Definitely assault boots and not the "cadet" ones? Not that much difference really but the genuine army ones are a little longer lasting.

You could try magnums, they'd be twice the price but not sure whether they'd last twice as long. There are more high end boots such as lowa which have good vibram soles, but they cost into the hundreds.


With the assault boots, before the sole has worn smooth it might be worth seeing how much you can get them resoled for. If it's a tenner or something you can get some extra wear out of them probably.

Just get them re-soled. Timpsons can fit standard Vibram commando soles to most types of walking boot and work boot.

British Army boots are rubbish. There's any number of better ones. If you ask some of the folks serving you'll get lots of suggestions they have or are on their wishlists to upgrade their gear.

>>2236
> Definitely assault boots and not the "cadet" ones?
To be entirely honest, whatever your average surplus store sells as "assault" boots so I'm not certain. The pair pictured was particularly bad (and, to be fair, was used particularly heavily despite being broken), but I think given the state of the inner leather's repair when I bought them they were probably more used than the shop let on. Still, each pair I've owned over the last decade or so eventually disintegrated in the same way: the sole would crack roughly underneath the stitched-on leather part which holds the shoe string and then soon after would fall apart. The upper has always been almost heart-breakingly flawless. I tried Timpson's, but the quote I got for a sole repair was usually higher than buying a new surplus pair

The para boots (three pairs of them) do what the picture attached shows; I tried Shoe Goo and Gorilla Glue (properly clamped) to no avail. Not brought one to Timpson's yet, I should probably try that. That said, apparently recent German boots are officially considered "single use", as in they're not designed to be repaired. I think they're just a red herring.

I'll have a look into the Magnums, ta for the suggestion.

>>2238
> There's any number of better ones.
So mention them! I don't have any serving acquaintances and the people I deal with professionally are more after safety boots.

>>2239

Squaddies generally go for Alt-berg and Lowa. Not cheap though, £150ish.

>>2240

5.11

Google. Buy.

>>2239
>>Not brought one to Timpson's yet, I should probably try that.

Post your questions in /iq/ that seems to be where Timpsonslad posts.

You can get Magnums from loads of surplus websites, new 60 odd quid.

My mate swears he's had the same pair for 3 tours.

I want quality boots at a fair price. Instead I get highstreet advertising designed to trick me. All I see is 'reduced prices' (£119 now only £79!) and colourful tags filled with useless stats and buzzwords.

I am now looking at boots on the Lowa and Alt-berg websites, which seem to be the kind of thing i'm looking for, only I'll have to trek into Lundon to get them.

Thanks for the tips.

>>2455

Get thee a pair of 5.11 9" Side Zips. The most comfortable and convenient boots I have ever worn. They make 'em to order, but a pair should set you back less than 100 quid.

They are standard issue for FBI field agents for a reason. I'm not sure if this is still the case, but the pair I am still wearing were sold to me 5 years ago with a ten year guarantee.

Go for trade model boots from Arco and such.

Fuck that 'military' shit it's a load of wank made for lowest-bidder cannon fodder.

What's your budget or what do you consider a fair price? Ecco are a very good brand, extremely comfortable and they last. These are £175 on their site, but you might be able to find them cheaper elsewhere.

>>2458
You'd be a sucker to pay that kind of wedge.

Have a look at http://www.arco.co.uk/textsearch/Boots/?pcatid=-8283 , OP.

>>2459

Fine for cutting about town in, but I wouldn't want to hike any real distance in them.

Honestly, there have been hundreds of threads on the ARRSE forums about boots. The consensus amongst squaddies is quite clear - Lowa or Alt-berg for use in the field, Danner or Matterhorn for showing off in the NAAFI, YDS for engineers or for when you go back to civvy street and become a copper or bouncer.

>>2460
>Fine for cutting about town in, but I wouldn't want to hike any real distance in them.
The Arco <£70 range are the sort me and chaps have when fannying around dropping hammers on our toes on construction sites, they're very good. Not sure what you're on about with 'cutting about in town' in, Arco are a construction outfitter.

>>2461
Haven't you heard? You can't wear trainers in nightclubs but giant steel toe-capped clobberin' boots get a massive thumbs up.

Ask squaddies, they'll all tell you British Army boots are shite, and they all own non-British-Army boots because they are shite.

>>2235

I would recommend Lacrosse hunting boots. Mine cost 250 quid, but I've had mine up many a mountain and through many a river and can attest to their durability. You can get a pair for under a £100 these days.

Pardon the necromancy, but any recommendations now? Boots which are above all repiarable, but still waterproof and cleanable? An upper which you've had for years with new soles would be the gold standard if such a thing exists.

>>2895
My "Vegeteraiand Boots" are fine for the upper, but the soles are dog shit.

>>2895

https://www.altberg.co.uk/

>>2235
I have a pair of Muck Boots and like them very much. Bit posh though.

>>2895

this thread might have some useful info >>/poof/6294

Nothing wrong with a nice pair of wellies.

>>2900

True enough, especially considering even really quite good ones are cheap. But I don't think I'd want to wear them all day, nor would I hike in them. Though plenty of farmlads do wear them for 12+ hours at a time so what do I know.

>>2901
I've got through so many wellies, couple of pairs a year or more.
I now rate my swampmasters, which are polyurethane and so far, so good. more expensive than regular dunlops or whatever, but 8 months in and they're surviving. Mud season is almost over - dust season will be next, and I'll be back in dealer boots.

>>2902

I've had Dunlop Purofort's for a long time now, they're about 60 quid but have lasted about three years - admittedly I don't do hard graft in them, just swanning about moors and muddy forest floors with maybe a couple of hours of proper work every few days. But either way they've lasted a good 15k miles.

>>2902
I'd complain that wellies derail this thread if it wasn't so interesting since they have different roles.

Maybe I need a foot doctor to work out my amble, but the sole wear is both... well, inacceptable given I only used them daily for a year but once again the upper is fine and the soles are improving, but not really better. Why are all these soles so useless?

>>2916

>Why are all these soles so useless?

They're made of rubber, which is rather soft. Those are looking quite good for a year of daily wear. If you want something more durable, your only real option is to go for hobnails.

The wear will slow down now there's more area in contact with the ground, you've just scrubbed off the high points. They're good for at least as long again. That right heel will probably be the limiting factor. Maybe jam a wedge in to fix your igor-like foot drag?
(although that's doomed to be really annoying as the wedge will always shift and piss you off. I very much doubt medical science will care much.)
tl;dr: stop whining, keep walking.

>>2916
Are those William Lennons (don't make a crap joke like 'no they're mine', please just don't)? Always try and get boots with dainite soles and nothing less imo if you're going to wear them lots. The aforementioned company makes beautiful boots but the leather soles will only last two winters before water is in them, however well you care for the body. Anyway if they are William Lennon I'm concerned since I wanted them to resole mine's in rubber.

>>2919
They are not, the brand is the one written on the sole. Fake leather 12-hole steel toe cap boots in this particular case. The upper is pretty nice, sufficiently water proof and needs next to no maintenance which was the main draw for this particular experiment. Wear aside, the soles on the other hand already needed regluing once as the mid section was coming loose. You can probably see the somewhat fugly "seam" on the left boot around that area.

I'm quite liking the look of the 78N or 268D boots, would be my first with hob nails but maybe its time to take the plunge.

>>2920
>>2919
I'm otherlad. I have a pair of boots from these guys, they're heavily built. And don't forget:

>Our range of William Lennon leather boots and shoes (this does not include the Gent’s dealer boots) can be custom built to your own specifications (please note that any custom orders can not be returned). Changing the leather colour, sole finish and thread / eyelet choice can make a unique pair of boots for you. We can offer advice on the suitability of leather and sole finish on each William Lennon style of boot or shoe when required – please contact by email or telephone to discuss.

>>2921
A point they don't play up much is that they're also made in charming old fashioned workshop type place, if you're into that sort of thing.
https://www.marklordphotography.co.uk/2017/04/01/traditional-shoemaker/

>>2921
>>2922
Have we moved from shilling Big Huel to astro turfing for Big Boot?

>>2923

Wellies are the last thing we have to be proud of, and that's probably fucked also.

They leak now, and beyond what I can stich at home. Timpson's time, perhaps.

>>2988
I've never seen a doc martens style sole come unglued before. Those joins should be nearly as strong as the rubber itself so if it's done that I'd say it was a bit dodgy out of the factor.
Timpsons should be able to glue it back up or put a whole new sole on for not too much.

>>2988
I used Shoe Goo in the end. Worked well,not pretty, but fixed the boots.

A friend of mine bought some Doc Martens recently, and they fell apart almost immediately. He got them replaced and the new pair fell apart too. In the end, he got a refund and bought some Solovair shoes; apparently they're made by some former Doc Martens guy and they're amazing. I don't have any, but anyone struggling with Doc Martens should check out Solovair, according to my friend.

>>2993
DMs have not been what they used to be for a long while now. Some proper chukka boots are hard to come by these days.

>>2994

They moved production to Thailand and China in 2003. The Solovair lads took over the old factory in Northamptonshire. I've had no problem with my Thailand-made DMs, but clearly the quality control isn't what it used to be.

>>2995
Not so much that they took it over. Doc Martens never owned the factory or the machines, they just had them made under licence, the factory owners made the solovair brand to keep the machines running. And then Doc Martens rather sheepishly backtracked and started having a small range produced by them with a bigger markup when the success of solovair proved there was demand for it.