# Boot Etiquette **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 15, 2008, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boot-etiquette/477181 "2008-12-15T00:28:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boot-etiquette/477181/21 "2008-12-15T16:50:18Z")
> [@clayton\_e](#): > > When the sidewalks are REALLY ICY I use [Yaktrax](http://www.yaktrax.com/products.aspx). Doesn’t matter how great your tread is. Try moving on super slick ice (especially when it covers at least a third of any route you’d take) and you might as well be wearing sandals covered in cooking spray. Ahh, memories of the freezing rain I had to walk home in one day in grade school. The bus stop was about 1/2 mile from my grandma’s house and the timing of the rain was such that there was no salting done. I basically skated-in-shoes the entire way over about 1/2" of ice. I only fell twice! ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boot-etiquette/477181/22 "2008-12-15T17:11:45Z")
> [@clayton\_e](#): > > I use a decent pair of hiking boots. They’re heavy enough where they don’t get cold like sneakers in the 2 miles I go to work each day. It can get pretty cold up here, and after running around all day at work my feet will be damp from sweat. -10 degree weather even when all bundled up will just kill damp feet. Hiking boots are okay, the problem is that road salt is terrible on quality leather (and gums up gore-tex pretty bad), and most hiking boots are cloth/leather down to the sole, so they get ruined pretty fast by walking on salted streets, which is a waste of a good pair of hiking boots. The advantage of snow boots with the rubberized lower foot, is they will not be destroyed by salt. Plus, I just think the rubber foot is superior in waterproofness to waterprooffed cloth or leather. If you are a woman, OP, the Columbia Bugabootoo (very similar design to the Sorel I linked to) is my most favored brand. They are often on sale at places like [Campmor.com](http://Campmor.com). Just don’t buy the zip-ups- the zippers suck. ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boot-etiquette/477181/23 "2008-12-15T17:47:00Z")
> [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > … high cost does not mean high quality. I got a pair at Farm&Fleet that are great and have I’ve had for several years. Probably about $40-50. I’ve had the opposite experience. If I pay less than $100 for a pair of boots, they don’t last more than one season. I love my [Blundstones](http://www.blundstone.ca/) - they are waterproof, warm (when worn with wool socks), extremely comfortable, and I can happily wear them indoors (this is how I address the “what to wear at work” problem). The last pair I had lasted seven years.\* I don’t do a lot of trudging in deep snow, tho. I mostly get around by bike, and I find them extremely useful for that. - - they would have lasted longer if they weren’t steel toes, and if I hadn’t accidentally melted the sole by stepping in a fire in year 2. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boot-etiquette/477181/24 "2008-12-15T17:49:15Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > Ahh, memories of the freezing rain I had to walk home in one day in grade school. The bus stop was about 1/2 mile from my grandma’s house and the timing of the rain was such that there was no salting done. I basically skated-in-shoes the entire way over about 1/2" of ice. I only fell twice! Freezing rain is the devil. It doesn’t happen too often here (only once every couple of years or less), but chipping your car out of 1/2 inch of ice is just about enough to make you start looking for houses in Arizona. ETA: Blundstones are Australian boots, Sorels are Canadian boots - which are you gonna choose for winter boots? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boot-etiquette/477181/25 "2008-12-15T17:53:44Z")
You shouldn’t wear dirty wet boots or shoes beyond the entrance as a the floors will a mess through the whole building. Bring a pair dry shoes when you go to work or other peoples houses. Boots make you fell like you have stones tied to your ankles after a while, so I’d think you’d want comfortable shoes for work anyways. ---
**Author:** ![Daerlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Daerlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daerlyn)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boot-etiquette/477181/26 "2008-12-15T21:06:01Z")
Depending on how fast your feet sweat, this may not be a factor, but I always keep a jar of shoe powder in my desk to prevent my smelly boots from suffocating everyone in the area. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boot-etiquette/477181/27 "2008-12-15T21:06:34Z")
I’d suggest finding a second pair of boots, and keeping them in your car. They can be cheap and ugly, but they have to be waterproof. Keep a pair of warm socks in them. That way, on that day in March when it started out nice but was nasty by the time you headed home, you have an emergancy pair, in case you end up with a broken down car. Matter of fact, there are a pair of snow boots, socks, mittens and a scarf in my car at all times. I’ve got a plastic box in the trunk to keep them corralled. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tofu\_Kitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e7dd6/32.png) [@The\_Tofu\_Kitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tofu_Kitty)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boot-etiquette/477181/28 "2008-12-16T01:42:56Z")
Thanks very much to everyone for all the good advice! I will let you know if I make it through the winter without breaking a bone. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jaglavak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85f322/32.png) [@Jaglavak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaglavak)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boot-etiquette/477181/29 "2008-12-16T03:37:11Z")
OK, here’s a dumb question. I’ve got a pair of [Baffins](http://www.baffin.com/eng/footwear/intro.html). They work great, are waterproof and warm, all that good stuff. But my foot moves around in them so much that my socks slowly work their way down off my toes. They fit length-wise, they are just way wide. Is there some magic trick to stop that from happening that doesn’t involve duct tape? I’ll second the comment about cotton. Try this: take a cotton sock (or glove, shirt, whatever) and soak it in the sink. Do the same to an equivalent polypro, wool, or nylon garment. Hang them up to drip dry. Come back an hour later and give them a feel. Polypro will only be damp toward the bottom half while the cotton will still be soaked through and feel much colder. Check it again every hour or so and you’ll see what I mean. Aside from the comfort factor, cotton loses most of it’s insulating power when it’s wet whereas wet polypro is still 80% as good as dry. That little fact may have saved my life once when I fell through the ice (I had some help getting there, even I’m not that dumb). ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boot-etiquette/477181/30 "2008-12-16T03:58:56Z")
I’m thinking about ordering [these](http://zeta.zappos.com/product/7177296/color/9800), since no one is slamming Sorel. The price seems to have dropped a bit since my last boot purchase. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boot-etiquette/477181/31 "2008-12-16T14:45:42Z")
> [@Jaglavak](#): > > OK, here’s a dumb question. I’ve got a pair of [Baffins](http://www.baffin.com/eng/footwear/intro.html). They work great, are waterproof and warm, all that good stuff. But my foot moves around in them so much that my socks slowly work their way down off my toes. They fit length-wise, they are just way wide. Is there some magic trick to stop that from happening that doesn’t involve duct tape? Have you tried adding insoles? It’s kind of counterintuitive, as insoles decrease inside volume from the bottom up instead of the sides, but shoes are weird that way. It’s worked for me with at least one pair of boots. I hate that bunchy sock thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boot-etiquette/477181.md?page=1)