I wore the black leather Navy boots for 4 years and they held up great, still have em in case I go on a ship at some point.

But for the last 5 years I’ve been wearing Rocky SV2 boots and while they feel like sneakers and require zero break in, they don’t tend to hold up well, the sole start delaminating within 2 years.

Im in the market to replace mine again and before I pay the 200$ price of the Rockys I’d like to get any experience with any other tan boot that is comparable.

Danner has quite a few USA made versions you might want to look at, but yes they are pricey.
Generally worth it though.

https://www.danner.com/men/usa...stock_status%5B%5D=0

Ive been wearing Lowa Zephyrs for almost 4 years. They are built exceptionally well and last, plus very comfyfor all day wear. I wore them all day at Disneyland in Dec of 2020, the ultimate foot punishment test. Miles of walking and standing around for 16 hours, and my feet felt great. I have the newer black Z8N’s for work, those ones took a but longer to break in but same great overall boot. 3 years full time field work and they still look good.

After using cheaper boots the first few years of my career I was turned onto Danner's. Been wearing them on duty for over 24 years. I also wear them off duty. Stick with the American made ones. I wear the Patrols and Blackhawks on duty and Danner Lights off duty. Definitely recommend them. Plus the ones mentioned are recraftable and I usually am able to get them resoled and or repaired 2 or 3 times before retiring them.

quote:

Originally posted by medic451:
Ive been wearing Lowa Zephyrs for almost 4 years. They are built exceptionally well and last, plus very comfyfor all day wear. I wore them all day at Disneyland in Dec of 2020, the ultimate foot punishment test. Miles of walking and standing around for 16 hours, and my feet felt great. I have the newer black Z8N’s for work, those ones took a but longer to break in but same great overall boot. 3 years full time field work and they still look good.

The Zephyrs are good but ugly as sin. I have a Sage pair I have had for about 10 years now and they have finally given up and have a Wolf Grey pair on the way.
I wear these hiking, hunting, and anytime I need waterproof comfortable boots. While the sidewalls as I like to call them are quite hideous hike rocks often and they are your best friend.

For Duty boots I wear 40+ hours a week I wear a Lowa boot that can take a polish I get about 4 years out of them just keeping them
clean and giving them a coat of mink oil every few months.

I started with the Lowa GTX Uplander (my favorite) they were replaced by the RS6 GTX.

They now have started rolling out R8 which is available currently in a tan. That is what I would go with.

https://www.lowaboots.com/mens...s-gtx-patrol?v=39583

Looking forward to an R8 that is not insulated to replace my R6s.

I wore Danners for my first 10 years which were great. Still have a beat in pair of Acadias I slap on sometimes. But after finding Lowa Danner is an afterthought.

I still look for boots with soles held by stitching rather than solely glue. Danner boots can be had with stitching. When I was in service in the 80’s in the 101st we wore jump boots, issued service boots, or issued Jungle boots. After and during jungle school in Panama we were authorized to wear OD jungle fatigues with jungle boots or the woodland camo uniform with jumps or plain leather issued. I supposed it depends partially on your activity but I’ve even had high end, expensive civilian boots with glued soles and the more I exposed them to water or cold, the more the soles broke down.

I wore brown flight boots made by
Belleville. I did a couple deployments with them and have been wearing them on and off for the last 15 years. Very comfortable.

Most boots today are made to last a couple of years, depending on the usage. I've bought several brands and the soles are what wears out the quickest, or, the toes, if you do a lot of crawling around.

I used to swear by Corcorans (jump boots), but there are more makes that are comfortable and don't require a break-in period. My thinking is: if a boot lasts 2 years and is about $200, That's less than $10/month! Give your feet the break they need!!!

You might want to look at McRae:

Black All-Leather Combat Boot with Panama Sole

Just relaying info from a friend of mine (Marine Infantry) - they need to fit your foot shape, but Keens are excellent, for the price.

They went with the lightest boot, which fit the shape of their foot, and replaced them more often.

In the military I wore the standard issue, Cocoran jump boots, jungle boots and some Chipawas I bought out of pocket. I had those Chips for probably 20-25 years. Comfortable, warm and wore like iron. They were still in good shape when I goodwilled them. They were resoleable but never had to. Only reason I donated them is they were heavy by today's standards. In LE, wore just about all, Bates, Rocky, etc. The Rocky's always delamnated. Had the best luck with Danners. Only down side was as they aged the soles got kinda slick, even with tread left. I believe it was the trooper 2 models that got slick when old, but never delaminated. Comfy and warm. I currently have some GTX Danners, can't remember which model off hand, but they are in desert tan, rough out leather and nylon but not the USMC model. Resoleable, but laces tend to cut into you, replace with 550 cord. Be very careful with sizing, with thick socks they fit great but with thinner socks as toe box is roomy the rub the tops of my toes sore after a long day.

I have 3 pair of Belleville boots that I keep in rotation for work. 2 are suede style sand boots (desert combat, rigid, non-steel toe) and one pair of mountain combat boots. Lots of folks look down on service boots because they aren’t super fancy or a custom fit out of the box, but they break in and form for the user pretty good. They all offer good ankle support (VERY important for me) and all 3 are goretex, vibrant soles. There are obviously better boots but the cost is miles apart. The closest in the pic have been with me for about 12-13 years now.

screen shot in windows

My PD paid for new boots annually because we wore them out.
Over the years I tried them all. Bates and magnum were ok and w/i price. Best ones I found that I could also wear to my reserve drills were danners. Those lasted for five or so years s until I retired. But I paid for them myself

ETA: if you buy 2 pair they will last significantly longer, and it’s worth it

This message has been edited. Last edited by: MikeinNC,

In tan I had Bellevilles and Oakleys. I had a green pair of Solomon boots. I’ve had a bunch of their XAs in running shoe and mid height as well.

Danner

I've worn the Danner Acadias for 18 years.

They're expensive, but one pair can last an entire career. You just get them resoled when the soles wear out.

My duty boot was the Danner Ft. Lewis. Lasted forever.

I went from wearing Danners to Whites and Nicks. WELL worth the extra cost.

I appreciate all the input, I have 4 options that are within regs, but as long as I don’t wear anything crazy I’ll be okay, the zephyrs may be borderline “crazy” and draw too much attention, I like those 8s but don’t want the gortex.

The Nicks look like nice boots but I don’t think they would pass for regulation.


I’ll look at some of these suggestions.

I bought these boots back in the mid 1980's from Buffalo Boot company out of Seattle. They were over 3 bills... a lot of money back then. Sadly they are out of business now but Whites out of Spokane are similar and every bit as good.

I'm an unapologetic boot snob by necessity. Lowa zephyr mid or Salomon XA forces mid is the way to go. Hike, sprint, abuse, walk... total comfort while your feet stay dry. I don't recommend the Gortex unless you're in extreme weather conditions. All the other brands are fine and will be fine, but these are exceptional. Foot angle, ability to sprint and comfort while standing for hours is key.