Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Bitumen Boy]

Does anyone know of a source of reasonable quality safety shoes to wear around the house / garage? Preferably mail order. Not boots - I want something that can be left loosely laced and used as a slip on. Had two pairs from Screwfix in the last year, in both £20 and £40 flavours, that have fallen apart and gone back, and the last few pairs I had from market stalls were no better. If there are any shops within a reasonable distance that do a shoe with a steel toe (boots are available everywhere, but too much of a faff) I'm ignorant of them, and in any case who's to say the quality would be any better. The £40 ones from Screwfix were particularly annoying - the foam/fabric insole disintegrated in a couple of days, the pink cardboard below that failed inside a fortnight then the plastic sole started to peel off soon after that, just another load of cheap chinky rubbish. Call me an old luddite if you like, but I don't think cardboard of any colour is a suitable material for manufacturing footwear from

I bought a pair from a shop in Gloucester when I was 16 that lasted me a good 5 years or so of daily use, so I don't think it's anything I'm doing wrong. Once again I despair of the quality of manufactured goods these days...

[ukdave2002]

One of my customers is a shoe manufacturer; you wont get anything in the UK that costs less than £100 that's not made in the east these days, They moved production from the UK to there about 5 years ago, and reckon the quality is the same but production costs significantly lower.
I have some Doc Martin safety trainers , cost about £70, which is probably what you need to pay for comfortable quality stuff, had them for about 5 years and they are still good, but generally only get worn at weekends.

I also have a pair of slip on safety ankle boots that came from Aldi for around £15...bought them as I was going to be stepping in concrete for a week in India, they got really abused but hosed down each day without any ill effect and have since been used for jobs where I suspected they may well be binned at the end of the job, however they are still going strong, but are and allays have been really uncomfortable!

Don't by on line! you can't buy shoes without trying them on

Dave

[Bitumen Boy]

[mikeC]

I've got a pair of Doc Martin steel toecap shoes which must be at least ten years old, although admittedly they haven't had a hard life. I think they are still available for around £60...

edit: Here you are:

http://www.protecdirect.co.uk/Protec/Personal-Protective-Equipment-(PPE)/Safety-Footwear/Dr-Martens-Safety-Footwear/Dr-Martens-Icon-2216-PW-Shoe---SB/p/13711001?utm_source=Protec&utm_medium=Froogle&utm_campaign=Shopping&gclid=COvS5vvQrcUCFQLlwgodl3IAzQ

[kevin2306]

Doc Martin wearer here too, both in the garage/garden and during site visits.
Go find a local Arco branch and have a mooch.

http://www.arco.co.uk/

Kev

[Penguin45]

+1 for Arco.

P45.
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'67 Wolseley MkI 18/85, '70 Austin MkII 1800 The Landcrab Forum.

[Bitumen Boy]

Thanks guys, will check them out.

[ka]

My DM shoes are comfy and worn most days, but a tad heavy.
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KA

Better three than four.

[alanb]

I've got a pair of "dickies" safety shoes I bought about 7 years or so ago, they still look good although I haven't worn them for a while, they were only about £30 from the local builders/ironmongery store.
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old tourer


Morris 8 two seater