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Tell us your favorite urban walking boot or shoe

STW

Familiar Face
Messages
65
Location
Rocky mountains
What boot or shoe do you use for traveling or city walking where you're on your feet all day and may walk miles on pavements?
What boot or shoe can you wear day after day like this without coming to hate it?

Ideally I take one pair of boots on such a trip. I pack light anyway, even for a two week European trip, and an extra pair of shoes takes up too much space in my carry on. But it seems like any boot gets maddening after you wear it for a lot of walking too many days in a row. Even a comfortable favorite at home can become miserable when you wear it day after day on a trip. Maybe others don't find this to be true and happily wear the same shoes for walking day after day?

Such a boot/shoe should be versatile.
--It has to be comfortable enough to wear out of the hotel after breakfast, walk miles, stand for hours in museums, and not really be off my feet all day except for maybe a shady lunch somewhere. For me this usually means a fairly thick sole--not a leather dress sole anyway--and a shaped insole.
--Ought to look right with casual trousers and jeans, but it should also look fine with nicer trousers and a jacket at a restaurant.
--Ideally, it should look ok with shorts, but I never/seldom wear shorts while traveling in European cities. But if I get a work out in the hotel gymn, I'd rather not be wearing wingtips.

Running shoes seem to work for a lot of people for walking-intensive travel. For all the boots I have, I only have one pair of runners and never wear them except when acutally running. And I don't go running on a two week trip because all the walking is enough. But when I have taken an extra pair of shoes, it's been running shoes, and then I usually don't run, and I hate wearing them around town but I do it anyway after a few days when I can't stand the idea of putting back on the other shoes.

Sometimes I've used hiking boots for this, choosing my most comfortable ones, boots that I can wear day after day for a couple weeks heavily loaded in the Wind River mtns. My boots are classic looking welted old school boots, and where I life in the N.American west, you can wear heavy hiking boots to work with hardly a raised eyebrow. But they are less versatile in Europe where mountaineering boots are for mountaineering and if you're wearing them around Brugge, people think you got lost on the way to Chamonix.

On a recent couple weeks in Portugal I took Blundstones which I thought would work because they are really comfortable for walking around at work all day, and they sort of work with a range of dress. But they don't have a lot of arch support and on this trip I discovered I hated putting in miles of walking on them. After a few days, I dreaded putting them on in the morning.

For an upcoming trip I'm now planning to use these. They are comfortable for hours of unladen hiking on mountain and desert trails (an identical pair is for trail use, but this pair is just broken in). My link didn't seem to work so here is the url: <http://www.flickr.com/photos/95075318@N00/4438854611/>
4438854611
 

Speedbird

A-List Customer
Messages
359
Location
London, UK
Does it have to be very vintage in style or just not lary scary neon with 'branding' all over them?

oh BTW the url link didn't work either.
 

STW

Familiar Face
Messages
65
Location
Rocky mountains
Speedbird said:
Does it have to be very vintage in style or just not lary scary neon with 'branding' all over them?

oh BTW the url link didn't work either.
The link showed a pair of brown chukka boots over the ankle, six lace holes, shaped like a WW 1 boot. Has a low profile vibram sole that is good for walking but the lugs don't stand out too much.

So yeah, they are generally vintage style without being a specific reference. But I'm curious about whatever you all have found best for this kind of day in day out walking in the city.
 

Tomasso

Incurably Addicted
Messages
13,719
Location
USA
STW said:
What boot or shoe do you use for traveling or city walking where you're on your feet all day and may walk miles on pavements?
Mephisto's Goodyear welted dress line. I wear them in inclement weather as well. Certainly not the sleekest shoe in my closet but for the conditions mentioned they're perfect.

Shoes400.jpg





Now for rural environs I have several boots for various tasks/conditions but my favorites are these from Russell. Weatherproofed kangaroo and light as a feather.


krymparoolg.gif
 

pipvh

Practically Family
Messages
644
Location
England
R Williams Gardener boots, and recently Red Wing Chelsea Boots (very similar quality) are my all-time favourite pavement bashers. They look good with virtually everything and pavements don't wear the soles out in two seconds.
 

apba1166

A-List Customer
Messages
372
Location
Philadelphia
I like Merrell Barcelona midboots. Light. Tough. Not a killer price. Flat soles that can be replaced. But, alas, when I went to get more, seems like discontinued and they've gone to molded soles for their boots.
 

Dav

One Too Many
Messages
1,706
Location
Somerset, England
As someone who spends all day on his feet(I work in the building industry) I've always found anything by Caterpillar(not the steel toe type) to be very comtortable, check out their Walton boot its quite smart as well IMO, I have them on at the moment.
 

johnnycanuck

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,008
Location
Alberta
I have a new pair of blundstone boots that are my go to boots right now http://www.everythingaustralian.com.au/shopexd.asp?id=288 . If they have no support left you can go out and buy some new in-soles for them. http://www.everythingaustralian.com.au/shopexd.asp?id=392 I have a pair of Dr. Martens I have traveled with http://www.theshoecompany.com/shop-by-brand/dr-martens/dr-martens/prod203XXX629XXXX.html . A pair of soft toed redwing boots for hiking http://www.redwingshoes.com/productdetails.aspx?prodid=1061 . Apart from that I am Canadian so when I travel and its over 16 deg Celsius its usually shorts and sandals time http://www.teva.com/ProductDetails.aspx?g=m&categoryID=422&productID=4134&model=Terra+Fi+3 .

Johnny
 

Smithy

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,139
Location
Norway
RM Williams, especially the Craftsman and Blaxland. IMHO, the best boots and some of the most comfortable urban footwear one can buy. Deservedly an Aussie icon.
 

Javelina

New in Town
Messages
42
Location
New York,NY
In my experience, by far the most comfortable, durable all purpose shoe has been Paraboot. I own 2 pairs of their Chambord shoe and both have lasted over 10 years. Norwegian welt, can be resoled. I've put miles and miles on those shoes. In NYC, Europe, everywhere.

http://www.pediwear.co.uk/paraboot/products/2259.php

I own a bunch of other models but the Chambord was my original and what convinced me of their high quality.

Only problem - they're hard to find in the U.S. and are usually overpriced here. I would buy them online from Europe and have them shipped, it will save you $$$.

I also have a pair of LL Bean North Col Hikers, which are a traditional Norwegian welt boot. Excellent quality, design, etc. But LL Bean discontinued them so that doesn't help.

Running shoes aren't supportive enough to wear for long periods. I am very disappointed in the Merrell Chameleon Travelers I bought. Not much stability or support.
 

theman

Vendor
Messages
25
Location
Maryland
RedBack UACH "Crazy Horse" work boots. I decided to get a set to check out for myself due to a screen seen interest, and I must say these have an awesome sole on them. Feels better than walking on Dr. Martin's air soles or even some Nikes (even trail running shoes I have) as far a sole cushioning and heel to toe transfer is great to boot! (pun intended) I'd put the sole comfort on par with my most comfortable set of running shoes, $100 asics amazingly as I've never had a boot feel that good until now.
The leather is top notch toughness, my feet had to break these in for a few days, but they've formed to my feet very well and quick for the thickness of leather...the soles were already most comfy all day long and now the leather matches in comfort. The lacing setup works very well, smooth and quick. Very solid boot that will provide years of great service from my initial take on them.
I got mine from barebonesworkwear.com, but I called them up for a better price than online while still using a US based company for purchase. But you can also get them for around $120 shipped from the Aussie's, koolstuff.com.au for ex.

You can get these with steel toe as well, I went without for personal preference.
Aussie made so Aussie/British sizing so USA folks remember to subtract 1.0 size, but even then they are very full cut, so depending on being a thick sock wearer or not you may want to go down a half size more.

UACH%20angled.jpg
 

Mahagonny Bill

Practically Family
Messages
563
Location
Seattle
This may be blasphemous, but you did mention urban boots.

I work in the city, but spend a lot of time crawling around buildings, especially industrial sites. For me, the best choice has been "tactical" boots, usually made with first responders in mind.

My favorite is the Rocky "Fort Hoot" waterproof boot.



The boots are as lightweight as a running shoe, but with enough support and protection to deal with light-industrial environments. Inexpensive too.
 

Spellflower

Practically Family
Messages
511
Location
Brooklyn
Ah, the quest for the perfect all purpose boots- the fur felt fedora of footwear! I know it well.

My last big trip (Australia), I brought only a pair of Ecco hiking shoes, and was pretty pleased with them. I put superfeet insoles in for support and wore them hiking on pavement, trails, and carpeted offices during an internship. They don't look dressy, but they're more conservative than hiking boots. The only reason they live in the closet now is that I don't want to wear them out in daily use as they're not resoleable.

This fall I bought a pair of Red Wing Gentleman Travelers (also known as the Beckman). They are made in the USA and have a classic look that I hoped would be dressy yet rugged (like a fedora). Unfortunately, they turned out to be neither: the first time I wore them in the snow they got some pretty nasty gouges in them, so they don't look classy, but aren't as tough as my NOS Chippewa work boots.

I'm now considering a pair of these Paddock Boots,but I can't yet vouch for them.
 

Tadite

Familiar Face
Messages
99
Location
New England
I'm thinking of buying some Abington Hiking Boots. Made by Timberland. Very light and with a traditional look.


tim_abngtnhiker_brn01.jpg


The thing that worries me about all boots when going on long-trips is if they start to get wearing after a while. I've mostly stuck to a nice decent pair of walking shoes but think it would be nice to change things around.

I also like the Roll Tops but I don't think they would be good long-distance boots with those strange soles. What do you think? To overly dramatic?

alife-timberland-abington-08.jpg
 

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