Author Topic: You need to change your footwear when....  (Read 2552 times)

Mel

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You need to change your footwear when....
« on: 22:08:06, 07/05/18 »
The obvious ones I can think of are :


- the soles have worn down so much there's no lugs/grip anymore
- the uppers have cracked/creased beyond repair


What other signs can you think of that your footwear has reached the end of it's useful life?


tom83

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Re: You need to change your footwear when....
« Reply #1 on: 22:20:21, 07/05/18 »
The company I work for are pretty up to date with PPE, and require you to change boots if any of the following happen;


The sole splits, wears beyond the grips over 10% or comes away from the shoe.


Any splits or gashes in the top of the shoe, showing the steel toe, inner layers or socks.


The insole wears through.


Lace holes split in a way that the lacing sequence has to be changed.


Are no longer puddle proof.


Must be changed every 12 months at least.


Granted these are boots that I wear for 50 hours a week, but I look for similar issues with my personal shoes.






 

fernman

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Re: You need to change your footwear when....
« Reply #2 on: 23:23:28, 07/05/18 »
My boots have at least a year's use left in the soles by my estimation, so plenty of life in them yet. The previous weekend, however, I wanted to get them truly wet before treating them with a water-based spray proofer, to give it the best chance of getting into the leather.
But when I put them in a rectangular washing-up bowl containing four inches of water they floated.
Being in a hurry to get on with another job, I grabbed two bricks and pushed one on end into each boot to hold them down.
Unfortunately I became so engrossed in the other thing I was doing that I forgot about them for about twenty minutes.
Imagine my dismay when I went back to them and found that the left boot was filled with water  :(

sussamb

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Re: You need to change your footwear when....
« Reply #3 on: 06:57:50, 08/05/18 »
How high was the water though?  Many waterproof boots are only waterproof up to a certain point and if they're immersed in water past that line water will get in.


https://www.mountainwarehouse.com/expert-advice/boots-waterproof-why-feet-wet
Where there's a will ...

alan de enfield

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Re: You need to change your footwear when....
« Reply #4 on: 08:06:09, 08/05/18 »


What other signs can you think of that your footwear has reached the end of it's useful life?


1) Squeaks (thru splits in the sole as it flexes when walking)
2) Feeling every sharp stone with the ball of your foot.

Islandplodder

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Re: You need to change your footwear when....
« Reply #5 on: 08:14:27, 08/05/18 »

I have two separate change of boot stages.  The trouble is,  old boots are the comfortable old faithfuls, even if the grip and waterproofing isn't quite so good.
So I have the good pair (or if I am honest 2, one for hills and bogs, the other lighter weight for LDPs etc).  Then there is the old pair, which gets used for local walks, the beach and so on, even if it does leak a bit and I wouldn't trust it on a slippy surface.
The good pair gets demoted when it starts to leak, grip goes etc.
The old pair gets flung in the bin when it falls apart or gets uncomfortable.
So it is sometimes more change of use than change of footwear.

dartmoorrambler

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Re: You need to change your footwear when....
« Reply #6 on: 08:42:18, 08/05/18 »
My three generations of boots are current walking - must be waterproof
Gardening - some degree of water proofing left.
Gardening in dry weather - still comfortable

Changed the walking boots because of large splits developing in the leather - but they lasted 3 years and 3000 miles so reasonable value.
The previous pair the leather is good but the soles were delaminating. Again they probably did over 3000 miles so I am not complaining.

fernman

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Re: You need to change your footwear when....
« Reply #7 on: 09:12:27, 08/05/18 »
How high was the water though?  Many waterproof boots are only waterproof up to a certain point and if they're immersed in water past that line water will get in.

They're not waterproof boots. The right boot was just damp inside, which was no surprise under the circumstances, but the left one was filled with water almost as deep as that in the bowl. 

ninthace

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Re: You need to change your footwear when....
« Reply #8 on: 10:41:17, 08/05/18 »
Mrs N’s Altberg Fremingtons started to wear out at the heel (different colour rubber showing through). Sent them off to the factory and they resoled them for just under £50. Saved buying a new pair as the uppers were still in excellent condition. My Tetheras have done 1800 miles and will be sent off to be resoled too, once my trip to Austria is over next month. By that time I expect they will have done around 2000 miles.
Solvitur Ambulando

Mel

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Re: You need to change your footwear when....
« Reply #9 on: 18:00:47, 08/05/18 »
Interesting ones there from tom83. 


I've swapped the insoles in my walking shoes 3 times now because the rest of the shoe has still been in "good nick"


However.... I'm noticing something alan de enfield mentions - feeling every little stone with the ball of your foot (granted, the outer sole of mine are worn right down now).


... Which means that I'll soon be relegating them to similar circumstances as Islandplodder, and finally a gardening shoe as mentioned by dartmoorrambler.


Might look into re-soling them though as the uppers are still in fantastic condition (preserved by all the recent mud they've been in no doubt  ;)  ) and they're still waterproof ... though that may well cost more than I paid for the shoe...  :-\




staggerindragon

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Re: You need to change your footwear when....
« Reply #10 on: 04:13:21, 09/05/18 »
. . . your insoles become sentient and demand their rights.

pleb

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Re: You need to change your footwear when....
« Reply #11 on: 09:51:43, 09/05/18 »
They run around the house and start trying to answer the doorbell  ;D
Whinging Moaning Old Fart

fernman

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Re: You need to change your footwear when....
« Reply #12 on: 10:43:10, 09/05/18 »
....When there becomes a gap between the toes and the soles that enables you to pick up half-smoked cigarette ends without having to bend down for them.

Mel

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Re: You need to change your footwear when....
« Reply #13 on: 20:37:47, 09/05/18 »
Ahh, a litter-picking whilst you walk boot.  It can take years to train your boots to do that  :D

PembsWalker

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Re: You need to change your footwear when....
« Reply #14 on: 22:25:46, 09/05/18 »
My trusty boots are splitting on the side so need to replace them soon.


In my job, we walk a lot so we all wear walking boots.
This year, the management told us they'd buy us all footwear. Instead of walking boots, they got us De Walt steel toe cap work boots.
Fine if you're a builder or something, agony otherwise. The whole team suffered cuts & blisters before going back to their own Karrimor boots.

 

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