Basically I'm looking for something with this type of design
Something fashionable that I could wear on a day to day basis but still of high enough quality that it could have utility in an outdoor/protest/combat situation. I'm pretty sure Doc Martens are kind of shit in the latter regard, no?
Also any other tips for owning boots? How difficult are they to break in? Are they going to cause my ankles to bleed? These would be my first pair. I'm not trying to go above $170 if possible.
Got any milsurp stores around you? Cadet boots were my go to back in the day
Hmm I might just have to hit one up but I’m not entirely sure I want to patronize local chuds. Then again I guess I will be patronizing chuds anyway if I buy them off amazon/elsewhere.
If you want military stuff you're almost certainly getting it from chuds. There's not much way around that, though you might find boots if you haunt thrift stores for a while.
Maybe Vietnam still has some of their “Yankee GI lost and found” stuff still laying around
My tims were $200 and have lasted for years and are super duper comfy
Was looking for a more guerilla aesthetic than street but ngl those black ones do look really good.
wear them until they look worn. there are other less "trendy" brands of work boots (and i've heard that Timbs' durability has dipped in recent years anyway). I find Wolverines serviceable enough, but they're about the same quality. if you want actual "combat boots," any military surplus or uniform store will sell them.
They do look really good and imo definitely fit what you're looking for once they're well broken in. Again I cannot stress enough how comfy they are, even when they were brand new.
I wore Belleville ultralights daily for four years in the Marines, about as comfy as sneakers and held up fine in the desert/jungle (on the admittedly rare occasions I went to those places). I also wore them while working out about once a week on average, and jumped in a pool with them about once a month on average, which didn't seem to be a problem. If you can find some in good condition at a thrift store or something, that would probably be the best deal.
Takes about a week of daily wear to break in. I suggest getting winter socks unless you live in a very hot environment, since the fluffiness acts as extra padding. Your ankles shouldn't bleed unless you have really thin socks.
Seconding Belleville. Those are some of the best quality boots I’ve ever worn, though I think they are pretty pricy last time I checked.
Solovair boots are made in the factory that used to make docs when they were made in england. They look pretty much the same, just w/ white stitching instead of yellow and a different tag. Afaik they are supposed to be higher quality than current docs. I've only had a pair for a year though, and all the docs I've had I've thrifted. So I can't really say if that is true or not yet tbh.
In my experience it depends a ton on the boot how hard they are to break in. For doc type boots (including solovair) its not every hard because tbh the leather used is fairly thin and not all that rigid. Wear thick socks at first and you will probably be fine.
Thanks for the info. If I wear, for example, a size 9 in “regular” shoes (sneakers, etc) would that be the same size in boots or should I go one higher?
Why do you want combat boots specifically? Apparently they've done a lot of research and boots tall boots don't actually provide more ankle support. A lot of spooky special forces guys are wearing lower rising fancy hiking boots these days.
Really depends on the brand. A half size "too big" is a good idea because you will want to wear some thick socks inside if you're hiking a ways. A lot of hikers even wear a thin sock inside a thick sock.
In addition to Belleville, which has already been mentioned, Thorogood is another brand that’s expensive but amazing quality, though I’m not entirely sure they fit the aesthetic you’re going for. My current work boots are Thorogood and I was able to get a safety boot voucher to buy them. I’ve had them for about two years now and they are excellent so far. Also says on the website that they’re an employee owned company, though I don’t know the details of that.
If you're looking at Docs then get a pair of Solovairs instead. They use the original Doc's design which is a lot sturdier, and they can be resoled.
Otherwise maybe try some Corcoran Jump Boots or a pair of Redwings. Have used all of these at one point or another as motorbike boots but also as something to wear about the place once I've hopped off the bike.
Alternatively you could go for a pair of Redbacks or Blundstones. Think they're cattle wrangling boots for the Australian outback originally. Very comfy and sturdy, and some are even waterproof. They look nice too. I see lots of trendy people wearing them with all sorts of outfits.
Alternatively to that - builders boots. I've had a pair of DeWalt steel toecapped boots for ages now and they've taken me through warehousing and building jobs, up mountains, and just as a nice rugged fashion item. Also wore them on the bike, but ended up staining the toes black from the oil and urban muck.
(Assuming your in the USA) Check around your comfortable travel range for military posts or National Guard armories. Then look for pawn shops. Probably decent prices but selection (condition, sizes) will be all over the place. And as has been suggested elsewhere, military surplus, especially if they are located near some military post or base should have a pretty good selection and manageable prices.
Its getting harder and harder to find them, but if there is a boot/shoe repair place locally they might be able to give recommendations as well as be able to give you an idea of what kind of repairs they can do. Resoling probably won't be that big of a deal for general walking. (The only two times I destroyed the soles of my boots were from grinding dry sweep into oils spills and the military issued desert boots soles just melting off from the heat ... which... what the fuck.) If they can restitch the leather panels would be amazing because my attempts to sew panels back together always results in failure.
If you get something online, in my recent experiences, price does seem to matter. I was (and am still) looking for decent quality but affordable recruit/jungle boots for wearing around the farm. I found some 25$ jungle boots on Amazon (the company/brand , the leather was super stiff and no amount of leather conditioner and light use seemed to soften them up and after 3 weeks serious cracks started forming that went completely through. A second pair of boots from Amazon, Ad Tec, were on sale for like 80$ and had soft leather that hasn't cracked apart but the stitching started to fail on one of the boots after the return period. The heel of the style that I have is higher than the toe which seems to make them wildly uncomfortable for walking on uneven terrain and they're heavy as fuck.
NOTE 1: Get some leather conditioner stuff like saddle soap and water proofing like mink oil (pretty sure it isn't actually made from mink). Probably works decently on vegan boots but you might want to do some quick reading to make sure there isn't a specific product for vegan boots that would do a better job. Get in the habit of at least wiping down your boots a few times a month and applying the saddle soap/leather conditioner of your choice. More often if they get really dirty (lots of mud, sand, oil, fuel). Dirt in the stitching can slowly cut through the threads of the stitching.
NOTE 2: Don't be afraid of returning the boots if anything feels off or wrong. The Ad Tec boots that I mentioned, the boot that's actively falling apart had some piece inside that I could feel on my heel (pretty much where the stitching started to fail between the leather panels) that felt a bit weird and I've been wondering if that was a sign of that particular boot just having some kind of manufacturing goof-up that should have been a warning that something was wrong.
I just got garmonts for hiking. They're NATOs boot provider though, which I feel a bit bad about, but I have funny shaped feet, and those are the only ones that didn't make my feet ache.
