Footware

As a lad, worked a summer for the Forestry Service. They required you wear steel-toed boots. Four of us were moving a hemlock log; four guys, two long-handled tree tongs. We set that beast down and started to walk away ... I turned, but couldn't move. We'd set that trunk on my left foot. Not only did it not hurt, I didn't even feel it -- the steel totally protected my toes. I didn't have any trouble with cold feet except when thigh-deep in mountain streams building dams for trout-spawning pools.

I swear by steel toed boots and steel shanks. Not a bad idea to have entire sole metal protected to defend against nails sticking up.

 

I wear steel toes as well and they have saved me some foot damage a couple of times.

I wear those Dr. Scholl's cushion inserts and it helps with comfort. But this reminds me ..I need to get about 5 to 7 of these inserts..I am running low and need to change them out ...again.

Thanks.
Watcherchris

 

Nowadays, one can find workboots with REAL heel protection -- shock absorbers. That has NOT always been the case. So what if they are expensive! How much to meds and braces cost? They are expensive beyond measure -- I'm an expert on such matters. We are going broke due to medical bills.

 

Had a go at making flip flops from an old tyre. Not the comfy of things but am sure after a wile my feet would come accustomed to them.

 

When I was a kid I didn't wear shoes except for decoration when we went places and to church. Even in the winter unless it was basically freezing I didn't wear shoes. When I did, unless it was dress up shoes, what I did wear was almost nothing. Canvas with a small flat thin rubber sole. They called them track shoes. Later I discovered moccasins. It is amazing how tough your feet can get. We didn't evolve with shoes.

I didn't do this because of poverty. Shoes hurt my feet. Back then except in expensive custom shoes and boots they didn't make things that correctly fit my clodhopper feet. I am a big boy and back then there just weren't any shoes that fit off the shelf for people with EEE width feet. LOL, I have Fred Flintstone feet that are big wide and rather strong. I used to make a lot of bets in gym class and was the only kid that could climb the rope with one hand. My feet were almost like another pair of hands and I could almost run up a rope using them like hands. This is especially odd looking when you are talking about someone well over 6 feet tall and over 230 pounds.

All that I will really need over the long term will be moccasins or Roman sandals. I know how to make both and do a lot of work with leather. I've never made them but when I was a kid they sold things called Treads that were basically roman leather sandals with a tire tread bottom sewn on. This was before steel belted radials so they didn't poke you with wires. They were made with heavy leather and lasted forever.

Flip flops are easy to make and with a little adjustment work pretty well. I will miss Brogans, cowboy boots and hiking boots but in the end my foot coverings will be pretty simple. I was almost a grown man before I had shoes or boots that were better than bare feet.

 

The wife has a very disappointed look on her face when I walk about outside with no boots on lol. As do my kids

 

I have been fortunate to have found, eventually found, boots and shoes to fit my needs and comfortably so. And to this day, I do polish my boots -- even those used, well used, in the garden. Maybe a certain Sgt.Major is smiling in Valhalla even now what with his influence on at least one young lad having been driven to the bone, even unto the marrow.

 

Well, I guess I hope it never comes to that. I do buy good quality boots and shoes. I am not nearly as hard on them as I was in younger days, so they last for a considerable length of time. With what I have right now my footwear should last a lot longer than I do. If I were to put away a couple more pair I wouldn't ever have to think about it.

That being said shoe making and shoe repair would be excellent skills to have after SHTF. Old shoes and boots would be great barter items that you would never miss. I seldom throw out an old pair, unless they are truly beyond use or repair.

 

Belleville is a good brand that we use in the military.
The boots I was issued have lasted in pretty harsh conditions, several ruck marches, rain and mud, etc. They hold up really well.
Cousin of mine has a pair of 'em too that's lasted him nearly ten years and still are in good condition.

 

Here in the UK work boots/protective clothing are less expensive because they're VAT zero tax rated and you can claim for them against income tax...effectively they're deductible.

LW have had this discussion before in another forum, he knows that money is no object when I buy boots, I look for quality boots that are worth totally re soling when they wear thin, they're comfortable and they last (haha-last- that was a boot joke!)

I choose brands like Danner, Meindl and Altberg for my everyday boots. My tree climbing chainsaw safety boots are also Meindl.

 

I have had very good luck with the Lacrosse brand. Very comfortable. Very reasonably priced. Have lasted for a very long time. Warm. Mostly used for hunting. Not sure who owns who. Danner and Lacrosse merged in the mid 90's. I'm sure you would be well served by both.

 

I had a pair like that as well. True Army surplus. Paid a song for them, and they wore like iron. Used mostly for work tromping around broken glass in a bottling factory.

The Army Surplus chain we had in this area went out of business. Broke my heart. I picked up a lot of gear there. I can't even find another one. On-Line/Web sales have really killed the retail industry.

 

I'm quite lucky when it comes to surplus kit, there are a lot of outlets near to me.

 

My boots and brogans, I keep waxed to shine. My steel-toed boots I keep waxed.

I powder the insides with anti-fungal agents.

Pick professional socks for those who are perpetually outdoors and perpetually exposed to cold and wet. High quality hiking socks will keep your skin intact. Ordinary socks WILL NOT.

You could be wearing Kevlar everything and the best helmet, then your feet rot and the flesh comes off. Lookup WWI and trench-foot. Dear lord, the horror stories I've heard.

Take care of your footwear and they'll take care of you.