Workboots, how should they be worn?

[RiteStuffBryan]

Theoretically engineer boots with pants worn over them would be a good option for firemen and engineers to wear because then coals wouldn’t be able to get into their boots. The taller heel would be a liability on the ladder they climb to get into and out of the car though.

That said, I’ve just never seen any evidence of trainmen actually wearing engineer boots. I’m afraid I might have to write a myth busting article about it to go along with my wabash myth and chinos and T-shirt myth ones lol

 

[dudewuttheheck]

How are laced boots more practical than non-laced boots?

Fit. For walking, laced boots are more secure in general and you can semi customize the fit by adjusting how tight or loose the laces are. I much prefer the look of engineers, but hiking in engineers would likely lead to twisted ankles more than hiking in lace up boots for example.

Also, they're not thay much easier to clean and polish. Yes, you have to take the laces off with lace up boots, but my lace up boots are usually around 6" and my engineers are usually 11" so that extra leather that needs polishing negates any time saved.

 

[navetsea]

I got a feeling that people of that age have spare time of a long evening hours with nothing to do, so cleaning their boots or sharpening their knife or doing something else is a welcome activity to kill boredom before they feel sleepy, I don't think they polish their work boots though, perhaps they just brushed off loose debris and dried mud, and occasionally grease it, I don't think they detail cleaning the welt or repaint the edges or any meticulous things modern leather shoes aficionado would do in their cleaning routine.

 

[Marc mndt]

I’m afraid I might have to write a myth busting article about it to go along with my wabash myth and chinos and T-shirt myth ones lol

You've got my attention. Where can I read about those myths?

 

[RiteStuffBryan]

You've got my attention. Where can I read about those myths?

Here, on my blog: https://the-rite-stuff.com/blogs/news

 

[hardlyworkingman]

Fit. For walking, laced boots are more secure in general and you can semi customize the fit by adjusting how tight or loose the laces are. I much prefer the look of engineers, but hiking in engineers would likely lead to twisted ankles more than hiking in lace up boots for example.

Also, they're not thay much easier to clean and polish. Yes, you have to take the laces off with lace up boots, but my lace up boots are usually around 6" and my engineers are usually 11" so that extra leather that needs polishing negates any time saved.

Besides fit, in the field if laces are broken and you have no backup, you can pretty much jerry rig them. The only boots i now have, that have no laces are snowboard boots with BOA [convenience on the mountains trumps fit for me]

 

[Fifty150]

Maybe it's silly altogether to judge $1k+ boots by workboot standards,

Construction job sites. Factories and manufacturing plants. Utility towers and poles. Roofers. Correctional facilities. Plumbers. Sewage plants. Building trades. Trenches. Fire stations.


I've never seen a worker wearing $1,000 boots. Some workers have boots provided by the employer. Some people will buy their own boots. And the boots that they buy, are dictated by their budget. The more money that they make, the more they can afford to spend. Sure, you might have some people ordering Pacific Northwest boots. But most people are wearing the boots that cost under $300. Usually under $200.

Their boots are caked in mud & dirt, soaked in raw sewage, and exposed to chemicals. The goal is get 1 year before having to replace them. Nobody is trying to keep a boot forever. Nobody is spending $300 for some shoe artisan to recraft their work boots with a hand stitched welt.

 

[Bfd70]

One exception to that is wildland firefighting where $600 pnw boots are the norm and last many many seasons.

 

[Fifty150]

Those aren't just any model of boot sold by a Pacific Northwest boot company.

Wildland Firefighting is a unique niche. Like logging, and linemen. They have specialty boots, unique to their trade. A lineman climbing a utility pole needs to have lineman boots. Even motor officers wear Pacific Northwest motor officers boots.

I suppose it all depends on who your employer is. Some employers give you a uniform allowance. Some employers issue boots. Some guys just have to pay out of pocket, then try to write it off their taxes as a work related expense.


A firefighter would be better able to explain it. There is a specification from NPFA, for the boots. There are other styles of firefighting boots which are not Pacific Northwest style. There are modern designs. But I suppose it depends on who you work for, and what the culture is at that place of employment.



A lot of police departments still wear those high Wesco motor boots. And they order them from Wesco. It's a part of the culture. It's their tradition. They could wear other boots. They could wear modern riding boots. But they stick to that boot.

​

 

[Fifty150]

A homeowner does light maintenance around the house. Yard work, but not a landscaper by trade. Install appliances as needed, hook up gas and water lines, and repair those appliances when the time comes. Simple things like valves and actuators in a washing machine, the ignition in an oven, or the motor in a pair of hair cutting clippers. Clear clogged drains. Not really a plumber or electrician. Climb a ladder. Paint a wall. Inspect a roof. Just a guy who has to fix things around the house. Auto maintenance in the driveway. Oil changes. Transmission service. Brakes. Install a stereo.


These are my homeowners shoes. Almost 10 years old. But I'm not wearing them every day. Waterproof in case I have to go out in the rain to fix something. Steel toe in case something falls. I'm not trying to own these for life. I doubt if I will resole them. They are Goodyear welted. There's a plastic rubber welt, sewn to a rubber compound midsole. An incompetent cobbler could peel away the outsole, sand down the midsole, and glue on a new outsole. A skilled artisan could deconstruct and rebuild these with a new welt, midsole, outsole, etc. But that would cost more than I paid for the shoes. I will buy cheap work boots every decade. At this rate, these could last 2 decades. I' doubt that I will ever invest $600 into work boots.

 

[Tom71]

Those aren't just any model of boot sold by a Pacific Northwest boot company.

Wildland Firefighting is a unique niche. Like logging, and linemen. They have specialty boots, unique to their trade. A lineman climbing a utility pole needs to have lineman boots. Even motor officers wear Pacific Northwest motor officers boots.

I suppose it all depends on who your employer is. Some employers give you a uniform allowance. Some employers issue boots. Some guys just have to pay out of pocket, then try to write it off their taxes as a work related expense.


A firefighter would be better able to explain it. There is a specification from NPFA, for the boots. There are other styles of firefighting boots which are not Pacific Northwest style. There are modern designs. But I suppose it depends on who you work for, and what the culture is at that place of employment.



A lot of police departments still wear those high Wesco motor boots. And they order them from Wesco. It's a part of the culture. It's their tradition. They could wear other boots. They could wear modern riding boots. But they stick to that boot.

​

AFAIK, the comment your responding to was posted by a professional firefighter…

 

[Bfd70]

Actually wearing Redbacks here which was less than ideal for hill climbing but i didnt have my good boots with me. Did the job and cleaned up fine but my ankles were definitely sore the next morning.

 

[TLW '90]

My everyday winter / fall boots after 5 years.

 

[TLW '90]

My summer beaters

 

[TLW '90]

It comes from Red Wing themselves. I've heard it and read it multiple times. It was for hunters. In fairness, they could be wrong. Levi's doesn't know their own history, but I've never seen any information that contradicts that the original 877 introduced in 1952 was designed for sportsmen, not blue collar work.

Yep originally they were the Irish setters.
When it comes to Thorogood however, they originally intended theirs for farmers as the sole tracks less mud.

 

[Bfd70]

Which is weird. What farmer wore boots in the house.
I’ve worn 877s bartending on concrete and they’re tip top

 

[Trouser Bark]

Not taking care of your boots such that they can look like you wore them to perform work that you didn't actually do is a curious goal.

Always take good care of your stuff.

 

[Fifty150]

I’ve worn 877s bartending

When I first started, they told me not to wear anything nice to work.

What I remember about working in a bar was that things splashed and spilled. Drinks spilled. The ice machine leaks. Someone knocks over a pitcher of beer or a carafe of wine. Plumbing backed up behind the bar. The bathroom flooded. Vomit and urine all over the place. There were nights where shoes and socks were soaked. Some nights, I went out to the dumpster area to hose off my shoes. I had extra shoes and socks in the truck, to change into as the truck was warming up. A few times, I simply threw the shoes and socks away.

 

[TLW '90]

Which is weird. What farmer wore boots in the house.
I’ve worn 877s bartending on concrete and they’re tip top

If you had to step into the house real quick for something and didn't have time to take your boots off then put them back on.
I'm not sure when the wedge sole wellingtons or the speed hooks were introduced .

 

[TLW '90]

Not taking care of your boots such that they can look like you wore them to perform work that you didn't actually do is a curious goal.

Always take good care of your stuff.

And that's exactly why my 5 year old Thorogood 4364's don't look nearly as bad as they could.
I built a couple sheds, re-shingled the house, and spent countless hours out in my workshop with these boots on my feet.
I take care of them the best I can without babying them though so they still look pretty decent.