Feet Up! The Work Boot Thread

[Fifty150]

When Sears was around, I got to go into the store. Handle the shoe. Try on the shoe. DieHard were sold with a warranty. An undefined "limited lifetime warranty" which was probably meaningless. If you own the shoe long enough, everything could be considered "wear and tear". Nonetheless, I bought work shoes there.




Right or wrong, my first criteria is comfort. My feet have to be comfortable. Whether I'm climbing ladders, on a hike, or even just sitting on a motorcycle....... I don't want my feet to hurt or have blisters. Second most important to me is traction. Whether I'm running for the bus, or being chased by an angry ex-girlfriend with ill intent...... I can't slip and fall. A combination of one and two comes by the way of wedge soles and Dr. Martens AirWair soles. I also have a preference for lug soles. A distant third is what a lot of people care the most about. Construction and materials. While I like better quality, comfort and traction come first. What good is a finely built shoe, if my feet hurt and I'm falling all over the place?


The last pair of shoes that I bought from Sears. I like the Wellington pull on style because I am lazy. I liked these so much, I bought 2 pairs. They were marked down as a clearance item because the store was closing. The internal backstay, which gives structure to the shaft, is a cheap vinyl which cracks. I could address it by having a cobbler sew in a piece of leather. But it really doesn't bother me. The shaft itself is leather, and not falling down.



As a homeowner who does home repairs, yard work, and automotive tinkering, these are fine.

 

[Fifty150]

So I'm not exactly trusting of Muwkowski's details.

He recently collaborated with Thursday Boots. As some people are aware of, there are content creators who are not on the Thursday payroll who pointed out design flaws, poor build quality, defects, and other reasons why Thursday Boots are not very good. Thursday Boots has their own army of online influencers who sing their praises. It's safe to say that anyone who is telling you how great Thursday Boots are, is being paid to say good things.


I keep in mind that content creators are making a living. They have to earn. Nobody is paying them to be honest and unbiased.


They create a platform where people view their videos. Then capitalize on that platform by becoming a paid spokesperson. To me, that means that you can't trust them. If you drink the Kool Aid, the online content creator is believable.

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[John_Z]

Wearing Thorogood boots today

 

[Fifty150]

I am jealous. Mine don't look as nice.

 

[John_Z]

I am jealous. Mine don't look as nice.

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I like these especially the two tone pair. That they have more miles on the clock than mine adds to beauty of them in my mind.

 

[Fifty150]

My shoes are an older model which is now discontinued. Those were from when they actually had an extra piece of leather sewn on the vamp. What looks like a rivet is actually just decorative.

 

[John_Z]

Wore these out today. Bought cheap on eBay, made in Mexico but nice nevertheless.

 

[Fifty150]

I'm guessing that this style was not very popular.

 

[TLW '90]

I almost bought a black pair of Thorogood roofers for work about 6 years ago when I decided to never plague my feet with another pair of worthless Chinese work boots ever again, but for some reason that I can't remember I decided not to get them.
Instead I went with the Justin conductor's, they were miles ahead of the garbage I wore before but nowhere near as comfortable or good in general as Thorogoods
The narrow pointier " round toe " was not that great, and something in the footbed must have came loose on my last pair because I would randomly have days where it felt like there was something in my boot when there wasn't.
The 1st pair had the outsole start to separate at the toes, and weren't worth getting fixed because I didn't have a boot dryer at the time and one very wet winter led to mildew stink.
The stamped speed hooks were a nightmare as well, they were constantly getting pinched in where I had to bend them back out to lace my boots up.

They're cheaper than Thorogoods, but it shows.
The leather is pretty decent, but takes more time to break in while not being any thicker or more durable.

 

[John_Z]

I'm guessing that this style was not very popular.

Maybe you’re right. Personally I like the style, obviously. I have a third pair (Chinese) and haven’t really found I’ve needed to break any of the three pairs in. They’ve all been super comfortable straight out of the box. I think Thorogood do a limited run of roofers once in a while which is why I was lucky enough to grab a pair fairly recently.

 

[Fifty150]

One content creator is a fan. One.

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[John_Z]

Interesting stuff. I particularly like the green resolve in the last video.

 

[DaveProc]

Iron Rangers today.

 

[Fifty150]

We all have different feet. But we're expected to wear the same shoes. I was just looking at how your boots fit, and how mine fit different.

 

[Fifty150]

We all have a different idea when it comes to work boots, and what "work boots" should be. At work, I get issued boots. Nothing like a service boot, or a PNW firefighter boot. Just uniform boots. We're expected to work in them. They are comfortable. They don't slip. The rain stays out. They last at least a year.


It's raining right now. I just got in. My feet are dry. I didn't fall. They work.

 

[DaveProc]

We all have a different idea when it comes to work boots, and what "work boots" should be. At work, I get issued boots. Nothing like a service boot, or a PNW firefighter boot. Just uniform boots. We're expected to work in them. They are comfortable. They don't slip. The rain stays out. They last at least a year.


It's raining right now. I just got in. My feet are dry. I didn't fall. They work.





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I used to work out in the field for the Department of Transportation and wore Red Wing supersole boots. I now work in Water Resources and am only out on-site once a twice a month and switched to Iron Rangers. The boots fit in my pics is due to feet swelling from cardiac adema due to heart failure.

 

[Fifty150]

I no longer have to wear a uniform. But I still wear the boots. I like "nice" boots. But these are more functional. We are in an atmospheric river. My feet are comfortable, dry. Warm. And I'm not slipping.

 

[Fifty150]

I have no idea how bid process works or doesn't work. What I do know is that our uniforms are similar, but not always the same. Different brands, labels, and such; change from year to year. Same with the boots. Mostly, they look the same. But I will get different brands, sometimes with Gore-Tex, sometimes with Thinsulate, sometimes with safety toes, sometimes there's a Goodyear welt......... sometimes just boots without any "extras". They could be Bates, Rocky, Gall's/Law*Pro, 5.11, Thorogood, Reebok, Under Armour, Tact Squad, Propper.......


You never know what you could step into next. An alley with excrement and body fluids, the runoff and soot from a chemical fueled fire, hypodermic needles, or a bar bathroom flooded with all the unpleasantness of people drinking too much. Work boots are most often thrown out before they wear out. I'm not trying to keep these for decades, and to resole them 3 times. I usually hold on to 1 pair, brand new in the box. In case something happens and I need it. When they issue the next pair, I make the executive decision to dispose of the pair I'm wearing, and start wearing another pair. If I'm just happy with what I'm wearing, like this pair that I've been wearing for about 14 years, I just give away the brand new boots to family and friends. Between me, and my brother in law, everyone we know with the same shoe size is going to get shoes from us until we retire.




This is the "spare" pair of boots that I'm holding onto. It's just like what I'm wearing now. When I get the next pair, I'll probably give it away to someone else.

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[Fifty150]

I took a look at the outside. No obvious signs of wear and damage yet. No cuts, scuffs, or gouges in the leather. No loose threads or panels coming apart. The sole has plenty of tread left.

I looked inside. I stuck my hand inside. No moisture or dampness. The lining is still pretty much intact and not yet worn through. The footbed insert is worn, but not worn out yet. I can see the imprint of my foot, which means that it has molded to my foot. A good sign. My footprint shows that the boot is true to size.

The synthetic lasting board shows the rivets holding the steel shank. Minimal signs of wear. 1000 Mile Boots use a synthetic lasting boards, because the rigidity of the shoe is based on the veg tanned leather sole. Iron Rangers use a leather lasting board, without a midsole, and the outsole is sewn directly to the welt. Synthetic lasting boards can last a very long time, despite what people online say about a leather insole being better.

The lasting board shows a production date of June 2010, and 10 which is the shoe size. Pretty good for a 15 year old boot. I usually wear these when it rains. Which means I might get 30 to 60 days of wear all year. So owning the boots for over a decade has given me approximately 1 or 2 years of actual wear. It's too bad that injection molded shoes like this aren't meant to be resoled. Someone could cut the worn part of the sole off, sand it down, then glue another type of sole on........ but that would just be a hack job.

 

[Fifty150]

I don't remember how long I've owned them. I do remember that I didn't need them. I bought them because I liked the screws on the bottom of the lug sole. This is why I don't have any Pacific NorthWest boots. Because I have this cheap boot that looks like a logging boot. I didn't need them when I bought them. I don't need them now. Thick. Heavy. I don't do any logging. And I don't wear them because they are so thick and heavy. Every time I look at a pair of PNW boots, I think about this monstrosity sitting on my shelf.

I haven't thrown them away yet. The day may come where I need thick, heavy, steel toe boots, with screws on the bottom. My next calling in life may be recycling soda cans; where I will need these to crush cans.

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