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This review has been a while in the making - just less than a year in fact as I have FINALLY worn out my first set of these boots....

http://www.bucklerboots.com/products/productdetail.php?pid=5&catid=1

I know some people will say 'oh, there's no point wearing steel toe cap boots', for me personally, I always have and always will, partly through being in the motor trade where it was INSISTED on (and rightly so too) and partly due to have a relative who, to this day has several smashed toes where a compact tractor rear linkage arm fell just a foot but still shattered every bone in one of his toes, had he been wearing steel toe cap boots, it would have bounced harmlessly off the toe cap......I have myself dropped a Hayter Harrier 56 on my foot, roller end first and I imagine it would have had a similar effect!

So, how long did these Buckler boots last me? - well, 9 months almost to the day.

This may seem a short life span for a pair of work boots, but considering that often these boots have been worn for 14 hours a day, not just at work carrying out garden and grounds maintenance in and around Spalding, Lincs, but also on a house renovation project, on a friends farm, out walking, in the stables - more or less everywhere.

So, how did I find them - well I will start by saying that I used to get through a LOT of boots - a 3 month life span was not uncommon!

I always used to have Dickies boots but these went from bad to worse before finally loosing the plot with a pair that last just TWO weeks before snapping across the sole.

I moved from these to Tomcat boots, but am no longer able to source these locally - which left me at the local farm supplies centre where I simply asked for the best boots he had in stock - which where the Bucklers - not cheap, even with discount around £65.

So how did I find the Buckler boots?

Good points:

Very sturdy boots, stitching still near perfect after many miles of wear.

Proper metal eyelets for laces allow proper tensioning of the laces.

Goodyear 'welted' (fully stitched on) sole, where the stitching is guaranteed to last the life time of the original sole.

Sole mid sole is a godsend when working around nail embedded scrap wood, such as was often present during the house renovation I have carried out - more than one nail has been stopped from stabbing me in the foot by this!

My first pair are STILL waterproof - totally and utterly worn out in the sole (it's worn flat!) but still don't leak.

Bad points:

These ARE a very sturdy boot but that does come at the expense of extra weight, which for the first few days of wear I really DID notice.

There seems to be a fair amount of 'give' in the leather once it has been wet a few times, this does lead to a gradual creep in size to slightly larger fitting.

These boots are HARD in the soles and inside the boot, doubtless due to their heavy weight construction- I found that a pair of gel insoles really helped this, as well as taking up the 'slack' caused by the expansion mentioned above and seemingly helping the weight issue too.

Certainly not the cheapest boots out there and I would strongly recommend trying some first to make sure you are happy with the extra weight.

In summary, if you are looking for some 'serious' work boots I would suggest these are definately worth a try..

The picture below serves to illustrate just how much my first pair of these boots got worn, with nearly 10 mm of sole getting worn away...

It would be interesting to know if any of the other members have tried any other Buckler products and whether they also have positive things to say about them.