r/WorkBoots

Alright gentleman this is my first pair of decent work boots. I’m in the car restoration world. And I do a lot of junk removal/moving jobs on the side. I need help with what to use when to use and how to use. Not sure what cleaners I should be using and what conditioners. These are Origin boots. Honestly some of the most comfortable boots I’ve owned and they were gifted I think I can make these life time boots as the soles can be replaced when they get too worn down. Please help a brother out on how to properly care for leather boots.

I’m needing some help finding a good pair of boots for me, I test wet concrete for my job, so I spend lots of lots of time on rock, rebar, water and in concrete. I have a pair of Wolverines Overpass Carbon max, and I like the feel of them, but where the carbon fiber attaches to the safety toe has been splitting.

My company has a 150$ a year boot allowance, and I’m willing to match it. I just need something with ideally a carbon safety toe, and waterproof. Preferably 8” with laces.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I've come to the conclusion my timberland pro anti-fatigue are too think for my boots. Im going with superfeet based on recommendations, wasnt sure if I needed to go with slim-fit or not. Seeing if anyone has had experience with all of these and could point me in right direction

Sorry for the bad quality those the best screenshots I could get lol.

I’ve been wearing these boots every day at the project for about a month, so I thought I’d give a little review.

My Danner Elk Hunter boots were being worn there, but I didn’t like beating them up so much. I’ve had them for 30 years and don’t want them to end their life deep in demo’d lath and plaster, rat droppings in cellulose, century-old lumber with rusty nails, and sawdust-drywall-crumbled concrete-muddy water goop. They were meant for the mountains and forest and snow, not a dirty worksite.

I switched to some daily wear Cole-Haan sneakers, which were comfy but got thrashed about like you’d expect, plus the soles were transparent to nails. Ouch x 3.

Clearly I needed some workboots with puncture-resistant soles, that would be comfortable right off the bat, endure, and that I didn’t care too much about.

The Southern Cross zips seem pretty tough. I haven’t had them long enough to say if they will last and last, but they are built beefy with good leather and a thick, grippy, resilient outsole. I can attest to them being impervious to nails no matter how heavily stepped on. The toe cap looks goofy but you can crawl all you like without wearing the boot toe out. I haven’t needed the steel toe. At the rear, the cuff is cut away, supposedly for more comfortable driving; I’m not sold on that feature, preferring more Achilles tendon protection. The zipper is very heavy duty and gusseted for water resistance - the boots claim “waterresistance” not “waterproof” like my Danners. I like being able to get the boots on and off quickly, but if I cinch the laces tight for maximum ankle support, the zipper opening isn’t enough to get my right foot in or out, probably due to an old injury and less range of motion there. The Southern Cross comes with the best innersole I’ve seen in a boots, cushy yet supportive, supposedly endorsed by some medical group. I need more arch support, so swapped in my usual blue Superfeet, which felt hard after the stock innersole, so I cut some 1/4” closed cell foam as a second layer, which worked well. I haven’t really tested their water resistance.

I conditioned the boots today, which really changed their look and, in my opinion, not for the better. Well, mink oil and beeswax never hurt a boot and I imagine they will dry out and regain their lighter shade eventually.

I’m happy with these boots. They aren’t “lifetime” boots like my Danners, but I imagine they’ll last me a couple-few years.,

I bought thorogood cause I kept going thru boots so fast I thought they were supposed to be the best of the best I loved them until they fell apart after less than 2 months 🫤 it happened to both boots.

I bought these Redwing Tradesman about a month ago and thought they were amazing. When I got the boots my local store also did their foot scan and recommended I buy the custom insoles. The first couple weeks they kept getting more comfortable each time I put them on. The toe box is perfect and I can move my toes around freely.

After about two weeks my feet started hurting terribly. By the ends of the day my heels and the balls of my feet felt bruised so bad I was limping by the time I got home.

This was very concerning to me so I went back to the store to ask about it and was just told to see a doctor. I have since switched back to the original insoles which are better and don’t bruise my feet but still leave me fairly sore.

For context, I work in a butcher shop on concrete for 9-10 hours a day. I personally prefer to have waterproof, steel toe, and non slip in this environment even though it’s not required. And these boots have filled all of my needs plus the extra bonus of puncture proof sole which I figured would be good for a future job I have lined up so I am pretty bummed that I am having problems after such a large investment.

Has anyone had this problem before or at least know how I could fix this? Ive been lookin into shock absorbing insoles but don’t know which ones to go with.

These are size 11 which is my running shoe size. Most boots I am 10.5 but the 10.5 in these were too small. Im guessing tyese boots are sized differently. To those that have owned these has that been your experience?

I work in concrete, currently use the danners but they’re in desperate need of a change.
Is it advisable to try out the redwings?
Recommendations are more than welcome, though wedge soles are a must and no laces, they dont mix well with the mud.

Im needing a lightish work boot thats super comfortable on my feet. I do maintenance at a hospital so nothing like a construction site but I have peripheral neuropathy so I get some gnarly leg and foot pain. Nothing more than a 6in boot please.

Got these 6 inch tobacco last August and used them as daily casuals. Noticed the tip started to spit in December and after a few more months it started separating more and more. I put gorilla glue to stop it from splitting any further. Heard thorogood has some QC issues for the past 3-5 years, anyone had this issue?