On 19 Feb, 11:58, "john bently" wrote:

Or would anyone know of some boots (preferably not too expensive) that are
generally believed by many people to be a good buy? *Thanks for any advice.

This is not so simple a question as you might think. I've taken to
wearing fabric-sided walking boots for general travel through airports
and cities, and even for walking to the shops. Most "fashion shoes"
are now so paedatrically illiterate that even wearing them to walk
down stairs is outside their design range.

Problem with walking boots is that, despite all the manufacturers
protestations that they know so much about feet, they don't usually
make them in different width fittings! I can't get my feet into
Brasher boots at all, but the pair of Contour boots I have (similar to
their Nevada but 5 years old) fit me like a glove and are so supremely
comfortable I am tempted to wear them everywhere. List price now is
about 75 quid, I paid less than 60 5 years ago in one of those
villages between Dartmoor and the A38.

I've just finished a 6 week trip round Europe, wearing WoodWorld
safety boots at work and a pair of Gore-tex Agile boots in the
evenings and at weekends. I had to go to a meeting wearing a pair of
Clark's leather brogues that cost over a hundred quid and I had a
blister on the ball of my feet after 10 minutes.

I buy my 'everyday' boots from a workwear shop in Stamford, trying on
what they have that will fit my high instep and wide forefoot, and
only rarely pay more than £35. I used to buy Hi-Tec boots from them
down the years, but they seem determined to go the fashion route now
and make footwear for youngsters who want to look like robocop. They
are narrower at the front too.

The soles on cheaper workwear-shop boots seem to survive walking on
paving and the steel decks of ships for twice as long as those on e.g.
Berghaus or karrimoor branded leather boots.

Don't overlook Doc Martens and the Airwear sole either. They were
originally designed as industrial footwear with a difference: they
were comfortable to wear and did not feel like a steel box on your
foot after 20 minutes.

I had one pair of very cheap boots with mock-leather uppers and a
padded ankle band of some synthetic rubbish that I wore for several
years. They had a good vibram sole, and I changed the foot liner for
an expensive one (all of two quid). Happening to be in the USA once I
wore them for 3 weeks walking round the Big Bend national park and
they were perfectly fine. Ten years later I still wore them for
gardening and walking the dogs, until the welt failed. I'm sure they
cost me less than a tenner in Grantham Market. Vibram and Goodyear
workshoe soles are worth looking out for, especially if long life is
important to you.