Robert Connolly schreef:
Hi. If any of you remember my post about metal strength, for safety boots,
this is sort of like a followup.
If any of you have careers that involve wearing safety boots, I strongly
suggest Matterhorn boots. I've bought about 15 different safety boots in my
life, many of them claimed to be water proof. Some were leather, some were
rubber, none of them were waterproof after a couple weeks even with heavy
applications of silicone waterproofer.
A couple months ago I got Matterhorn Nytek mining boots with gore-tex.
Although they cost about twice as much as the best boots I previously
owned, they are the first boots that are still 100% waterproof after 2
months. They contain no animal products. The Nytek is a leather
alternative.. with leather boots, if glue drips on them and I pick it off
later, leather comes off with the glue. When I pick dried glue glue off
nytek, the nytek is undamaged.
These particular boots also have an armadillo metatarsal guard to protect
the top of the foot, while being flexable enough to squat down and bend the
boot. I did have to replace the laces.. the best laces are kevlar but
kevlar is abrasive and will wear out the lace eyelets, so I went with
leather laces and coated them with dubbin grease (beeswax and animal oils).
Many of Matterhorn boots also have a kevlar liner to protect the foot
against objects that cut threw the outer layers.
I suggest going with a half size larger than your normal tennis shoes, to
allow space for insole inserts and thick socks which make boots more
comfortable.
Gore has fairly strict standards on who can buy their fabrics, and use
their 'gore-tex' trademark. Garments with the 'gore-tex' trademark must be
tested by a third-party to prove the garment will remain waterproof during
normal use. Most gore-tex garments come with a warranty. My feet are never
damp from perspiration because of the gore-tex liner in the boots.
I would also like to note that I found that the U.S.A. has the best safety
standards for boots. Canadian, European, and Australian standards use less
energy to test toe cap strength. I should also mention that the Mythbusters
TV show tested steel toed boots, and the boots failed 1000 pounds over the
standards... at 6000 pounds. Matterhorn boots are made in the USA.
After over 100 hours of research, if I were to make my own boots, the only
way I could improve these matterhorn mining boots is with a turtleskin(tm)
liner over the gore-tex (to resist needle punctures), and a
beryllium-nickel alloy toe cap. But as they are, they're the best boots
available.
Robert
I personally don't need safety boots for a working environment, but I
heard say that the usual metal cap in (cheap?)safety boots can have a
disadvantage. When, say, a forklift drives over your foot while you are
not wearing a shoe with a metal cap embedded in it, your footbones will
be broken, but it can and will likely heal. If you do have a metal cap
in your shoe, the metal will stop the weight from crushing your foot,
but it will cut through your shoe into the ground beneath it and simply
sever your toes from your foot in the process.
I wonder whether this old tale still stands true with modern safety boots?
Warren
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