Safety Work Boots - Recommendations Please

[Nomad64]

Hi All,

I'm hopefully going to be doing some courses over the next few months and will need a pair of decent safety boots.

Normally for gardening, building and forestry work I use old walking boots and in the past when safety boots have been required, I've used cheap toe-capped wells but these don't have any mid-sole protection.

The budget option seems to be the usual rigger boots by Grafters, Dickies, Scruffs etc for around £20-£30.

CAT, De Walt, Ambler etc.are a bit pricier at £50-£80.

Is the extra money worth it and/or any (other) recommendations please?

Basically I'm looking for something reasonably waterproof that I can wear comfortably all day for gardening, building and general forestry work etc. and occasional brush cutter/chainsaw use without going the whole hog and getting full on chainsaw boots. I'd prefer not to have to replace them every 6 months!

Any thoughts gratefully received.

Many thanks,

Jerry

 

[Leshy]

Hello.
I can recommend Jallatte boots.
I have no affiliation with the company, just a happy customer!

They're like putting a pair of slippers on.
I have the jalsiberian and have had them for nearly two years now, they're still going strong.

Im a chippie and I use them every day for work and for walking.
Fully waterproof, the "no steel" composite ones are really light and offer the same protection as the steel.
They do all sorts of shapes and models for different purposes...

http://www.jallatte.fr/en/discover-jallatte

I can honestly say , I will buy again and will not look for different brands, I've tried lots of different ones and they either fall apart too quick or they're just uncomfortable.

Cofra also do decent ones but not as great.

Here is a link for UK sales, I'm sure there will be other sites , but these are quite difficult to find in the UK...
https://www.safetybootsuk.co.uk/jallatte

Hope it helps

Cheers

 

[Nomad64]

Hello.
I can recommend Jallatte boots.

Hi Leshy,

Thanks for those links, not brand(s) I'm familiar with but look good although the Jalsiberian is very much at the top of my budget!

How are the Jallette boots for size? I'm usually a UK10 and find EU44 a bit snug with my usual thick socks but the website does not list an EU45.

Cheers,

JK

 

[Ogri the trog]

I've had my share of factory supplied safety boots in the past.

Your first (£20 - £30) options were regularly those recommended by the facility - but I always found them to be less than ideal in one way or other - ill-fitting, sweaty or just plain uncomfortable.

As to the second lot, I have only tried CAT - and whilst very comfortable to stand up in, they were very heavy to haul around the factory for a 12 hour shift. So price cannot always be an indication of all-round comfort for long periods.

I guess that that is not what you want to hear, so all I can say is, go with what fits your budget and feels right when you try them on.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[bopdude]

35 years in construction, don't buy cheap your feet will thank you, for comfort Dr Martin's, not the standard boot but the ones that look like a walking boot, sheer bliss.

Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

 

[Zingmo]

Cheap steelies can be miserable. I have suffered months of sore feet in the past because of budget boots. IMO it is worth spending more to get something that will be comfortable. It's worth getting to a shop where you can try them on. One difference is that there is no "give" in the safety toe area - if it pinches your toes when it is new, then it will not stretch.

It's easy to think that because they are work boots they will somehow perform magically better than ordinary boots; they won't: They will only be as waterproof as you make them. It's best to treat leather work boots when they are new as they seem to be made of super-absorbent leather.

Riggers have many advantages, particularly when walking through long wet vegetation, but if the leather stretches then they can be uncomfortable for walking - like wearing wellies that are too big. I have worn through four or five pairs of the Jalatte Jalhermes riggers and I would buy again, except for the growing number of sites where riggers are not allowed.

I have pair of these CAT boots at the moment and they are lightweight and comfortable but could be more waterproof.

Remember it is better to spend too much than too little.

Z

 

[Leshy]

Hi Leshy,

Thanks for those links, not brand(s) I'm familiar with but look good although the Jalsiberian is very much at the top of my budget!

How are the Jallette boots for size? I'm usually a UK10 and find EU44 a bit snug with my usual thick socks but the website does not list an EU45.

Cheers,

JK

Sizing is pretty much spot on ,if anything a little larger than stated. but I'd go with the correct size as you can always wear thicker socks.
Jalsiberian are expensive but I took a punt first time, and do not regret it.

I had bought other brands such as CAT and timberland , DeWalt amongst others and they didn't last.
Usually about a pair every year...

Ive had the jalsiberian for just over 2years and they still have plenty of life left in them.
At £40 or £50 a time , I would have spent the same as just the one pair of good boots.
Like I said before , the Cofra brand also are great quality and very comfortable.
Jallatte do cheaper models and the feedback on comfort is the same , so no need to go for top of the range.
I went for those , because I wanted just one pair that could do the lot! Wet walks, work , tall on the leg and comfort.
Even now, I can still stand in 3 or 4 inches of water and my feet stay bone dry.
Good leather and goretex layer are pretty much the recipe for decent waterproof rating.

Mind you , as with any leather boots, care and proper maintenance is imperative if you want them to last.
So after muddy walks I rinse them and treat them with nikwax or just dubbing .
Cement or or other abrasive aggregate such as plaster will dry up and split the leather so again a good clean should suffice.
My findings in most of the kit I've bought is, buy cheap and you'l buy twice.
If you can stretch the budget it'l pay off in the end.

 

[Leshy]

35 years in construction, don't buy cheap your feet will thank you, for comfort Dr Martin's, not the standard boot but the ones that look like a walking boot, sheer bliss.

Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

I agree 100% with this statement too!

 

[Tonyuk]

I would recommend the apprentice boots by dewalt with a good pair of insoles, very nice and not too dear. Screwfix are selling the bolster boots, which are very similar, for about £40 at the moment.

Tonyuk

 

[Nomad64]

Sizing is pretty much spot on ,if anything a little larger than stated. but I'd go with the correct size as you can always wear thicker socks.
Jalsiberian are expensive but I took a punt first time, and do not regret it.

Thanks, Leshy and everyone else who replied.

Today, something that I thought was going to cost me £50 ended up costing me nothing so I used that as an excuse to justify splashing out on a pair of Jallette Jalsiberians.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Cheers,

JK

 

[Leshy]

They're the mutts nuts mate, you won't regret it.
They thrive in the winter

 

[juttle]

Take a look at the buckler dealer/market type boots. Bit on the pricey side, but excellent boots!

 

[woof]

I mostly wear walking boots in the summer, but got a pair of screwfix rigger boots last winter for a dirty job we had to do, for £20 & intended to throw them away, they surprisingly turned out to be waterproof & comfortable, but the leather did stretch so i now have insoles in them.

For the type of work you are doing, have you thought about chainsaw boots ?, the meindl air streams are expensive but so comfortable, they are built on a walking boot design, but they are expensive.

Rob

 

[stone monkey]

Hi, try Screwfix, ( no affiliation etc ) , they do a good range, I find the Site brand good value. Having recently started working for the local council and walking up to 8 miles a day I soon found the issued cheap boots where killers so went to Screwfix on the advice of fellow workers. Cheapest is not always best, if you need your feet for work they are worth looking after
atb, Ian

 

[Dave Budd]

I've had grafters, dickies and no name cheap boots over the years (I've lived in steels for the last 20 years). For the last 7 or 8 years I've been buying Hoggs boots from the local farmers stores. My work is hard on boots and I normally have a new pair every 8-10 months (At times of wetness, they don't dry out from day to day so I sometimes have 2 pairs in rotation)

The Hoggs (who are known for posh boots) are £40-£50 depending on where you buy them. They are walking boot height leather boots with few seams and nice soft insides. They are the only footware that I own, so including two 3-5 mile dog walks each day, I am in them and on my feet from 7am until bed every day. I've had lighter fabric topped and ankle length ones, but these don't suffer with brambles catching or sparks burning holes

 

[stonyman]

Another vote for the Site brand of safety boots from Screwfix

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[grip]

De Walt titanium hard to beat in my opinion been a metalworker 30 odd years so live in my boots.

 

[Sparky750]

Haix

I've been wearing these

http://www.brixworkwear.co.uk/brand...roof-metal-free-safety-toe-cap-work-boot.html

6-7 days a week for the almost 3 years now and they're still going strong most importantly they're like slippers to wear 8-10 hours a day, unlike most goretex boots I've had in the past my feet don't sweat in them either.
No affiliation to haix or brix just a very happy customer, I originally winced at the price but they came with a strong recommendation from a colleague so I took a punt with every intention of slagging him off about them if/when they failed or became uncomfortable after 3 years I've begrudgingly accepted he was right lol

 

[Nomad64]

Thanks all for recommendations - quite a few people have suggested brands that I was unaware of or had overlooked but will bear in mind for the future.

In the end I went for the Jallette Jalsiberians.

Sadly the course I originally bought them for didn't work out and they have sat in the box until today when I went for a 6 mile bimble in them and found them (as Leshy said) like a comfy pair of slippers.

Quite warm slippers (I guess the clue is in the "siberian" part of the name) and I suspect that they may be a bit too warm in mid-summer but I am sure that going forward they are going to be my everyday wear for most of the year. Very pleased.

 

[tiger stacker]

35 years in construction, don't buy cheap your feet will thank you, for comfort Dr Martin's, not the standard boot but the ones that look like a walking boot, sheer bliss.

Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

Which one? I retired my docs on tuesday, new pair need for monday