Thread: What's a good work boot?

Wolverine or Red Wing

I have a pair of CAT (as in Caterpillar) that have gone to hell and back and you can't even tell if I'd cleaned them. Mine are with no steel toe but I think they have some with it.
The soles are a bit soft and they wear quickly but they are easy to replace and make the boots more comfortable. They're pretty much a military styled boot.

I have worn Danner in the past and they did good for me. Protective Toe - Work - Danner



If you were not required to wear steeltoe I would have some other suggestions.

I'm sure the Red Wing, et al are more comfortable, but at my old job I always wore cheap (~$50) steel-toed boots thinking if I tore em up I wouldn't be out much. However, I was usually surprised at how long they lasted (year or more), so in your case I'd take the allowance and get 2 pairs of cheaper boots, maybe 1 waterproof and 1 not so you're covered on rainy days and have the ventilation for warm days.

Expensive but awesome quality. White's

Originally Posted by slickwill

Expensive but awesome quality. White's

....is that the link you meant to post? because they only have 2 kinds of boots...they would both get RE a date in minutes in provincetown, and are less than 60$

Originally Posted by SomeStrangeGuy

....is that the link you meant to post? because they only have 2 kinds of boots...they would both get RE a date in minutes in provincetown, and are less than 60$

You have to go to one of the dealers to see their real boots. That's why I posted the "find a dealer" page. Most of their boots are in the $260 range. By one pair of White's and you'll be wearing them for life. Just get a new sole everytime you need one.

Originally Posted by SomeStrangeGuy

....is that the link you meant to post? because they only have 2 kinds of boots...they would both get RE a date in minutes in provincetown, and are less than 60$

Okay, found a link that does have the boots online. Wow, prices have gone up since the last time I shopped them.

Whites Boots - White's Boots

Originally Posted by slickwill

Okay, found a link that does have the boots online. Wow, prices have gone up since the last time I shopped them.

Whites Boots - White's Boots

If anyone decides to buy one pair of those boots, I'd recommend stopping by your local pharmacy and getting one of this first.
ISDAG130-2868.jpg

Originally Posted by slickwill

Okay, found a link that does have the boots online. Wow, prices have gone up since the last time I shopped them.

Whites Boots - White's Boots

Holy Smokes.. Louis Vuitton's are cheaper

Kinda in the same boat. Currently wear tennis shoes because I walk a million miles a day but they break down and kill my feet in a month. I bought some CAT's and gave them to my dad after 2 weeks. Felt like I was carying bricks around by the end of the day. Most guys at work use Red Wings, but I'm too cheap to spend that kind of money on shoes/boots I'm gonna trash. I need to though.

Sidi or Alpinestars. LOL.

Originally Posted by Hammer

I have worn Danner in the past and they did good for me. Protective Toe - Work - Danner

If you were not required to wear steeltoe I would have some other suggestions.

+1 and +1

Royers or JB Goodhue. Goretex is a must if you are gonna be outside. at least for me it is. Leather "rubber" boots u can launch a boat with those things and stay dry as a bone. stand in water all day and not have an issue.

I have about 6 years out of my current pair.

I had good luck with cats too.

No one is a Knapp fan hmm?

My current all-around boots, snow, mud, construction, two years of landscaping, backpacking, etc. is a pair of Dunham Wafflestompers. If they weren't discontinued I'd buy another pair. They look as good as the day they were new. I condition them with Obenauf's leather conditioner. Invented by an Idaho smokejumper who wanted to protect his $400 White's firefighter boots. It uses beeswax and other natural stuff. I'm not sure if it's any better than other leather conditioners but it sure smells better and has worked awesome. My feet have never even been damp.

Another vote for RedWing. I wore them exclusively during my years of working on the hangar floor and still wear them when doing heavy wrenching in the garage.

Originally Posted by slickwill

My current all-around boots, snow, mud, construction, two years of landscaping, backpacking, etc. is a pair of Dunham Wafflestompers. If they weren't discontinued I'd buy another pair. They look as good as the day they were new. I condition them with Obenauf's leather conditioner. Invented by an Idaho smokejumper who wanted to protect his $400 White's firefighter boots. It uses beeswax and other natural stuff. I'm not sure if it's any better than other leather conditioners but it sure smells better and has worked awesome. My feet have never even been damp.

+1 on the Obenauf's. I use that on my Georgia Boot loggers and they've been great for years!

Originally Posted by Hammer

I have worn Danner in the past and they did good for me. Protective Toe - Work - Danner





If you were not required to wear steeltoe I would have some other suggestions.

they have a nice pair of vented ones that are near the top of my list now. thanks.

well technically we're supposed to wear steel toe since a guy dropped the ramp on his toe and shattered his big toe. he's a fucking little bitch and he's an asshole and has been out on comp for over a year because of it. big bad biker guy just has a lawyer that's as much of an asshole as he is. but I've had boots before that that weren't steel toe. never dropped the ramp on my foot because I'm not a retard and I don't just drop it. I'd still prefer the steel toe though because I kick stuff a bunch.

Originally Posted by SerialThriller

I'm sure the Red Wing, et al are more comfortable, but at my old job I always wore cheap (~$50) steel-toed boots thinking if I tore em up I wouldn't be out much. However, I was usually surprised at how long they lasted (year or more), so in your case I'd take the allowance and get 2 pairs of cheaper boots, maybe 1 waterproof and 1 not so you're covered on rainy days and have the ventilation for warm days.

I have a pair of Brahmas right now that are really comfortable. Problem is they are hot. still not bad for a $40 Walmart boot.

Originally Posted by slickwill

Okay, found a link that does have the boots online. Wow, prices have gone up since the last time I shopped them.

Whites Boots - White's Boots

yeah I guess I was wrong when I said it wouldn't be a problem spending a little out of pocket. no way I'm spending $300.

Originally Posted by MotoVegas

Sidi or Alpinestars. LOL.

already have Sidis, no way I would or even could work in them. and a ceramic toe slider doesn't count as toe protection.


I've had a pair of these in the past just not steel toe. Magnum Boots USA | Response II 8" ST Awesome boots, stood up to 10k miles on the bike and a year of beating at work when I first started there. They were in pretty rough shape when I got rid of them. place around the corner carries Magnums so maybe I'll swing in before work and see what they have.

Originally Posted by CBR929RE

yeah I guess I was wrong when I said it wouldn't be a problem spending a little out of pocket. no way I'm spending $300.

My Dad has had over 5 surgeries (and nearly died due to complications after one of them) on an arch ligament that just plain wore out due to not wearing good shoes (reference 08's tennis shoes post, that was what he did) for most of his blue collar career.

If it is what it takes, $300 is cheap man...(how much do you guys spend on your damn race boots to wear a few dozen times a year? )

Also, real quality leather breathes. $50 Plastic Chinese boots don't.

Originally Posted by luvtolean

My Dad has had over 5 surgeries (and nearly died due to complications after one of them) on an arch ligament that just plain wore out due to not wearing good shoes (reference 08's tennis shoes post, that was what he did) for most of his blue collar career.

If it is what it takes, $300 is cheap man...(how much do you guys spend on your damn race boots to wear a few dozen times a year? )

Also, real quality leather breathes. $50 Plastic Chinese boots don't.

I see you're point. but to spend essentially $400 on a pair of boots that I most likely won't really take care of and just beat the crap out of doesn't seem worth it.

and I got my Vertigo Corsas off the clearance section for $240. I wear them for street and track.

Originally Posted by CBR929RE

I see you're point. but to spend essentially $400 on a pair of boots that I most likely won't really take care of and just beat the crap out of doesn't seem worth it.

You know, you can change your behavior.

Besides great boots are rebuildable, and they last a long time. Amortized over a decade, they probably don't cost any more, and you get to wear good stuff in the meantime.

Of course, I spent $850 I didn't have on Daytona Securities, and felt not a pang of guilt as I bought them back from Visa....

Originally Posted by luvtolean

You know, you can change your behavior.

Besides great boots are rebuildable, and they last a long time. Amortized over a decade, they probably don't cost any more, and you get to wear good stuff in the meantime.

Of course, I spent $850 I didn't have on Daytona Securities, and felt not a pang of guilt as I bought them back from Visa....

yeah but the chance of me doing that, pretty slim.

I think I'm gonna go try those Danner's on sometime next week if I'm not working. There's a place in Boston that has the ones I was looking at for $120 on their website. so for $20 a year I could have a new pair of boots.

Just watch it, if Danner has started building their lower end boots (and a $100 boot is lower end) in China, it will not be the same product.

I loved Vasque boots for backpacking. Last summer some blisters told me it was time to replace my decade old boots, but they offshored to China and their product looked like something you'd see at Walmart, despite the large Vasque and GoreTex branding sewn all over (and creating leaks in the process).

Originally Posted by luvtolean

Just watch it, if Danner has started building their lower end boots (and a $100 boot is lower end) in China, it will not be the same product.

I loved Vasque boots for backpacking. Last summer some blisters told me it was time to replace my decade old boots, but they offshored to China and their product went straight downhill.

another good reason to check them out in person first. they are $140 on the Danner website but this is the place in Boston Shoes from Shoebuy.com - Free Shipping & Return Shipping. I just emailed them asking if the address on the site is also a retail location. I made the mistake of buying online last year and got a terrible boot. Had to replace the insoles after 1 day because they had no padding at all, the stupid buttons for the flap that cover the side zipper eventually broke and yesterday I broke the composite toe on the left side making it a matching pair of broken garbage. good thing I don't wear them all that much, just on days when I know I don't have a lot of work.

Originally Posted by CBR929RE

I see you're point. but to spend essentially $400 on a pair of boots that I most likely won't really take care of and just beat the crap out of doesn't seem worth it.

and I got my Vertigo Corsas off the clearance section for $240. I wear them for street and track.

I'm going to echo a little of what LTL said. As I pointed out above and LTL said you can always have the boots rebuilt over the years. My Grandpa was a long haul truck driver and wore the same boots for almost 20 years with really no excess care, just had them re-soled every few years.

As far as "taking care" of them. My current Dunham's weren't a super expensive boot but they were built with a very good quality leather. I wore them when I was doing landscape construction and sprinkler installation. They were in the mud and soaking wet in the sprinklers almost every day. All I've ever done with them is wash the mud off and apply the Obenauf's (linked above) about every 3-4 months. A high quality leather boot doesn't take a lot of care. Keep them clean and apply conditioner every now and then. We have leather saddles that are 40 years old and good as new, good leather lasts.

FWIW - I don't think that you have to spend the $400 on a pair of White's to have a very high quality boot, there are lower cost options, many have been named already in this thread. If I was buying boots right now, I would be buying White's. My last boot purchase was made when I absolutely did not have that kind of money. If I had the money though I wouldn't have thought twice about it.