[TowerTalk] Tower Climbing Boots

Fri Aug 8 01:52:11 EDT 2014

Don

I made here the same question years ago, I learn a lot and help me to make my decision that time, 
but still is hard to get a perfect boot for all the jobs in the towers, I have not access to big brand
boots near me,  I have the usual Sears or local stores with  the popular brands to test the boots before
buy,  I do not like to buy online wait, test and return the boot because was not correct size or something
else do not fill my need, for that reason i was obligated to buy locally most of the time brands like
Timberland or Wolverine  the work kind, and  most of the models on Timberland PRO series have the fiberglass
reinforcement  that help to stay in the tower for long time, at least work for me,  some of those models
are wide and have some problems in Mexican small towers  but not problem in the R25 to have both feet most
of the models because some have the WIDE sole and create that problem.
I will recommend to go test in the site, measure it and feel it,  I never destroy a timberland boot outside before
the inside insole, that made me buy a new boot.

That is my  personal experience in boots in the past 14 years working  in towers buying at least a pair per year
still have several and others die full of paint orange/white others almost pink, is how I kill several pairs
Wolverine have several options, but you need to try and see if those will work,
the price are in the $135-$165 per pair 

One of the options I was watching to give a try are this
http://www.gmesupply.com/manufacturers/oliver-footwear?utm_source=Blog&utm_medium=TextLink&utm_campaign=Boots-traction-blog

the ones in the top right
if the link is not complete, copy and paste in your browser.
 good luck in your selection and your tower project
not only boots, safety harness (5 points) and 100% anchored to the tower all the time

J.Hector Garcia  XE2K / AD6D
Mexicali B.C  DM22fp / El Centro
P.O.Box 73 
El Centro CA 92244-0073
USA
http://xe2k.net
Tweeter @XE2K

On Thursday, August 7, 2014 5:46 PM, Donald Chester <k4kyv at hotmail.com> wrote:

As I prepare to do some serious climbing  work on my tower, footwear is now a concern. When I erected 127' of Rohn 25G 30 years ago, I used the steel-shank work boots I had on hand, size 9 1/2 M  or 10 M as I recall, without a second thought. Those are long worn out, so I purchased a new pair of 10 M boots with steel shank. I used them for several weeks for other outdoor projects and they are now broken in and very comfortable, but the other day I did some preliminary climbing and it turns out that the soles of the boots are too wide for both feet to easily fit on a rung at the same time. I can wiggle my feet around each step and get both in place on each rung as I go up, but IMO that isn't a very comfortable or safe way to be climbing a 120' plus tower. The soles could be about a half-inch narrower with no problem, but they just weren't made that way.

I set those boots side-by-side and measured the total width of the two soles at 9.5 inches. I measured the width of another pair of work boots I have, same size - 10M - but no steel shank, at 9.0 inches. It is very easy to climb with those, but the lack of steel shank in the sole makes it unbearably painful to stand on a tower rung any longer than a few minutes. I went back to the store where I bought my new boots, looking for a pair of 9 1/2 M with narrower soles, but could find only ones without steel shank.

I tried looking on-line, but the descriptions are big on steel toes, but little mention of steel shank, even with a Google search for "steel shank boots". Most of the boot stores that claim to carry work boots seem primarily concerned with fashion statements, like fancy cowboy boots and other footwear, crap that would be useless for serious "work".

Very frustrating. Never thought finding a pair of suitable work boots for tower work would be such an ordeal. Since a lot of people use Rohn 25G, there must be footwear available for comfortably climbing this tower, like there was 30 years ago. And my feet are probably smaller than average. Can anyone tell me where they were able to find a satisfactory pair of tower climbing boots?

Don k4kyv

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