What shoes are you wearing during winter/wet weather

[vAx]

Thanks for bringing these to our attention. I've never heard of them, and I'm always looking for hiking boots of this ilk (no Gore-Tex). Also, thanks for the photos and the specific model. Maybe it is my adblocker, but I can't find any models or details on their website. If you hadn't mentioned the model, I'd be totally lost in searches and with questions.

I had to take a look because they should have the models in a PDF, but I got thrown off. just like you, since I couldn’t find it, even though I was sure it had to be there. So, I switched the language to German, and there it was: the models! I guess they just forgot. Anyway, here’s the link to the 2025 lineup:

https://www.steinkogler-bergschuh.at/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Prospekt-September-2025-Web.pdf

 

[Fiedi]

Hi,
another german brand especially known amoung hunters and forresters is Trabert, a small familyrun shop in the region of Eiffel. I have a pair of so called "Bergschuhe" since 3 years now and they are really comfy but also one of the best boots in winter - beautifuf grain, doublestiched, vibramsoles, really waterproof and not too heavy, freshly waxed on the picture. The price is about like the Redwing Beckmans and I even take them for paragliding... really like this oldschool style

 

[mrpekmen69]

Mostly engineer boots yeah...

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Hi,
another german brand especially known amoung hunters and forresters is Trabert, a small familyrun shop in the region of Eiffel. I have a pair of so called "Bergschuhe" since 3 years now and they are really comfy but also one of the best boots in winter - beautifuf grain, doublestiched, vibramsoles, really waterproof and not too heavy, freshly waxed on the picture. The price is about like the Redwing Beckmans and I even take them for paragliding... really like this oldschool style

Fantastic! Thanks for another option for my next hiking boot. If I ever travel to Germany, looks like I should plan to buy some boots there.

 

[Arnold Layne]

Being an Englishman it would have to be one of my pairs of Dr Marten's 1460.
This pair are made in a 'Crazy Horse' waxed cowhide that is resistant to most things whilst constantly developing their colours and patina. That and a beaver hat.
It's my custom to overxmas in Hammerfest, Norway and these, stout stockings, a tweed suit and a Crombie are generally all I need for an arctic cityscape ... Oh and some spikes to crampon aiding a stagger back from the pub late in the evening =)

 

[One Drop]

Thursday is not a good product. The leather is not high grade. The soles are not Vibram, Goodyear, Dainite, or some other better known brand. For $199, you are getting a shoe of the same quality that you find at the mall for $100 to $200.

They advertising is that you are getting a Goodyear welted shoe for under $200. But you really have to think about that. Okay, so it's got a welt. So what? Are you going to resole it? Are you willing to spend $150, $200, $250, $300 to resole a $199 shoe? When the heel and soles wear down, take a good look at them. Would it be worth it?​

I take serious exception to your opinion, in spite of the fact that the materials are not proprietary to those brands.

The leather on the Captains is excellent, it doesn't have to come from Horween or other well known US brand to be quality leather. My Captains are 6 years old, get regular wear, have been resoled once, and look great and remain comfortable. The leather has not show any loose grain, it's a lovely brown with some depth, stuffed with oils and waxes and still water resistant with only a few applications of Venetian cream over the years and no wax or similar applied. My shoemaker was impressed, when I told them the cost he didn't believe me.

Are they 300 dollar boots, or 4, 5 600 dollar boots? No, and they never will be. But the fact that they are still the same price and seem by all accounts to be made as well and with the same quality materials as mine were, is quite an achievement. Did the company maybe go too far in sponsoring videos and influencers? Not my monley, not my circus, of little interest to me either way.

We have become so used to boots, shoes and clothing being sold online by brands that do not have the costs associated with brick and mortar shops, showrooms or franchises, that we forget they were a pioneer and one of the reasons so many people got into heritage boots, it was a fantastic entry into a world that was expensive with little information readily available. They also, I firmly believe, put a lot of pressure on the bigger or older brads to up their game, show their worth, and keep prices lower.

I wouldn't have bothered replying had you just said you didn't like them or that you thought they were not good value. But you made some serious claims that just don't stand up to a bit of investigation.

I'm hard on my boots but I'm light and fit and don't drag my feet or anything, so I get decent wear from them, so of course YMMV, but the soles are good quality, not as hard or hard wearing as Dainites, but I have Dainites on a dress Chukka and they are not nearly as comfortable as the softer Thursday ones. They last as well as most rubber soles of their hardness, and wear evenly.

A Chinese mall boot is in an entirely different class of boot, and the quality simply cannot compare, in construction type and quality, in the leather quality, in the last shapes, and in the other materials. Respectfully (and I mean this I mean you no disrespect for your opinion, I just violently disagree on the actual facts), they are just not worth a resole and will never have been as comfortable or decent looking as the Thursdays were and remain.

In what world does a resole cost more than a hundred bucks, unless you are upgrading to the highest quality in everything, and even then? I had the outsole replaced and a bit of midsole restitched for the equivalent of US $100, and that in Switzerland where everything costs an arm and a leg (but they let yu keep the foot).

What I don't understand is the need to exaggerate to this extent and to destroy a brand - I hate arguing here, fortunately forums have largely moved n from that kind of constant fighting about brands, but I had to speak up because it's just not fair to a brand that makes a real effort to deliver quality for a decent price, and that makes quality, serviceable, and rebuildable boots.

 

[One Drop]

My concern isn't with casual boots and shoes. I have several options for that. My concern is with dressier or more business dress compatible. My new role involves quite a bit of walking from office to office. Dress is business casual so boots are appropriate. I also travel across the US so any contiguous region is possible.

Look to the UK, they have been making semi casual boots for these conditions that still look modern for over a hundred years. Heavy leathers that shed the rain, thick soles and beefy welts, and some extremely attractive designs that look fantastic with winter woolens, dressed up or dressed down real Town and Country boots as they were developed for.

Tricker, Crockett & Jones, Cheaney, Loake, etc. all have their own vibe and rice points, but they have in common the Northampton tradition of high quality materials and workmanship, and some very handsome designs that remain timeless.

There are a few I've considered owning myself, but they don't really fit with my personal style and the places and situation when I need to dress up a bit, nor the vagaries of Swiss weather, where the cities remain largely snow free, not tons of rain, but when it does snow you need a real proper winter boot, full stop.

Then again, I look at a boot like the C & J Coniston (or a few of the other incredible designs on this page) and I realise I could wear them all fall and winter when I need to go to the office or to town, is there a more gorgeous casual Derby boot than the Crockett & Jones Coniston Scotch hatch in grain in this colour? Cool sole choices too from Dainite to Brirish Military Commando to Vibram Carrarmato lugs.

Spendy but a lifetime boot - click on the picture to see the description, and prepare to drool :

https://eu.crockettandjones.com/pages/ultimate-winter-boots

 

[One Drop]

View attachment 742923 View attachment 742924
Sole protectors, as Edward has explained, is the way to go with leather soles. All mine have the stick-a-sole and the heel has a three quarter steel tip, due to my gait following the hip replacement. You have to be mindful of parquet and other wooden flooring, the steel tip can score such floors easily, but as weather and wear protectors they are perfect.

Did you do any physio following the replacement? I had mine done last December and I found out just how much I was compensating from loss of glute strength, and how much my gait had changed in the year before the op. Just walking and hiking a lot wasn't enough to fix it, I had to do squats and balance board exercises, about 10 1 hour sessions with a really good sports physio helped me immensely. I no longer wear out the outer back of the heels as I did before so I get so much more life from soles these days, and the effects on the rest of my body are apparent, it's crazy how much everything is interconnected and how one problem can cause so many others over time.

I hope I'm not being too invasive of your privacy by asking!

 

[One Drop]

Fantastic! Thanks for another option for my next hiking boot. If I ever travel to Germany, looks like I should plan to buy some boots there.

Hanwag, Meindl, and Lowa are the big 3 and they all make great boots, including some traditional styles like the double stitched one piece leather and Bergschue. Also a lot of great smaller companies in Germany and Austria as we've seen here! They're a lot like the very old Vasques, need a bit of break-in but become like very supportive slippers eventually.

 

[Fifty150]

Dr Marten's 1460

I have a weakness for Dr. Martens. Nostalgia. They take me back to my youth. I still see teenagers and young adults wearing them. It's still a fashion item.

I just violently disagree on the actual facts

I respectfully acknowledge your opinions. We should all be able to have different viewpoints.

In what world does a resole cost more than a hundred bucks

In this guy's world.

 

[One Drop]

In this guy's world.

LOL, just because you can doesn't mean you should. I know you're not using this as a real example, because we are talking about the cost of a resole, not a rebuild, and I would never argue that there any logic in that kind of a rebuild.

But it does raise a good point, and one that is not directly related to the cost of the original boot, but to the quality of it.

And the fact that he thinks the leather on this boot is worth replacing the rest of it says something, at least to me, other than that making this kind of video get a lot of clicks.

You had asked in your original post what the point was in resoling a $199 boot? I think it's the wrong question, the right one being: at what the point is it worth replacing the sole in a boot, and what should or is likely to contribute to making a good decision to do so or not?

This question should relate to to quality and not price, so the real question for ME is is it worth resoling a cheaply made $199 mall boot (if it was even possible) that has lousy upper construction and lousy leather, or a $199 Thursday made with decent leather and upper construction? My answer would be no to the first and yes to the second.

Is it worth spending $1000 on a Thursday boot resole? Not in a million years, it makes more sense to buy a good new $900 boot, and spend the leftover hunny on a new sole for the Thursday. You get two boots that you can wear much longer than one decent one with some great parts on it.

I try to be rational about things, but us humans have difficulties with that, look at the psychology of sunken costs, etc. as examples. Or imagine buying a well worn super high quality boot at a thrift shop and spending 5 bucks on it, then it feels weird to spend $200 on a rebuild,, but if you bought it off the Classifieds for $400 it seems more logical to spend $200 to get it back to its full glory.

 

[Fiedi]

Hi,
according to my opinion it's not always a rational decision, how much to invest in a repair or upgrade of your beloved pair of shoes/boots as we are not rational beings, which makes a lot of things unluckily more complicated as they should be. By the way I think if you decide to have your possesions repaired on what level ever it is a good way as someboy sometimes will profit of your decision as he will be able to buy your "heritage" for cheap in a secondhandstore...
I think it's somehow like with a piece of art you like or dislike, any arguing won't make it better in your opinion - beauty lies in the eyes of the viewer. Let's argue on the real worth big debates of our times without being to hard with different opions, live and let live

On concerns of quality and how to define it I refer on Robert M. Pirsigs Zen and the art f motorcycle maintainance. An inquiry into values

 

[Fiedi]

View attachment 737670 View attachment 737671 View attachment 737672​

Hi, I remember a time when I did not understand my spouse's faible for sherlinglined winterboots... but as I grew older I changed my mind and two years ago I pulled the trigger for a last pair of Viberg hikers which were about 450,-€ and what can I say - they are worth every cent: black Latigoleather, commandosoles and complete sherlinglined, they are build like tanks. It's a real good feeling to wear them with thin cottonsocks in bitter cold temperatures or to walk trough snow. As I am born in the Black Forrest I am great fan of hikingboots anyway...

 

[Fifty150]

I know you're not using this as a real example

Somewhere along the way, the consumer has become a mark.


In other videos, he mentioned $150 as the cost of a resole. An extra $100 for a new welt. Which puts the price at $250.

If you're sending in your shoes, how much is the shipping back & forth?



I don't know if a resole is worth the money, when the price of a resole is higher than the cost of the shoe. Even with a higher priced pair of shoes, you have to reconsider. Okay, so the soles are new. New soles on old shoes. Your feet are in old shoes, and still standing on worn footbeds. Maybe you took care of the uppers with cleaning and conditioning. There's no way to take care of a shoe which prevents the insole and lining from wear & tear.


I look at my old pairs of shoes. And I wonder if any of them are worth the cost of resole. Allen Edmonds, Red Wing, Alden, Danner......... they all offer a factory resole for around $150. Local cobblers offer to resole for less, but they do not do the same job as a factory resole. Then you feel like an idiot because you paid some guy $80 - $100, for sanding off the bottom of the shoe and gluing on a piece of rubber.

 

[Fiedi]

Somewhere along the way, the consumer has become a mark.


In other videos, he mentioned $150 as the cost of a resole. An extra $100 for a new welt. Which puts the price at $250.

If you're sending in your shoes, how much is the shipping back & forth?



I don't know if a resole is worth the money, when the price of a resole is higher than the cost of the shoe. Even with a higher priced pair of shoes, you have to reconsider. Okay, so the soles are new. New soles on old shoes. Your feet are in old shoes, and still standing on worn footbeds. Maybe you took care of the uppers with cleaning and conditioning. There's no way to take care of a shoe which prevents the insole and lining from wear & tear.


I look at my old pairs of shoes. And I wonder if any of them are worth the cost of resole. Allen Edmonds, Red Wing, Alden, Danner......... they all offer a factory resole for around $150. Local cobblers offer to resole for less, but they do not do the same job as a factory resole. Then you feel like an idiot because you paid some guy $80 - $100, for sanding off the bottom of the shoe and gluing on a piece of rubber.

New soles on old shoes for sure but if the shoes are of a good quality and they are your shoes they will be as convenient as they can be...

 

[Fifty150]

We all have a different level of what we find acceptable. My opinions are based on the shoes I wear. 1000 Mile Boots, Red Wing, Allen Edmonds, Thorogood, Florsheim........ None of my shoes are high end or expensive. I have shoes which may list at up to $500. I buy them on sale for $100 - $300. For shoes at that price point, it makes no sense to me. Why would I spend up to $250 to resole shoes, that didn't cost that much to begin with?

 

[Fiedi]

We all have a different level of what we find acceptable. My opinions are based on the shoes I wear. 1000 Mile Boots, Red Wing, Allen Edmonds, Thorogood, Florsheim........ None of my shoes are high end or expensive. I have shoes which may list at up to $500. I buy them on sale for $100 - $300. For shoes at that price point, it makes no sense to me. Why would I spend up to $250 to resole shoes, that didn't cost that much to begin with?

Hi, I understand your point but if I decide to have a pair of shoes/boots resoled for whatever it costs, I do it because I want them in a good condition just because I like them and as I already expressed my experience because they are really convenient if I wore them till the soles are down. Also the sustainability in reparing things is a point for me - on the other hand I own too much shoes/boots and that's not sustainable at all... Once I heard if i recall correctly the native american family had about 150 things in their "household"...

 

[Fifty150]

on the other hand I own too much shoes/boots

Many of us hang out heads. Realistically, I own so many pairs of shoes that I will never wear 1 pair down to need a resole. As long as I keep rotating shoes, it won't be a problem.




I don't have anything real nice or expensive. I do have duplicates. There are some shoes, that I have multiples. I buy them when there's a sale during the end of the season. When the holidays come around, and they have a sale, I'm buying. I have brand new shoes, in the box, waiting for the original pair to be worn out. When I wear out my Iron Rangers, I have a second pair waiting to replace them. And I'm probably a decade away from wearing out the pair which I'm wearing now.

 

[Fiedi]

Many of us hang out heads. Realistically, I own so many pairs of shoes that I will never wear 1 pair down to need a resole. As long as I keep rotating shoes, it won't be a problem.




I don't have anything real nice or expensive. I do have duplicates. There are some shoes, that I have multiples. I buy them when there's a sale during the end of the season. When the holidays come around, and they have a sale, I'm buying. I have brand new shoes, in the box, waiting for the original pair to be worn out. When I wear out my Iron Rangers, I have a second pair waiting to replace them. And I'm probably a decade away from wearing out the pair which I'm wearing now.

Yes that's a problem I know, to be not able to see the wood because of the many trees as a german saying tells, or not to see on what high level one can be unsatisfied with his really luxurious position. In my view I try to justify my proper cabinets with on the one side rare opportunities to buy things which you will never have again and on the other side with the "heritage" I will leave but this seems to be more and more an argument of the sellers as I think. If I am honest, I will never be able to use or wear all those high quality goods the way they should be. I think it's a dilemma many know, not to be able to let things go - otherwise we could be satified with 150 things...

 

[Fifty150]

it's a dilemma many know

A first world problem. We have the wealth to indulge. How many cars can you drive? How many shoes can you wear? How many leather jackets can you wear? I know guys who have *** safes. And they are full of ***s. I'm personally guilty of having too much than I need. Even food. I have to clean out the refrigerator and throw things away. I'm buying a Costco size container of peanut butter, and only eating a peanut butter & jelly sandwich twice a year.