Hello Sir
Thanks for your amazing blog. I’ve studied your blog for quite sometime and am about to drop a lot of money on a pair of engineers. The two I am deliberating between are the Lofgrens and Road champs. I prefer the look of the Lofgrens but longevity and toughness would be the winner on the day. I don’t have a lot of money and I intend to wear my engineers quite a bit.
I know you speak highly of them both but on build quality and toughness which would you say would last the distance?
Thank you.
Cheers
Greg
Hey Greg! Thank you for the e-mail and I’m glad the VEB Blog provides some assistance to those with similar taste.
There’s not much more I can say that I haven’t already mentioned in past blog posts reviewing the two incredible brands of boots over the years, but I’m fully aware a new fan of the type of boot is born every day and I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least cover the wave tops. After all, it’s questions like yours which help the community learn and grow.
Simply put, both boots will outlive their owner and more than likely become those highly sought-after Vintage Engineer Boots folks engage in bidding wars over twenty ... thirty ... forty years down the road.
I got both the Lofgren and first pair of Road Champ Boots back in 2012 and did not baby them by any stretch. Readers may recall that I put my Lofgrens through extra hell during my deployment onboard the USS Peleliu in 2014 and they display no signs of weakness or distress points — they actually appear to be much more rugged now. Don’t ask me to explain that. Their just tough as nails now.
While neither of my three pairs of Road Champ Boots went through as much as the Lofgrens, W. Thomas has been wearing his pretty damn hard every day for four years and the pictures just speak volumes as to the toughness and durability of these classics.
So as far as build, quality and toughness, both are equal all areas in my book. What you’re left to decide is the style and profile that suits your taste. You get a more 1950’s rounded toe box (before they start to flatten out, of course) with the Lofgren boots while the Road Champs have a late 1930’s to late 1940’s flat toe and streamlined flavor. Both are versatile and can work with anything from denim to workwear. The Lofgrens are readily obtainable, while fans of the Road Champs can find themselves on a worthwhile wait list.
I hope this provides at least some assistance and really any choice you make with these Boots is the right choice. They have and will remain two of my top boot choices and with both at under $1k, it’s a drop in the bucket for a build, quality and toughness
Cheers!
John
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