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Shoes
- Thread starter Maximil
- Start date
skammer said:
I completely disagree here. In a SHTF situation, in an urban area, steel toes make or break the usefulness of boots (and your toes)
Take the cleanup from Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne. Steel toe boots were a godsend. And in a situation where your looking for/digging out people from a wrecked building, I can't imagine not having them.
Above steel toes, I suggest you look for a boot with steel shanks. While a typical shank is only 1" wide, it will protect the deeper, more vital areas of your foot should you step on a nail, or piece of debris.
And to answer the topic, I wear Bates Enforcers and I have nothing to complain about. In my opinion, they're even better then Mil issued boots.
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2002
- Messages
- 661
chazz said:
Yup - those steel toes serve two purposes:
1) To protect from moderate impact
2) To protect the wearer from being trapped with a caught foot... by cleanly amputating the toes under heavy impact.
Ouch is right.....
silenthunterstudios
Slipjoint Addict
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2005
- Messages
- 20,039
Make sure you buy whatever is most comfortable. I'm a big guy, I like Nike, but Dr Martens for work (desk jockey) are pretty good. I used to only wear Airwalk dress shoes and hiking boots, but those were pretty hard to find when Airwalk was in business, now that they've gone belly up, I haven't even seen Airwalk skate shoes anywhere!
I go with medium weight hiking boots all the time. I second the comfort thought, they should be comfortable in the store, If you have to do much to break them in there is some thing wrong.
I have worked construction and If someting heavy drops or rolles over your foot the steel toe can work against you. I wore them for many years and never had a use for them. The same with steel shanks, they seem to make the sole too stiff for my comfort... just my $0.02.
Enjoy!
I have worked construction and If someting heavy drops or rolles over your foot the steel toe can work against you. I wore them for many years and never had a use for them. The same with steel shanks, they seem to make the sole too stiff for my comfort... just my $0.02.
Enjoy!
I second the medium weight boots. I got some The North Face boots from an outlet (Damned if I could find any real problem with them) They are light, break in almost immediately. Have Gore-Tex liners and Italian leather. The sole is stiff enough to prtect your feet from walking over small rocks. (After a 2 day hike last week wearing Timberland day boots we had to walk about 2K down a mountain that was strewn with 6-12" rocks. The softer/thinner soles of the Timberland really strained the tendons in my feet) The TNF boots would be fine for this and I kicked myself for not wearing them. The only downside to them is that the sole looks irreplacable. I have worn another pair daily for two years but now they are relegated to outside working jobs. Still, for the price they were well worth the money.
They look a bit like this, although these have the Vibram soles which are replaceble
They look a bit like this, although these have the Vibram soles which are replaceble
Steel toes on the job site is fine but anyone I have ever seen try to off road in them for any length of time had their feet turned into hamburger.
New kevlar shanks offer some protection and not as stiff I hear.
If steel toed combat boots were as good as regular boots theyd be wearing them.
Don't even get me started on frostbite in the winter with steel toes.
Skam
New kevlar shanks offer some protection and not as stiff I hear.
If steel toed combat boots were as good as regular boots theyd be wearing them.
Don't even get me started on frostbite in the winter with steel toes.
Skam
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2003
- Messages
- 175
"Steel toes on the job site is fine but anyone I have ever seen try to off road in them for any length of time had their feet turned into hamburger.
New kevlar shanks offer some protection and not as stiff I hear.
If steel toed combat boots were as good as regular boots theyd be wearing them.
Don't even get me started on frostbite in the winter with steel toes.
Skam"
Amem to that Skam. Steel Toe shoes are a nothing but a "toe trap"
Merrell is a brand name of Low cut and Med cut hikers. I have worn them for years. Awsome for city and off road hiking.
New kevlar shanks offer some protection and not as stiff I hear.
If steel toed combat boots were as good as regular boots theyd be wearing them.
Don't even get me started on frostbite in the winter with steel toes.
Skam"
Amem to that Skam. Steel Toe shoes are a nothing but a "toe trap"
Merrell is a brand name of Low cut and Med cut hikers. I have worn them for years. Awsome for city and off road hiking.
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2004
- Messages
- 1,526
Place me in the medium-weight hiking boot crowd. I prefer a high-topped boot made of all or mostly leather. For summer wear, I like an all-leather, non-Gore-tex boot (it doesn't get wet around where I live to warrant the added heat of Gore in the summer) with a stiffish but broken-in sole, preferably of Vibram make.
For general winter hiking and camping, I like leathera-and-Gore-tex boots with a VIbram sole, also mid-weight/mid-rigidity.
I don't work in construction areas or other settings where steel toes would be recommended. For winter wear, as Skammer pointed out, steel toes are definitely contra-indicated!
While on the subject, let's not forget socks, as they go foot-in-shoe with this topic
For summer, I prefer cool-max based socks, such as Thorlos' summer weight hiker. For cooler weather, I like wearing a liner under a cold weather sock (but not too thick, because it could restrict circulation). A good example of this is Thorlos' leight weight, cold weather sock, a wool/silk blend. I am partial to Thorlo because I have found they fit my feet well, without pinching, binding, etc. I have also read great things about Dahlgrens socks. ANy of y'all have experience with these?
For general winter hiking and camping, I like leathera-and-Gore-tex boots with a VIbram sole, also mid-weight/mid-rigidity.
I don't work in construction areas or other settings where steel toes would be recommended. For winter wear, as Skammer pointed out, steel toes are definitely contra-indicated!
While on the subject, let's not forget socks, as they go foot-in-shoe with this topic
For summer, I prefer cool-max based socks, such as Thorlos' summer weight hiker. For cooler weather, I like wearing a liner under a cold weather sock (but not too thick, because it could restrict circulation). A good example of this is Thorlos' leight weight, cold weather sock, a wool/silk blend. I am partial to Thorlo because I have found they fit my feet well, without pinching, binding, etc. I have also read great things about Dahlgrens socks. ANy of y'all have experience with these?I used vasque boots when I was a volunteer SAR team member doing wilderness search and rescue in Maine and loved them. I plan on wearing them when I climb kilimanjaro in September. They were very comfy for me and held up extremely well doing the sort of off trail woods walking I did as well as being worn some day to day.chazz said:
That said there are lots of good hiking boots out there and comfort is key.
