One of the most noticeable features on logging boots is the high heel design. But just why do logger boots have high heels? We are going to find that out here plus many more things about these shoes.
If you know your protective wear, you will know that logging boots are special in design. After all, the lumber profession is flout with so many dangers, which include falling logs, slipping, mud, knocking your toes on nasty stumps and so on. However, the saving grace is that this footwear is designed to offer you maximum protection.
What are logger boots used for? They are used for farm work and timberwork, but especially for the latter.
To understand the design and the build quality of the logging footwear, you have to understand a few important things about working in this industry. You also have to understand the working conditions that you are going to experience here.
They range from wet and muddy to swampy sometimes. The good thing is that the hardy footwear is made to help you traverse all types of terrains.
Why logger boots have high heels
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While you may wear logging footwear as a hobby or for other activities, you can hardly wear just any boots for logging activities. As we said, this profession has many risks and serious personal injury is usually not too far off.
Heel helps with climbing
In the lumber industry, there is a lot of climbing involved. When you want to guide a tree in which direction it should fall, you have to tie a line near the top to guide the tree. This requires a lineman to climb up and tie the line.
How does the high heel come in then? You may be wondering. When you have to climb up a pole or a tree trunk, you will need spurs. These spurs can be fixed tightly and in the right way, easily. The gap provided by this design helps with that. Fixing climbing spurs on a flat-soled pair of shoes is quite hard, almost impossible.
Gives you proper elevation from the ground
The terrain around which the logging activity happens can be quite predictable. Most of the time, the forests are marshy and therefore, you need a good pair of shoes that can keep your feet from the water.
That is the reason for the high-heeled design and thick soles. They increase the distance between you and the ground by an inch or so, keeping your feet dry all the time. Sometimes, you have to walk through muddy and frosty ground. The high design of the boot keeps you dry and it also keep the cold frost out.
Since the terrains over which you will be doing this work are quite uneven, the high heeled design will give you proper grip on the ground. It will be hard for you to lose your grip because the rest of the sole also has heavy and rugged treads.
The soles are also made to virtually outlast the rest of the shoes. The manufacturers pay special attention to the soles because they do all the work. They are in constant contact with the ground, the rocks, the mud, the grass, the tree stumps and the logs. With the kind of abuse that the soles get, they need to be hardy.
Heels help you to walk up a steep slope
You might not know it, but when you are walking, the heel is the first part of the shoes to hit the ground. That is why you experience heel pain when you wear thin, flat-soled shoes for too long. The high-heeled design of timber boots makes it ample for walking up a steep slope.
A heeled boot will dig in well and keep you stable as you move up a slope. In most case, you will be carrying gear like ropes, chains and others, which make it even harder to move up a slippery slope.
It does not matter whether the terrain is rocky or strewn with tree stumps because with these boots, you will navigate your way very well. They will give your feet the ultimate protection all the time from the ground and from the weather.
Logger boots are more comfortable with high heels
Since the heel is not too high, logger boots are quite comfortable. If you work on your feet all day, you know that the heel area of your foot can hurt badly. Therefore, when you use the high-heeled boots, you feel more comfortable because it is generally supportive to the entire foot structure.
Also called caulk boots, they are roomy by design. They are more accommodating to people even with the largest feet. This is why some people even wear them for hiking despite the fact that they weigh more. However, when you are ordering yours, always make sure that you order the right size for your foot. You can refer to this article to see more about shoe width.
They are good for your health
Foot pain, especiallly in the ball of foot area is a common affliction that people working in the logging industry face. This is one of the reasons why they need special footware that has been designed to prevent that. With the elevated heel area, the ball of foot does not have to bear the brunt of the heavy work. This means that there is no undue weight exerted on the ball of foot region.
If you have a high arch, you can buy custom inserts and use them in your boots. However, high-heeled boots can help a person with high arches more than flat-soled shoes would. Therefore, you might even find that you do not need inserts.
Another way that these boots help with health is that they enable the wearer to keep their back straight. The torso is well supported, something that comes naturally because of the elevated heel. It is for the same reason that women wear high-heeled shoes because they help them keep a straight posture when walking
Another thing that you need to worry about when you spend your days on your feet is shin splints. This condition causes serious pain inside the ankles. You only feel this pain when you stand or move. It is caused by wearing bad shoes. Therefore, the boots can help you mitigate such a problem easily.
You can brace against things better
In the timber industry, you will make use of all limbs to move branches and logs out of the way. Therefore, you will love the raised heel for helping you brace against tree stumps when you are pulling something.
The heel can dig in properly and give you ample support to brace your feet against something. Needless to say, this would be hard to do with flat-soled shoes.
Wrapping up
Why do logger boots have high heels? After reading this article, you have seen several reasons, which mainly revolve around your health, safety and comfort. Wearing the right pair of protective footwear can make all the difference between being productive or failing to meet your targets at work.
It can also enhance your foot and back health. You are advised to wear boots that are specifically made for timberwork if you want to stay safe and healthy. You will notice that they are different from other types of boots because of the kind of work you are supposed to do in them.