I've been buying Rocky brand boots since like 1989, and they made fantastic boots then and stayed that way til a few years ago, when it kinda seems that maybe the quality of some of their boots slipped a little, although i still buy them. I am wearing a pair I bought a year ago that I have abused at work, getting them wet, often covered in mud, or chemicals. They get scratched up, and I put countless miles on them because I do a lot of walking while working, so they'll need replacing in a few months or sooner. But, they cost just $119, which is fairly cheap compared with other brands . I also have a pair of Rocky winter hunting boots I bought for mid winter backpacking, which have barely been worn, and I paid around $130 for them and they are extemely warm and comfortable.
We have a local Red Wing shoe store, and I went in over a year ago, when I eventually bought the Rockys I'm wearing now, and the Red Wings fell under 2 categories: the American made and the Asian made ones. What blew me away was that the Asian/Chinese produced Red Wing work boots started at like $179 and ended at around $259, while the American made ones started at around $279 and went up to about $389!
I don't know how good they are, because I left the store when I saw those prices. I just can't see paying $200 for Chinese made boots or $300+ for American boots unless they were custom fitted and made by hand or something. I have little doubt that they are great boots, and I'd certainly try them out if they weren't so expensive. but I'm just going to destroy them in fairly short order while working, and I just can't justify destroying $300 boots. I'd be guilt ridden!
