't fully lace them with the kilties! One thing I didn't realize was that these would come with leather laces. While I appreciate them in theory, I'm just not a leather lace person. I just happened to have an extra, unused pair of laces from some winter boots that happened to be exactly the right length. Color-wise, they wouldn't have been my first choice, but they work for now (any thoughts on the laces I've got in, or alternate suggestions?). The kilties still look and feel a little awkward, but I believe with time they'll soften. 

Lastly, I was really torn about the outsole when I was ordering. I had the 430 mini lug on my IRs and hated it so much that I had them resoled. I disliked the clop-clop and they just felt like plastic. I don't know what Red Wing is doing with the women's IRs, but the 430 mini lug I got on my Nick's feels completely different. It could be partially the midsole, but the material of the outsoles feels fundamentally different (and better! No clop-clop). 

Thank you to this community, and to the folks at Nick's! Also, special thank you to Nick's for being one of the only great PNW bootmakers who accommodate women's sizing by virtue of having so many options and not compromising quality across all models offered. I started this journey because I loved the look of my IRs, but was disappointed that the women's IRs lacked a leather footbed and a few other details that the men's IRs have. While there are some reasons for this as women customers as a whole may have different shoe buying patterns and preferences as a whole, I wish more PNW bootmakers had options for those of us who want great quality boots and are willing to put up with a tough break-in! Thank you Nick's for filling the gap. These are gorgeous and I look forward to getting to a point where they don't press against my ankles!

NBD Italian Cypress Brown MTO