# What do you wear on your feet?



## promhandicam (6 Nov 2006)

All this talk of aprons / smocks / flat caps / plus fours / spats etc and no mention of footware! Having recently 'dropped' a rather solid lump of teak on my big toe I think that safety boots / shoes are in order. My last pair I left in Kinshasa and were my last pair that I had from when I was an apprentice (engineering) and we got a free pair once a year. Due to the heat I was only wearing sandles and the lump of teak made direct contact with the nail but I think on reflection having sweaty feet would be preferable to having to a broken toe. 

So how many people do regularly wear safety footware _at home_. I would hope that everyone in the trade wears safety footware although perhaps it is best not to ask :roll: 

Cheers, Steve


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## Matt1245 (6 Nov 2006)

I've started wearing safety boots when working at home, after standing on a rusty nail that was poking out of a hardwood pallet i was trying to salvage.

Only problem now is that i drop stuff on top of my foot, just behind the toe caps. :x 

Matt.


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## mr (6 Nov 2006)

Having dropped a 2 x 1 metre ply panel on my sandled toe, it's now steel caps all the way for me. 
Mike


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## Krullebol (6 Nov 2006)

I suppose it comes from working in engineering, but I always wear safety boots in the workshop. At work, we have safety drilled into us, as working with big lumpy things is dangerous.
If I'm wearing normal shoes in the workshop, I just don't feel right. I'd probably feel the same if I took the guard off the tablesaw.


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## mailee (6 Nov 2006)

I always wear safety shoes at work but hate them as they are so uncomfortable. I take them off as soon as I can and get into my trainers in the workshop. My safety shoes are also trainers but terrible for your feet. Nice pair of comfortable trainers for me in the workshop and I am just careful.


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## wizer (6 Nov 2006)

any work at home I have done to date has been wearing trainers. I have been thinking about ordering the DeWalt steel toe-capped trainers for the new workshop.


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## NickWelford (6 Nov 2006)

I've been wearing Doc Martin's safety boots in the home workshop for years. Also whenever I mow the lawn. They are really comfortable and good for peace of mind.


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## Gill (6 Nov 2006)

In the depths of winter, I'll wear trainers to keep my feet warm. The rest of the time I'm silly and risk flip flops.

When it gets _really _hot, flip flops are about all I wear in the workshop!

Gill


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## Anonymous (6 Nov 2006)

I once saw a young lass get stabbed in the foot when a scalpel fell off a bench and landed in her toe just like a dart it went straight through her trainers. :shock: 
I'll generally wear steelies of some sort but just put on like slippers not laced up, less faffing about to go indoors for a cuppa or use the toilet etc


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## Paul Chapman (6 Nov 2006)

Nearly always leather safety boots. Never wear trainers (except for badminton) - can't stand the foot-rot or the smell :wink: 

Cheers

Paul


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## RogerS (6 Nov 2006)

Gill":2foxlxu9 said:


> When it gets _really _hot, flip flops are about all I wear in the workshop!
> 
> Gill



Hope the neighbours can't peek in :lol: Might see more than they bargained for :wink:


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## RogerS (6 Nov 2006)

A month ago, I was helping the builders tidy up in front of the flats. Suddenly one of them said..."I just saw a mouse run down that hole". "That's no mouse" says I "that's a rat". Just then rat no.2 scuttled and hid underneath a scaffold board, tail sticking out. Standing on said tail with my left foot, i proceeded to stamp vigorously on top of the scaffold board with the other foot. Exit one rat. Fifteen minutes later, while manouvreing a large railway sleeper, we dropped it on my little toe, fracturing it. Pure karma.


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## wrightclan (6 Nov 2006)

Usually safety boots.

About ten years ago, working in my Dad's business (metalworking machinery sales), I was working one day and was going back and forth between the office and warehouse. As I had been in the office more than the warehouse for awhile, I didn't have my steel toecaps on. I had to go out and move some machinery with a forklift. The forklift I usually used was being used by someone else. So I used a small electric one.

I had to move the forks wider, and being used to a heavier one with heavier forks, and a stop at the end of the travel, I pulled the fork with alot of force. Being lighter forks, with no stop, it came right off and landed on my big left toe--shattering the toe bones into hundreds of pieces :shock: I still don't have normal range of motion in my toe and I also have no toenail.

Now, in woodworking we don't usually work with materials or tools likely to do that; but I like to wear them anyway. Of course there are other dangers, as evidenced by earlier posts. A handy use for steel toecaps is to rest heavy materials on. For example, if carrying a heavy cabinet or sheet of ply, and you need to stop for a moment, just rest it on your steel toecaps, and it's easier to get your hands under the item to start off again.  

Brad


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## dedee (6 Nov 2006)

mr spanton":3gh98rsr said:


> I once saw a young lass get stabbed in the foot when a scalpel fell off a bench and landed in her toe just like a dart it went straight through her trainers.



I've got the tee shirt for that one. A stanley knife right though my brogues while opening boxes in a warehouse a few years back. It fell in between big toe and #2 taking a neat slice of skin with it. 
Not all bad as I made a claim and got the shoes replaced.

Andy


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## Paul Chapman (6 Nov 2006)

wrightclan":7x1jgbvi said:


> About ten years ago, working in my Dad's business (metalworking machinery sales), I was working one day and was going back and forth between the office and warehouse. As I had been in the office more than the warehouse for awhile, I didn't have my steel toecaps on. I had to go out and move some machinery with a forklift. The forklift I usually used was being used by someone else. So I used a small electric one.
> 
> I had to move the forks wider, and being used to a heavier one with heavier forks, and a stop at the end of the travel, I pulled the fork with alot of force. Being lighter forks, with no stop, it came right off and landed on my big left toe--shattering the toe bones into hundreds of pieces :shock: I still don't have normal range of motion in my toe and I also have no toenail.



Mention of fork-lift trucks reminds me - please don't ever stand on the fork of a fork-lift truck. In my photographic days I was asked to go to an operating theatre and photograph this bloke's foot just before the surgeon cut it off. He had stood on the fork and got it caught in the mechanism. When I photographed his foot, it looked just like a pound of minced beef, held together with cocktail sticks - not a pretty sight :shock: :shock: 

Cheers,

Paul


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## promhandicam (6 Nov 2006)

Thanks to all who have taken time to reply. So far only about 1/3 of people in the poll wear safety footwear _at home_ but judging by some of the stories of what happens if you don't, it might be time to think again. Having worn Doc Marten steel toecap boots for several year I can concur that once broken in they are quite comfortable even if you are on your feet all day. The only problem with them - and I think it is the case with all safety footware - was when kneeling down, if your toes are flexed the edge of the cap digs in. Other than that they aren't too bad.

Cheers and take care :wink: 

Steve


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## mailee (6 Nov 2006)

Well Steve if sandals were good enough for Jesus the carpenter then what more can I say. :lol:


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## promhandicam (6 Nov 2006)

mailee":3893bls4 said:


> Well Steve if sandals were good enough for Jesus the carpenter then what more can I say. :lol:



Yes but in Luke 10 verse 19 Jesus said "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you." So here we seem to have the original safety footware :wink:


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## PowerTool (6 Nov 2006)

Ordinary boots in the workshop,steel-toed riggers when working outside.
Even have steel-toed wellies :wink: 

Andrew


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## mailee (6 Nov 2006)

As a raw apprentice I was issued with a set of steel toe cap boots. One of my first jobs was helping load and unload dustbins full of sand out of a van and you can guess what happened? Yes the bin was planted straight on my foot! Ah lucky I was wearing steel toe caps you might say, but no the rim on the bottom of the bin hit behind the toe cap and straight onto my instep. Most of the guys didn't realise such a young apprentice knew so many colourful words I can tell you! I do still wear them for my full time job but get rid of them as soon as I return from work for something more comfortable in the workshop.....Trainers. Ah heaven! :wink:


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## mel (6 Nov 2006)

mailee
Furniture Maker


Joined: 26 Jun 2005
Posts: 508
Location: grimsby Humberside
Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 5:05 am Post subject: 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MAILEE WROTE 
I always wear safety shoes at work but hate them as they are so uncomfortable. I take them off as soon as I can and get into my trainers in the workshop. My safety shoes are also trainers but terrible for your feet. Nice pair of comfortable trainers for me in the workshop and I am just careful. 

mailee 
how can a pair of shoes or boots that you wear all day be so uncomfortable ????? 
this is always the excuse for the younger generation when i enquire where there boots are at work 
my boots are too tight , my boots are uncomfortable!!! 
tough get um on and break um in , is my reply 
the problem is that the boots or shoes that you wear are of poor quality 
probably provided by the company that you work for 
not many companys provide quality footwear 
speaking for myself 
i spend £50 once a year on a good quality pair of boots out of my own pocket , and i can tell you they are like a pair of carpet slippers from day one , no sore heels , no trapped toes, 
the leather is soft and the ankle cuff comfortable 
plus because you buy them yourself you will actually polish them once in a while  
so what are these boot i hear you cry  
MAGNUM HI-TEC they are worn by the police and other security forces
and also come in steelies 
they weigh next to nothing , so when your on your feet for a super long shift your boots wont give you any trouble 
it pays dividends and cost less than a night out 
regards 
mel 
ps still havnt got the hang of that "quote thing"


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## mailee (6 Nov 2006)

Ha ha, Keep trying with the quote thing Mel. I think you are correct with your comments on the 'boots' they are provided by the company I work for and probably are cheap ones too knowing them. I have the trainer type as the last pair they provided were of the 'boot' variety and after a couple of hours use they were killing me! The trainer type I now wear ore a little better but still kill my feet after six hours. I will look into a pair of those you refer too and maybe try a pair of them instead, anything rather than these heavy cumbersome things I wear during my shift. Thanks for the info mate. :wink:


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## Anonymous (6 Nov 2006)

Hi Mel 
you gotta keep the square brackets round the section you want to quote

Used to make me laugh when I did the college joinerie course, all the kids thought safety boots was dumb, even for a 20 minute coffee break theyd change back into the fairy slippers (trainers) to show them off while they had a fag or whatever :roll: , and see to there hair gel :roll: 
One bloke I worked for was very strict on boots from time to time would "test" your toe caps with a 4x2 :shock: 
Of course your right Mel, you get what you (or more usuyally your employer) pay for as far as boots are concerned, the usual ones make you sweat too much, cheapest minimum materials to get the ce mark. In the old days a decnt pair of boots was part of the wage as they were essential.

I once heard of a bloke had an accident while he was servicing a printing press with a flat platten. He had temporily removed the stop blocks that prevent it rolling out, of course he forgot that, turned it, the platten rolled out, dropped over the edge and cut off all 10 toes and his boot ends as well  , I doubt steelies would have helped :lol: :lol:


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## Lord Nibbo (7 Nov 2006)

Steel toe caps didn't save me!!!!

I jumped off an old army type hut into a patch of nettles wearing steel toe caps.

What I didn't see was an old iron bedstead rusting amongst the nettles, it had pointed hooks on each corner much like an arrow head, well it was my luck to land directly on one of these pointed brackets. It went right through the boot sole and into the centre of my foot, buried itself about two inches, I couldn't pull the boot off the bedstead and I couldn't get my foot out of the boot, it was much like being dowelled inside the boot :lol: It took three other people to release me and the boot, I reckon I lost about a pint of blood that day and about eight pints of sweat. :shock:


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## woodbloke (7 Nov 2006)

I've never worn safety boots and 'spose I should do really. When I had a summer job back in the 70's I worked at a factory in Woking and was wearing a pair of the old suede 'brothel creepers,' the _really_ comfy desert boots that M&S used to sell at the time. They had a sown on crepe sole with about a 6mm welt all the way round...... a fork lift came along one day with a huge load of gear on a pallet and dropped it onto the welt of the boot   , didn't touch my foot, but completely pinned the boot to the floor, took a few deep breaths that day :shock: :shock: - Rob


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## Colin C (7 Nov 2006)

I have steel toe caps that I wear some times but I should and will be wearing them more :roll:  

I boots I have now where from Aldi's and cost under £15, there are a bit heavy but there are comfy and I can where them all day with my feet hurting  .

I have seen the same boots in some shops for twice the price :shock: :roll:


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## stairman (7 Nov 2006)

I usually ware external steel boots so used to them few shoes are more comfortable 

Was wearing a pair of external steel toe caps one afternoon when I decided I wanted a Pint as I approached the pub the doorman (there was a rugby match on) looked at my boots and I think he was about to refuse me entrance when I said that I had to wear them as when I did not I fell over backwards He laughed and let me in


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## andys wood shed (7 Nov 2006)

Safety shoes and safety glasses every time

(ear defenders when required)

Work in engineering seen too many accidents :shock: :shock: 

Andy


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## Anonymous (7 Nov 2006)

Lord Nibbo":3cfqcsd6 said:


> Steel toe caps didn't save me!!!!
> 
> I jumped off an old army type hut into a patch of nettles wearing steel toe caps.
> 
> What I didn't see was an old iron bedstead rusting amongst the nettles, it had pointed hooks on each corner much like an arrow head, well it was my luck to land directly on one of these pointed brackets. It went right through the boot sole and into the centre of my foot, buried itself about two inches, I couldn't pull the boot off the bedstead and I couldn't get my foot out of the boot, it was much like being dowelled inside the boot :lol: It took three other people to release me and the boot, I reckon I lost about a pint of blood that day and about eight pints of sweat. :shock:



OOh nasty experience :shock: 
Reminded me of the time when me and a mate were worse for wear after supping ale one night, we thought lets go a hurdling over the railings at the end of the garden; so we take a run and leap; I (luckily) get over ok, but my mate spiked his boot on the railing, he just sort of cart wheeled round in an arc and hit the ground, we were both laughing our heads off :roll:


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## houtslager (7 Nov 2006)

how about slippers.

As my workshop is in my living room, I am not bothering with my steels, and as I am making shavings in the living room ,its pointless 






Galootting is bloody hard work with oak, oh are my arms aching :shock: :?


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## Anonymous (17 Dec 2006)

I've always worn steely boots as a matter of course. 

I have a discount shoe shop near me called 'Wynsors' - I found a pair of unbranded leather steely boots there that fitted my wide feet so comfortably I went back and bought 4 more for stock. They were £20 a pair. 

A year later I'm still on the first pair!


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## Scott (17 Dec 2006)

Flip-flops are a BAD idea ..... because dropping a Bessey K120 on your big toe really HURTS!!!!


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## promhandicam (17 Dec 2006)

Scott":3l21s9qx said:


> Flip-flops are a BAD idea ..... because dropping a Bessey K120 on your big toe really HURTS!!!!



would that be the voice of experience talking by any chance? :wink: 

I caught my blackened big two nail this evening - the one that started this post , and it flicked off - thankfully without any bleeding. Perhaps it helped that it had been immersed in water for a good part of the day as we spent most of the day sailing on lake Togo. 8) Ironicly, I caught my nail clambering around the end of a stack of wood still wearing the same sandles as I was when the accident happend! Some people just never learn! #-o #-o
Bon soirée,

Steve


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## Scott (18 Dec 2006)

promhandicam":mjlhlnas said:


> would that be the voice of experience talking by any chance? :wink:



ahem ... it might .... :roll:


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## Adam (18 Dec 2006)

dedee":1zteg9mj said:


> mr spanton":1zteg9mj said:
> 
> 
> > I once saw a young lass get stabbed in the foot when a scalpel fell off a bench and landed in her toe just like a dart it went straight through her trainers.
> ...



Imagine the same thing, but the knife falls from the top of some scaffolding, and instead of the foot, its a head without a safety helmet. Urrgh. Yep, straight in like a dart. Not me, but a lad I was at school with. They whisked him off to A+E, and he always wears a safety hat these days.

Adam


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## Vormulac (18 Dec 2006)

mr spanton":kkftd0x9 said:


> OOh nasty experience :shock:
> Reminded me of the time when me and a mate were worse for wear after supping ale one night, we thought lets go a hurdling over the railings at the end of the garden; so we take a run and leap; I (luckily) get over ok, but my mate spiked his boot on the railing, he just sort of cart wheeled round in an arc and hit the ground, we were both laughing our heads off :roll:



I did something very similar a few years ago, drunkenly hurdling a low fence; one leg made it over, but the trailing foot got caught atop the fence, so my 6'2" sixteen stone frame went over and the errant leg tried to stay put! There was pain of quite impressive proportions (even through the haze of booze) and a horrific grisly squelching noise from the knee as it twisted. It hurt like twittery for about a fortnight and I had quite a pronounced limp for about a month!

As for safety footware; when I worked at the Ford plant in Swansea, myself and all the other newbies were ordered to go to the stores and pickup a pair of steel toe boots each. I was working with another of the newbies later that day, when the young lady concerned dropped a 6 inch steel rule (you know, the really thin ones that weigh about as much as a postage stamp) on her foot. She proceded to jump with glee, exceitedly announcing that her safety boots 'worked' and her foot was completely unharmed! :lol: 

V.


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## Scrit (18 Dec 2006)

I have to admit that I frequently change into ordinary trainers/trainer boots when installing furniture or kitchens, etc on site. Lack of safety? Well yes, but on the other hand the amount of crawling and kneeling you end up doing in the average installation can become extremely painful after only a few hoursand steel toecapped boots mean that you';; almost certainly end up marking or damaging _something_ in a client's house.....

I'll now slink away before "Mr Safety Manager" (aka Mel) catches up with me..... :wink: 

Scrit


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## Anonymous (18 Dec 2006)

Scrit, I agree big boots always seem to damage the kitchen your installing. I know why the granite people have to wear safety boots I just don't understand why they have to kick the furniture every time they bring in a piece of granite :lol:


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## buzzy bee (18 Dec 2006)

Hi

I used to wear safety boots when was working in agricultural engineering but now I have started doing blacksmithing, safety boots are the least of my worries! Blacksmithing has got to be the most unsafe practice and also my dogs seem to take pride in destroying boots but not trainers! I prefer my trainers!

My friend wears wooden cloggs alot of the time but he has recently worn a hole in the bottom, so he is going to make them either platform clogs (with hardwood) or we are going to shoe him like a horse (although we are artist blacksmiths and not farriers I recon we should get away with this shoeing!)

Cheers

Dave


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## Anonymous (19 Dec 2006)

It has got to worth wearing heavy safety boots all day long if only for that wonderful moment when you get home, sit in your comfiest chair, and just before you have that first mouthful of beer... 

...YOU TAKE THEM OFF! 

ahhhhh - bliss!!


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## mel (19 Dec 2006)

scrit 
LOL 
it may suprise some of you to know :shock: 
the legislation actually says about STOUT footwear not saftey boots. 
there are a lot of different descriptions as to what we call saftey boots 
and it is normally the company that you work for that stippulates steel toe cap boots , normally in company policy 

hope im not getting a reputation here. as im just a humble foreman joiner :roll:


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## DaveL (19 Dec 2006)

buzzy bee":bl3dqiwl said:


> My friend wears wooden cloggs alot of the time but he has recently worn a hole in the bottom, so he is going to make them either platform clogs (with hardwood) or we are going to shoe him like a horse (although we are artist blacksmiths and not farriers I recon we should get away with this shoeing!)


 
My footwear of choice is clogs. English clogs, shod with rubber that needs replacing when it wears down to the wood. Traditionally clogs had iron rails on then, just like horse shoes, still used by clog dancers outside as they sound better and on the right surface spark nicely. However they shred carpet and don't do a lot for wooden floors, but for wearing in a smithy they should be ideal.


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## Anonymous (21 Dec 2006)

buzzy bee":30xyr6hh said:


> My friend wears wooden cloggs alot of the time but he has recently worn a hole in the bottom, so he is going to make them either platform clogs (with hardwood) or we are going to shoe him like a horse (although we are artist blacksmiths and not farriers I recon we should get away with this shoeing!



Its a shame your mate let his clogs go as they are basicaly ruined now, not much you can do with them  
Apart from the fact that clogs are superbly comfortable all year round, I also like the fact that you can re-sole them your self. They need careful and regular maintaenace as the wood wears out fast if it's unprotected. I got mine for £45 in 1996, they have been re shod at next to no cost using recycled material's 5 or 6 times. If I'd bought 5 or 6 pair of fairy slipper "safety boot's" :roll: I'd have paid maybe £100+ not to mention the wasted manufactured material's and energy, carbon emissions from the factorys/transport, filling up the landfill, encoraging yet more crappy import's etc :roll: :lol: 
I use old conveyor belt or industrial matting; I have used flexible floortile adhesive, 2 pack DGU sealant, evo stick; All of these work well; all were glued then nailed with 1 inch round wires (snipped down from 2 inch nail's to get a fatter nail with a bigger head) it's fine as long as the wood sole is white-clean and also bone dry when you do the shodding. I dont have a last, but instead used a 4x2 resting on the floor and held upright in the post vice to get a firm surface to nail against.


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## Scrit (22 Dec 2006)

I'd agree with you on the recycled bit, Mr. Spanton. Mine (working clogs) are currently _"hors de combat"_ awaiting so leatherwork repairs (hence the safety boots). In fact they've been out of commission 2 months now (come back, Rick!). Only problem I find with irons or segs is that they can be a bit slippy on concrete floors, whilst the rubbers don't seem to last. any solution?

Scrit


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## Anonymous (22 Dec 2006)

I did try iron shod's initially but same as you I found they were just too slippy on factory concrete floors. When I use the rubber soles I cover the entire area from toe to instep, not just the area at the outer 1 inch or so as with the walkley rubber shod's.
I tried this industrial hard nylon type plastic on the heels once.....lethal mistake as they went like skates :roll: :shock: sharp removed them! Another thing that didnt work (as a glue) was DGU bitumen, it creeps after a while and the sole comes away. The rubber does wear out wahtever method I use to glue them on, but then its only a 1/2 hour job to redo them for nowt, and its satisfying as well.
Might be feasible to get old soles from itshide/vibram boots etc and nail them on? I have a pair of karrimor KSB boots I got in 1990 they wear very well tough as old boots :roll: :lol: still going strong.

PS what does hors de combat mean?


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