Winter work boots - how to choose part 1

Winter work boots - how to choose part 1 

Many of you ask what winter boots for such and such work. Will these be appropriate? Will these be good? I will try to answer these and other questions in a series of entries on work shoes for winter work.

In this part of the article, we will discuss in as simple language as possible:

• what a modern approach to winter work shoes looks like
• what is the WR parameter in work shoes and how is it assigned
• what is a waterproof membrane and how does it work
• what the CI parameter in a work shoe means and how we can support our feet in thermal insulation
• is the anti-skid class of the shoe important when choosing work shoes for winter?

But from the outset, winter is a real challenge for our work boots. Wet, salt, mud, slippery, generally a massacre. Until you would like to jump into warm slippers and wait until spring, or better until summer. What are we looking for this winter and what does winter work shoes even mean. Is there currently typical winter work shoes in the workwear industry? With a lamb and a fur coat?

The current direction of market development is closely related to what is happening in the workwear department. We are moving away from thick suits filled with an undersuit and focusing on layering technical insulating and breathable materials. So, are these tasteful sheepskin shoes for you? Take into account that if you do not work in the Arctic Circle or your job is to stand in one place all day, you really do not need warming shoes. The heat produced by your body can be perfectly retained by the appropriate shoe shell and sock. Secondly, buying shoes with a factory warmer makes you use them for a very short period of time during the year, because let's face it, extreme temperatures in winter occur for a very short time (at least in Poland).

So let's focus on what we are looking for? What does your foot need in winter? It certainly wants to be dry, i.e. not to get wet from the outside, it wants to be dry and not get warm inside the shoe. Your foot wants to be fit and won't twist when you slip, and finally it wants to be well insulated against the cold.

Water protection and breathability

So from the beginning. The foot needs to be dry and not get wet from the outside, so it is worth taking a look at shoes with the WR - Water Resistant marking or with a waterproof membrane. You have certainly already encountered the WR marking on work shoes and you have certainly wondered what it means and how does certification of such a shoe look in practice. Well, during the 80-minute test where the shoe is exposed to water from the outside, this shoe should not have more than 3 cm2 of the total wet area inside. So after 80 minutes of standing in the water, you should not have more than 3 cm2 of the wet surface of the work shoe in the shoe. The result, probably not the worst, considering that we really rarely spend 80 minutes standing in the water.

The second point - waterproof membranes - a secret deciphered and sellers hate it ...;) Yes, yes, it sounds like magic again. Well, the waterproof membrane is nothing more than a piece of polymer, the "eyes" or pores of which are so small that they do not let water particles pass from the outside, but large enough to release water vapor from the inside of the shoe (that's why we say that the shoe breathes). And that's all the technology - but it works :). Should you be looking for work boots with Gore Tex? The choice of the membrane manufacturer is up to you. Of course, the principle of operation does not change. Membranes, however, may differ in terms of vapor permeability parameters, which is extremely important in this case.

Is it worth choosing membrane shoes? From my own mountain experience, I know how important a membrane is when your shoe deals with rain, mud and difficult weather. Personally, I strongly recommend choosing membrane boots for the fall and winter period. With proper cleaning and impregnation, membrane shoes will perfectly protect your foot from getting wet (see Albatros Ultratrail Olive MID shoes).

As an alternative to membranes, you can simply choose leather shoes (preferably full-grain leather work shoes, made of one piece, such as mode BASE BE-UNIFORM S3 and impregnate them well). After all, leather is an excellent hydrophobic material that you can additionally treat with, for example, Nikwax impregnation agents.

We already know that the foot should not get wet from the outside. It is also important that the shoe allows the foot to be properly insulated against the low temperature from the outside. The Cold Insulation (CI) parameter is responsible for such insulation. Well, it just sounds ... mysterious. But I am explaining what is going on and how the shoe is tested. We put the shoe into a device called the cold box, the top of the shoe is covered with insulating material to maintain conditions similar to natural use. The temperature drop on the insole surface inside the shoe should not be more than 10 degrees C during the 30-minute test. So in your shoe, while standing, assuming that you are not producing heat, you shouldn't cool down by more than 10 degrees in 30 minutes. Remember, however, that the shoe alone will never provide you with adequate insulation against the cold. To achieve a satisfactory result, you also need a well-chosen mater sock