Great Lakes 4x4. The largest offroad forum in the Midwest banner

Tough Boots

3K views 31 replies 19 participants last post by  XJcoupe 
#1 · (Edited)
I am hard on everything, especially my boots. I work in a environment full of yukky chemicals, water, heavy metals ect. Because of this, I wreck a pair of boots in a year, and my company buys me new ones. So I tried an experiment.

Here is a picture of my boots, (Wolverine Mckays) that have steel toes and metatarsal guards. They are waterproof, Chemical rated, shock rated, slip proof. Very comfortable boots.


This is the same boot a year later. They are totally water proof up until about a week of me wearing them and chemicals degrading the leather and stitching. I've tried all the spray on boot waterproofing stuff, oils, leather stuff to try to keep my feet dry. Nothing holds up to the abuse.



Here is my experiment.







Add them together, and you get this.



And the finished product.




In theory, the truck bed liner will permanently seal the stitching and leather, making it water proof, and tough, standing up against things when they get scuffed, kicked ect. I will report back.
 
See less See more
8
#2 ·
Please do. My girlfriend is buying boots about every 4-5 months. She works in salt quarter and they dry and crack. Most there wear muck brand boots but she doesn't think they are comfortable. So the leather boots are what she buys but it get expensive when you buy them so often.
 
#3 ·
I will. Similar situation. Boots that are tough are uncomfortable when worn for long periods, comfortable boots just don't hold up. I'm testing these on my old boots before I spray the new boots I just got today. This should work for every day normal boots also. Just daily walking through the morning grass can get your feet wet. I probaly won't wear them until tomorrow. They are baking in the sun right now to get a nice full cure.
 
#4 ·
When I was working in shit daily I could get a year out of my boots. Now that I just walk fields and drive around they will last forever. I now wear sole out faster than the boot. It's crazy how fast salt will kill the stitching and crack the leather. I wanted to try that super water proof stuff that just came out. I can't remember then name there was. Video of them putting it on a cement block am the oil ran off. They also put it on boots. It's expensive, new, unproven in the real world, and sold out. If this works I am going to do a pair for her. I do question if it will crack when it flexes.
 
#5 ·
You bring up a point... These boots have metatarsal guards in them. Meaning they don't flex nearly as much as normal boots do. In theory, truck bed liner is just tough rubber, so as long as it stays adhered to the leather, it should flex with the boot, it just may not flex as much.

Worthy trade off IMO if my feet stay dry.

I forgot to add. Before I taped the boots off, I scuffed the leather stitching and sole up with a wire brush to promote adhesion.
 
#8 ·
I know I'm going to regret saying this...

Vasoline an a heat gun works great for waterproofing. It also makes the leather swell a bit to seal up cracks. I use it on my boots twice a year.
 
#10 ·
Obviously the water proofing is one of the big issues I have. Where your system would fail, as have all my previous attempts, is that once the leather cracks, or gets torn, you have to re-apply. I'm hoping that the bed liner will stand up to kicking pumps, concrete walls, steel grating, metal stairs ect, while maintain it's water proof-ness and maintaining it's chemical resistance.
 
#9 ·
Well, the boots have been out in the sun for the past 1.5 hours, so I checked them out. So far, the bed liner appears to have bonded and cured with the leather. I tried to flex the leather and the bed liner moves quite well with the boots and doesn't appear to easily peel off.
 
#12 ·
^--- That a good idea if you don't mind blowing the extra $$ on Gortex. We have a very limited selection that's approved by the company to purchase (they have their own store with approved footwear). It looks like bed liner is going to be the ticket. It was even approved by the boss, but I had to try it on my old boots. She said if it works, she going to have me do the same for her boots.
 
#17 ·
The Timberland Pro "powerwelt" line already has the bedliner type material on them when you buy them.
 
#19 ·
I had the Irish setters for a year and 8 months soles gone but still water proof and comfy as heck.



Just bought these there steel toe and have the met guard stuff in them and still comfy as heck


Idk if your company will let you get red wings but with my Irish setters I was in water and mud paver dust salt you name it all the time still water proof.
New boots were about 60-70 bucks more but so far worth it

Just my .02
 
#24 ·
Idk if your company will let you get red wings but with my Irish setters I was in water and mud paver dust salt you name it all the time still water proof.
New boots were about 60-70 bucks more but so far worth it

Just my .02
I believe Red Wings was on the list of places not to buy from a few months ago as they donate money to trail closures or are anti-gun or something.
 
#20 ·
I bed lined a pair of boots not to long ago. I wore the leather in the toe out and just had the steel toe left.. I even cleaned and sanded what was left thinking it would help last, but it only lasted afew days. It pealed off as one peace and I had wet boots agin. Hope you have better luck than me.
 
#28 ·
I was worried about that also. I came into work today, and talked to the boss about it. She had the same concerns. I said, we'll, they've been drying for 24 hours, lets try them. Took a wire brush and started scrubbing the them quite hard. Nothing came off. We then filled a catch basin full of water, and stuck the boot in them for 20 minutes. They came out totally dry.

My brand new boots are getting the same treatment right now.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top