[Dakota]

An often overlooked topic.What boots do you prefer and why?Do you have any of your prefered brand boots stored away for SHTF?
I have a few Hermon Survivors put away,yeah I know,they are not the most expensive boots around but they serve me well and I have yet to have my first pair to fail on me besides laces,...but that is were 550 cord comes in handy in the field......oh man,I just gave away a survival secret to GK!,...shucks

 

[84 C4]

Bootzilla
"more than any mortal needs"

Gotta love the layers of kevlar.

 

[andy]

I read about the paracord laceswhen I

when I was 12, in a brad angier book or an Army manual. big deal.

 

[brass hammer]

good boots

danner tiger toes! but they are a little heavy not quite 6lbs. they are the real deal. airport screeners freak. you feel like you could kick a hole in a c,m,u, block with them on. price went up to $300 last time i checked. but with care/maint. 3 years service or more isn't unreasonable but i am hard on boots, av. about $130-160 per year spent on steel toes anyway, wish jungle boots would do but OHSA is a factor. this is just a personal view/my .02 thanks!

 

[John in AR]

I wear cheaper ones; usually the Brahma or other such "discount" brand. Usually pay $30-$40 a pair. I've tried other more expensive ones, but I've never had any pair of boots outlast the Brahma's.

One concern of mine is spare footware. We all ramble on about "stocking up" on ammo, but not on boots, socks, etc.

IMO, personal items like footware are sometimes even MORE important to have "extra" of. You may find, scrounge, or otherwise "appropriate" ammunition as time goes on, and it's reasonably likely to be in one of a half-dozen common (and useful to you) calibers; but especially if you wear an uncommon size, you're not nearly as likely to find clothing to fit. May sound silly now, but I can't "count on" finding boots in my size 'somewhere along the way'.

Unlike picking a "common" rifle caliber, for ease of re-supply; you're just stuck with your shoe size. And if your shoe size is the footware equivalent of a .45-70 or .35 Remington, you really should "stock up" now.

 

[RIKA]

Talk about hard to find, you should have a pair of women's feet attached to your ankles. My one and only boots are a pair of forest green Brownings that I got at a garage sale when I first came to live with Dad. Maybe they are boys boots. I wear them whenever I go to the field and when hunting, of course, and they just seem to last and last. Lightweight too. Really need to find another pair but most ladies boots are ankle cut or white or pink or cutesy. Guess I'll go Googling.

RIKA

 

[mrostov]

Rika, check out REI, Campmor, and Cabelas.

http://www.rei.com/

http://www.campmor.com/

http://www.cabelas.com/

 

[John in AR]

Can't vouch for it, but I've been told that there's a "two-size" difference between men's & women's shoes. Basically, if you wear a women's size 8, you'd wear a men's size 6, etc.

May not be absolutely true, but it may work as a starting point in looking.

If it is true, it means I wear a women's size 17. (That's why I believe it's important to not rely on "finding" footwear lying around post-shtf.)

 

[Magnum88C]

John, good point, I'd BET against finding footwear that fits right off of anyone.

I have one of those ".45 Scofield" sizes, lol. Not really the size, more the 5E width. Only place I found to order boots was Hitchcock Shoes in MA. I recently retired a pair of their steel-toed boots after 4 years of daily service. They could still go longer, but the side were starting to roll over the edge and there was no tread at all left.

I bought 4 pairs of boots (not steel toed, steel toes are NOT good in cold weather) broke 3 pair in and put them away, the other pair I wear in the woods now.

 

[brass hammer]

brahmas

hey john, i enjoy reading your posts , sounds like a really interesting occupation you have there, armoured underware, don't leave home with out it!!!! i bought a pair of brahmas one time, can't say they didn't wear like iron, bearly wore the skin off the toes, i was installing mobile homes for 10 years and would wear the toes out of 2/3 pairs a year then track rocks/sand into new home not good on lineolium ya know! never did like the fit of those boots not a good fit for me. was glad to leave them along with a bad marriage. still miss 45lc lever,44rossi she wouldn't return plus land/home but hey if you were standing in my brahmas you would think you lucked out also,ha ha ha!!!! seriously, when the lights go out is not the time to break in ones footware. in the marines they taught you to care for your feet or the team suffered. if i was naked and had to travel a pair of ladies high heels would catch a second glance. ha! no feedback necessary you know what i mean... but look at it this way, you will not acsess your money in the bank anytime soon so whatever is in your "locker"is what you have. not to blow off or anything but water is the key to survival here in the desert s.w. the girlfriend and i have discused the bug-out option and decided to stay where we are with a pool/spa/fishpond i.e. lots of water and neighbors a long pistol shot away, hell, we probably would'nt begrudge a few buckets but loners who would steal/kill will be shot in the feet and then spanked ha! just my .02 thanks

 

[andy]

1lb on your feet=4 lbs on your back, so

a pointless extra 3 lbs on your feet is giving away 12 lbs of gear you could have had in your pack. No boot offers the support of A proper taping job. So for the really bad areas, tape up. The rest of the time. a much lighter pair of hiking "shoes", ankle high, make a lot more sense.

 

[mrostov]

Constantly having your ankles taped is a non-option. In some places, like where there is a lot of scree, you really need heavy boots. Just grow bigger leg muscles.

Carrying at least 2 sets of footwear, one light and one heavy, is often a good idea when backpacking.

BTW, 'Vet-Wrap' works pretty good for ankles.

 

[andy]

so who said anything about CONSTANTLY?

it's not the MUSCLES that get sprained and stretched, dummy, and the strengthening you can do for ligaments and tendons is VERY limited, expecially if they've ever been injured, which is the case with nearly everyone by the time they are 40, if they've done ANYTHING but sit on their asses.

 

[Dakota]

You got room to talk

if they've done ANYTHING but sit on their asses.

Obviously that is all you do anymore,it is evedent by the amount of time you spend on the internet when you could be out training or practicing your so called skills,..so what gives?


Ill leave the light on for you

 

[mrostov]

Re: so who said anything about CONSTANTLY?

it's not the MUSCLES that get sprained and stretched, dummy, and the strengthening you can do for ligaments and tendons is VERY limited, expecially if they've ever been injured, which is the case with nearly everyone by the time they are 40, if they've done ANYTHING but sit on their asses.

So, what you're saying is that you are out of shape and getting old?