duty boots

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Hotdog

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so in my line of work i have to wear black boots and normal cop boots don't really cut it for for rocks and trails and stuff i prefer to have an 8in, waterproof and something with wider toe box. any suggestions?
 
I liked my Merrell Tactical boots...before one of my sons grew feet as large as me and commandeered them.
 
I have heard good things about merrel but I haven't used their duty boots. I like the oakley assault boots for in the woods or garmont. The gorucks are the most comfortable that I have used but the tread doesn't do as well in the deep woods in the mud and much, they also do not have the high top in black but still wanted to mention them. I was not overly fond of nike or danner boots.
 
I've worn boots for work for the better part of my life as a Paramedic. I've tried most of the boots out there.

OP, What defines "black boots"? Steel toe? Laces?

"Traditional Style" Duty boots : Danner Acadia
"Heavy Duty"Boots : Haix Airpower XR2
"Lightweight" : Salomon Forces Mid or Haix Black Eagle Tactical 2.0 High Side Zip(with or without GTX)
Generally my day to day boot is the Forces Mid since I'm in the office for the most part, if I know I'm going to be stomping around I'll go with the Danners or Haix Airpower.

Salomon Quest 4D GTX Forces 2 I keep in my work car for just in case events

Tried some of the Merrell duty boots and they just weren't comfortable on my feet for whatever reason.
 
I'm 35 years in and STILL looking for the best duty boots! 😆 40 years counting military boots. I wore Corcorans, standard "leg" boots (circa 1984), and jungle boots.

I've worn about everything out there which I could get in a wide size and that I could get my high volume ("fat") foot with my high instep and high arch and large ankle bones into. That ruled out Oakleys, Nikes, Garmonts, Rocky S2Vs, etc. I HAVE worn the aforementioned military boots, plus HiTec Magnums (several pairs), Danner Acadias, Matterhorns, Danner Strykers (two pairs), 5.11s (numerous pairs), Tactical Research Fat Maxx (probably 6 pair) plus the useless patent leather shoes. And probably a lot more I'm just not recalling right now. I've tried the Solomons (my former agency would have bought them for me) and God as my witness, I can't see why so many people swear by them. Hiking, I've tried Lowas but they were still too tight in the toe box. My go to for hiking are Danner Mountain 600s. Have 4 pair in various stages of life! I've had a few Merrells and they are okay, but I've not tried their duty boots. They are the current issue boot for my old agency, and most like them but they complain they cannot be made to look clean after mud.

Being a big (huge) guy, support and padding are even more important to me than others. Right now, Under Armor is my choice for LE duty. They are SO comfy, but I can only get about 8-10 months out of a pair at the most. Now I have several that I rotate to extend the life of the whole bunch.

That being said, I think I'm going the other direction in May (when my employer will pay $125 on the purchase) and get a set of Nicks Tactical Boots. I'll go ahead and throw out that they are almost $600 so they may not be an option.

nicksboots.com

Nicks Tactical Boot - Custom Configuration

365™ 360° Stitchdown Welt for added water resistance all year round Polyurethane Midsole Vibram Sierra Outsole Sunbrella lined padded collar Removeable full leather insole
nicksboots.com nicksboots.com
nicksboots.com

LTT Tactical

365™ 360° Stitchdown Welt for added water resistance all year round Polyurethane Midsole Vibram Sierra Outsole Sunbrella lined padded collar Removeable full leather insole
nicksboots.com nicksboots.com
 
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Chuckman said:
My two pairs of Merrells had soles separating from boot within 3 months on each pair. No more Merrells for me.
Click to expand...

9outof10mms said:
Easy there, Sasquatch!
Click to expand...

Not just him, I'm pretty much off Merrell unless I find them on sale and only buy them with the expectation that I won't get more than a few months out of them. I don't know what they changed but the Merrells of circa 2010-2018ish aren't the same as what they put out now.

I tried two different pairs of their MOAB side zips for work and neither fit my foot right and both had a squeak in the sole right out of the box
 
Big Dave said:
That being said, I think I'm going the other direction in May (when my employer will pay $125 on the purchase) and get a set of Nicks Tactical Boots. I'll go ahead and throw out that they are almost $600 so they may not be an option.
Click to expand...
The Nicks boots look interesting.

Reminded me about Limmer Boots
limmerboots.com

Limmer Boots

At Peter Limmer & Sons and Limmer Boot Company, we create and provide hand crafted boots known to last for 20-40 years. Made from the highest quality materials and a true "single piece" leather upper, our Limmer Custom Boots, Limmer Boots, and Boot Repair service are the most sustainable leather...
limmerboots.com limmerboots.com

Their custom boots have a 3 year wait list and you have to be fitted for them in person in New Hampshire... they don't tell you what they cost... their non custom boots start around $500.
 
I had a phenomenal pair of Merrell hiking boots. They were called the Switchback model. Felt like a pillow wrapped around your foot with exceptional support.

I had them 8-ish years before they started to have minor issues with the plastic straps on the side coming unglued from the leather. I shoe goo’ed them back on and got another year or so. Then they really started to go to pieces.

Someone told me Merrell offers a lifetime warranty on their shoes, so I hit them up. Told them I had only hiking miles on them, no urban use. And even that, I’m no avid hiker. Maybe a couple hundred miles total. They replied saying they consider the “lifetime” of a shoe to be three years, but since I wasn’t a repeat offender, they’d honor it this one time.

They let me pick anything I wanted off their website. Naturally I chose the most expensive boot they had. It’s a decent boot but it pales compared to my old Switchbacks.

I used to be an exclusive Merrell guy but then found Keen. After being a Keen-head for about 10 years I became disenfranchised with their quality and the delaminating soles.

I found a pair of Merrell shoes on Amazon clearances for $50. They’ve been great so far.

Granted, I am not that hard on shoes/boots. Some of you guys sound like you have kettlebells for feet and beat the shoes like a rented mule. I guess you need some expensive off the beaten path shoes to accommodate that.
 
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9outof10mms said:
Granted, I am not that hard on shoes/boots. Some of you guys sound like you have kettlebells for feet and beat the shoes like a rented mule. I guess you need some expensive off the beaten path shoes to accommodate that.
Click to expand...

I think it depends on the context.

When I was working full time in EMS... my feet spent A LOT of time in boots.... 12, 16, 24 hrs at a time.

With my last schedule, I would work somewhere between 14 - 20 days a month... so let's just call it 16 12hr shifts a month and round up those shifts to 14hrs...

That's somewhere around 220hrs a month... 2640/hrs a year. If we assume I walked about 5 miles during a shift... 80 miles a month... 960 miles a year just in work boots in all kinds of weather, all kinds of places, etc

Compare that to someone who says their hiking boots have lasted them for 5 years and they maybe go hiking for 3hrs a week... that's like 500 hours in the lifetime of their shoes.

That was a lot to say that I was and kinda still am hard on shoes..... especially boots.
 
Ol' @beeleafs is out at Robin Sage right now and probably won't reply any time soon, but I guarantee you he's wearing his Viktos Boots. Dude wears those things everywhere.

I'm a Solomon guy and therefore of no actual use here 😅
 
Chuckman said:
Danners are great, expensive, run a but narrow.

My two pairs of Merrells had soles separating from boot within 3 months on each pair. No more Merrells for me.

Lowas are great. I also like Salomon, right now US Elite Gear has some on sale:

View attachment 731336
Click to expand...
My work provides the Danner acadias and they have held up but the heel section gets loose quick and I've rolled several ankles in em and the Solomons do look nice I've been checking them out and until this thread ive never hears of lowa but will give em a look
 
NCMedic said:
I've worn boots for work for the better part of my life as a Paramedic. I've tried most of the boots out there.

OP, What defines "black boots"? Steel toe? Laces?

"Traditional Style" Duty boots : Danner Acadia
"Heavy Duty"Boots : Haix Airpower XR2
"Lightweight" : Salomon Forces Mid or Haix Black Eagle Tactical 2.0 High Side Zip(with or without GTX)
Generally my day to day boot is the Forces Mid since I'm in the office for the most part, if I know I'm going to be stomping around I'll go with the Danners or Haix Airpower.

Salomon Quest 4D GTX Forces 2 I keep in my work car for just in case events

Tried some of the Merrell duty boots and they just weren't comfortable on my feet for whatever reason.
Click to expand...
blck boots that are lace up is really all i need no toe protection is required. the danners dont exactly work for me but i will give the others a look for sure 👌 why does the salomens stay in the vehicle
 
Hotdog said:
blck boots that are lace up is really all i need no toe protection is required. the danners dont exactly work for me but i will give the others a look for sure 👌 why does the salomens stay in the vehicle
Click to expand...

I like my boots tight, I have heard others voice the same complaints about Danners. They tend to slide at the heel if you wear them loose. After I dislocated/fractured my ankle, I went back to the Danners, so I could lace them tighter.

I wear the Forces Mid "sneaker boot" 90% of the time, I keep the others in my work vehicle if I know I'm going to end up in mud, muck, being out in the cold, etc.
I learned a long time ago that the only thing worse than uncomfortable boots was uncomfortable boots that are soaking wet, so I always keep a spare pair.
 
Big Dave said:
I'm 35 years in and STILL looking for the best duty boots! 😆 40 years counting military boots. I wore Corcorans, standard "leg" boots (circa 1984), and jungle boots.

I've worn about everything out there which I could get in a wide size and that I could get my high volume ("fat") foot with my high instep and high arch and large ankle bones into. That ruled out Oakleys, Nikes, Garmonts, Rocky S2Vs, etc. I HAVE worn the aforementioned military boots, plus HiTec Magnums (several pairs), Danner Acadias, Matterhorns, Danner Strykers (two pairs), 5.11s (numerous pairs), Tactical Research Fat Maxx (probably 6 pair) plus the useless patent leather shoes. And probably a lot more I'm just not recalling right now. I've tried the Solomons (my former agency would have bought them for me) and God as my witness, I can't see why so many people swear by them. Hiking, I've tried Lowas but they were still too tight in the toe box. My go to for hiking are Danner Mountain 600s. Have 4 pair in various stages of life! I've had a few Merrells and they are okay, but I've not tried their duty boots. They are the current issue boot for my old agency, and most like them but they complain they cannot be made to look clean after mud.

Being a big (huge) guy, support and padding are even more important to me than others. Right now, Under Armor is my choice for LE duty. They are SO comfy, but I can only get about 8-10 months out of a pair at the most. Now I have several that I rotate to extend the life of the whole bunch.

That being said, I think I'm going the other direction in May (when my employer will pay $125 on the purchase) and get a set of Nicks Tactical Boots. I'll go ahead and throw out that they are almost $600 so they may not be an option.

nicksboots.com

Nicks Tactical Boot - Custom Configuration

365™ 360° Stitchdown Welt for added water resistance all year round Polyurethane Midsole Vibram Sierra Outsole Sunbrella lined padded collar Removeable full leather insole
nicksboots.com nicksboots.com
nicksboots.com

LTT Tactical

365™ 360° Stitchdown Welt for added water resistance all year round Polyurethane Midsole Vibram Sierra Outsole Sunbrella lined padded collar Removeable full leather insole
nicksboots.com nicksboots.com
Click to expand...
sounds like you have ran through many pairs. the nicks sound good but dang thats alot of cheese for some boots and i tried the under armor ones and loved them durring basic school but once i got to work walking the woods the lack of tread and soft soles were a no go and tthe have sive been retired and i was leaning to the solomans but the narrow toe box if a definate no go.
 
NCMedic said:
I like my boots tight, I have heard others voice the same complaints about Danners. They tend to slide at the heel if you wear them loose. After I dislocated/fractured my ankle, I went back to the Danners, so I could lace them tighter.

I wear the Forces Mid "sneaker boot" 90% of the time, I keep the others in my work vehicle if I know I'm going to end up in mud, muck, being out in the cold, etc.
I learned a long time ago that the only thing worse than uncomfortable boots was uncomfortable boots that are soaking wet, so I always keep a spare pair.
Click to expand...
i prefer tight boots as well and thats why im getting away from danner i just cant get the ankel support i need out of em. another problem ive had is i can never seem to get 2 pair of the danners to fit the same ive ordered 2 pairs through work both in a 13 and the 1st pair were ok for the most part untill the heel loosened up and the 2nd pair was almost an inch longer than the 1st and pretty much unwearable im convinced they are ordering factoy 2nds lol
 
You can buy cheaper or you can buy expensive but you really won’t find anything until you have made the mistake of finding what you DONT want first. I have worn boots for 22 plus years now in my jobs as Paramedic and Firefighter. I think an often overlooked part of finding a comfortable boots is the socks. I love Danners and have had two pairs of them last 4 or more years. Then I sent them back to be resoled. I get boots semi yearly now at work and they might last 10 months before the soles are falling off of them and the look bad. Currently I am wearing a pair of 5.11 boots and I don’t like them much but they were free provided by the job. I don’t like the composite safety toe on them. In the past I had good luck with Danners as mentioned before and Bates. I also have had a pair of old leather jump boots from the military that I wore out. Good luck
 
For cool weather woods tramping I swear by Kennetrek Everstep Orthopedics.
My feet fit in them like they were bedded and the side support is most excellent.
I've been curious to try some of their other lines for somethin mebbe a bit more day-to-day.
+1 on the previously mentioned socks. Darn Tough all around for this house.. 🤠 👍
 
Radar said:
You can buy cheaper or you can buy expensive but you really won’t find anything until you have made the mistake of finding what you DONT want first. I have worn boots for 22 plus years now in my jobs as Paramedic and Firefighter. I think an often overlooked part of finding a comfortable boots is the socks. I love Danners and have had two pairs of them last 4 or more years. Then I sent them back to be resoled. I get boots semi yearly now at work and they might last 10 months before the soles are falling off of them and the look bad. Currently I am wearing a pair of 5.11 boots and I don’t like them much but they were free provided by the job. I don’t like the composite safety toe on them. In the past I had good luck with Danners as mentioned before and Bates. I also have had a pair of old leather jump boots from the military that I wore out. Good luck
Click to expand...

When I was a medic we were issued Rocky boots. That was...91? They had 4 or 5 models then and the ones we were issued had GTX but just weren't real comfortable. I kept them as spares and wore Danners after that.
 
HawgBonz said:
For cool weather woods tramping I swear by Kennetrek Everstep Orthopedics.
My feet fit in them like they were bedded and the side support is most excellent.
I've been curious to try some of their other lines for somethin mebbe a bit more day-to-day.
+1 on the previously mentioned socks. Darn Tough all around for this house.. 🤠 👍
Click to expand...

Darn Tough socks you say? My faves, wearing some today.

IMG_20240124_084919.jpg
 
Due to ongoing foot issues I'm a bit of a footwear and sock snob. I exclusively wore multiple pairs of Merrell MOAB's for 12 years without issue until the MOAB 2 released. They are a MUCH lower quality and inferior shoe. I now wear several Lowa and Kenetrek models. In the Lowa lineup I avoid any of the GTX models and Windtex in Kenetrek because in NC I've found my feet sweat way too much in boots with a waterproof membrane for even my DarnTough socks to overcome. I go with either the LL (leather lined) or non-GTX TF (task force) models in Lowa. For Kenetrek I have the Safari and Woodland fire models (both w/o membrane). The Woodland is offered in black and at one time their LPC models were too, but now the only other model beside the Woodland Fire they offer in black is the Tactical model:

kenetrek.com

Hard Tactical

Whether in full pursuit, driving down the road, or on your feet all day, these very light, black tactical style boots are designed for a 24/7 workout. The padded collars and special flex notch gives you high-top tennis shoe comfort built on our mountain hunting boot support system. The Hard...
kenetrek.com kenetrek.com

Lowa has a few options for black, but all with GTX. I do prefer the Zepher over Innox models; as the Innox are more for indoor and flat range usage:

Task Force (Tactical) | LOWA Boots USA

For 100 years, LOWA has been known for making rugged boots and shoes that exemplify the highest standard of European boot-making craft. Our Task Force Collection continues this heritage with models that deliver the uncompromising performance, comfort and durability that those who serve demand.
www.lowaboots.com www.lowaboots.com
 
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I use the On Cloud cloudrock hiking shoe/boot in my department. The reflective material is a bit bright compared to the black but I have gotten away with em so far
 
Never had a job that came with boots, but I have switched to Lowas for the woods lately. They're holding up extremely well. They also fit my toes well, which is a little bit unusual. But I will say they have a very stiff sole. I think that probably protects me in some ways, but I feel like it also makes me a touch louder and my feet a touch more tired by the end of the day.
 
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Hotdog said:
sounds like you have ran through many pairs. the nicks sound good but dang thats alot of cheese for some boots and i tried the under armor ones and loved them durring basic school but once i got to work walking the woods the lack of tread and soft soles were a no go and tthe have sive been retired and i was leaning to the solomans but the narrow toe box if a definate no go.
Click to expand...

Yeah I didn't expound on it but I knew UAs were too light for the woods.
 
Chuckman said:
Darn Tough socks you say? My faves, wearing some today.

View attachment 731645
Click to expand...

Same…

My daughter gave me a couple pairs for Christmas. When I found out how much they were, I thought, “For a pair of socks?!!!”

Then I wore them.👍
 
I am not sure if they still make them but Rocky used to offer their Outback model with a Goretex lining in a smooth toe black leather.
They came in up to 4E widths and had great ankle support.
 
thorlo.com

About Thorlo

Shop socks for every sport and activity. Thorlo socks are designed to help your feet feel great, no matter what your passion is. Enjoy our risk-free trial.
thorlo.com thorlo.com
 
Another boot option is the Danner Fort Lewis.
They come in wide widths and lace to the toe.
They have Gore-Tex lining and Vibram soles that are recraftable.
They are not light but they are probably the toughest boots made.
 
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