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Steel Toe Boots

These are them Dr Martens at his best. Sooo comfywomfy, sooo easy on the knees.

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Reply to
Robatoy
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Reply to
Robatoy

Be sure to reach into the toe and feel the material that separates the steel insert from your foot. Some of them are very coarse material for longevity sake. You want one that is relatively smooth. And make sure there are no seams in the area.

The last pair I had were as described above and while they were comfortable enough they ate up socks on a daily basis. I finally just got rid of them, long before they were worn out.

Frank

Reply to
Frank Boettcher

Thanks to everyone for the opinions. I bought a pair of Timberland Pro's with gel inserts this morning.

tom

Reply to
Tom Watson

Tom, Skechers make steel toe work shoes. They have them in tennis shoe and cross trainer style. Here is their site:

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are carried by Academy sports and Shoe Carnival here. I found them to be comfortable and they wear well.

Reply to
DanG

I don't think many do the steel shanks anymore. They do a hard plastic that flexes a bit, rather than the steel.

I have extremely flat feet and with no extra support, I will crush the boot soles down flat to meet the heels. I wouldn't have believed it, but the ABS shanks seem to work as well as the old steel shanks used to.

My favorites now are some model of Timberland. I liked them so well I bought three pairs and am on the last pair I squirreled away.

Robert

Reply to
nailshooter41

my instinctive reaction is to lift my foot off of the ground. usually I react properly to the size/weight/fragility/value of the falling object and either get my foot the f**k out of the way, or get my foot under the object to cushion it's landing....

in a previous life I framed buildings with manufactured trusses. it's dangerous work, walking top plate assembling roofs that way. we were the only crew on a lot of jobs who were allowed sneakers. the idea was that if a rack of trusses landed on your foot in a steel toe boot the steel toe would cut your toes off, but in sneakers it would just crush them, and the value of soft soles with grabby tread was the overriding safety factor.

Reply to
bridgerfafc

Everybody mentions toe

I don't think many do the steel shanks anymore. They do a hard plastic that flexes a bit, rather than the steel.

And those hard plastic shanks would protect against puncture from stepping on a nail?

Reply to
Upscale

Plastic stops bullets in kevlar vests.

Reply to
Woodie

Doesn't answer my question. As I understand it, Kevlar is a spun material. Are you saying that plastic shanks in safety boots Kevlar? Show me some advertising to that effect.

Reply to
Upscale

Kevlar works well against blunt objects, doesn't do that well with pointy sticks.

Reply to
Robatoy

I can vouch for that, Kevlar canoe, Petawawa River in Algonquin Park, sharp rock, took some duct tape to get out of that situation, and a few extra days, more portages etc.

Reply to
FrozenNorth

That ABS support in most of the work boots (not tennis shoes) is pretty substantial. In all the years of wearing Red Wings, I don't know that the steel shank support that was in the foot bed (app. 1

1/2" x 3") was tasked with stopping a nail or screw. Maybe it did and I didn't know about it.

But that wasn't why it was there to begin with. Those shanks (18 gauge sheet metal stampings) were put in there to help keep the boot from collapsing under hard pounding like I used to give them. I bought a cheaper pair of pull ons from Red Wing that they brought in from a foreign supplier, and they were just a pair of leather boots with a cushy sole. They were gone in about 6 months, destroyed.

At that time the Red Wing stores here were all franchises. I knew the guy that owned our local Red Wing store as he saw me fairly frequently, and he was so embarrassed about those boots that the gave me a good discount on my next pair of good boots. Those cheapies didn't have arch support or a shank of any kind, just a cushy cast sole. They would have been great for wearing on the weekends in the shop. Worthless for work. Their demise started when I broke down the foot bed snf distorted the shape of the boot with my flat feet because there was no supportive shank of any kind.

Lesson reconfirmed 20 years ago: No supportive shank, no purchase.

I never thought about the supportive shank as being a nail deflector.

Now watch me go to work and run a nail up through the sole of one of my Timberland boots after all these years of ignorant bliss.

Robert

Reply to
nailshooter41

That is what ultimately killed Bob Marley. He stepped on a nail and let it go. No joke.

Reply to
Robatoy

Not necessarily kevlar, but VERY resistant to penetration by sharp objects.

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Reply to
clare at snyder dot ontario do

Well, don't forget, I haven't had need of protective footwear, (toe protection or nail protection) for close to thirty years, so my experience with the subject is woefully out of date. However, when I last worked in any type of production environment, both types of protection were always just one of the prerequisites to getting hired.

I'm willing to wager that the need for both types of protection is pretty much equal. To me anyway, it just doesn't make sense not to protect against both. Several times I've come across people who have stepped on nails, me also being one of them. I've never come across anyone suffering from crushed toes.

Reply to
Upscale

Kevlar works well against blunt objects, doesn't do that well with pointy sticks.

Reply to
charlie

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saws? Ball bats? Hand thrown Japanese chisels? They don't know how to respond to a bow and arrow because it isn't on their weapons list????? The world has definitely gone mad. (Pardon me this transgression. I'll ignore political flame bait in the future.)

Reply to
MikeWhy

I searched for the "perfect shoe" for years, with similar criteria to yours. I have wide feet, and have great difficulty finding a steel- toe shoe that doesn't pinch my toes. I also used to struggle with plantar fasciitis, so I know a thing or two about proper arch support. I wear Timberland Titan Pro work boots. They fit better than anything else I've tried. The toe doesn't pinch, and is lightweight. They have good arch support as is, but I supplement with gel insoles becuase of my flat feet. They list for $120, but you can sometimes find them on sale. Timberland offers a 30-day, money back garantee if you don't like them. My employer buys me a new pair every year, so I've got an old pair for use around the yard. I wear them instead of sneakers becuase they are more comfortable, even when it's hot out. That's how good they are. I have no association with Timberland. I'm just very happy with their product.

Regards, John.

Reply to
the_tool_man

I do like the steel toe because while not a pro, I do extensive jobs in several disciplines which often include heavy items and tools. I finally broke down and replaced my Timberland Pro (hiking boot style) with the Redwing 2226 for it's high ratings in comfort on concrete. Well, they're very nice boots, but they're bulky and I can actually feel a difference in leg fatigue from "carrying" them around all day.

I'm going back to the Timberlands. I'm a size 11 and the Timberland sole is almost a full inch shorter than the Redwing and considerably lighter. A classic case of fixing something that wasn't broke!

I recommend the Timberlands. They're also quite a bit cheaper but the quality seems fine.

Tom

Reply to
tom_murphy

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