# ER Shoes



## david freeman (Jan 26, 2006)

EVER LEAVE THE uk SCHOONER RIGGED AND FORGOT THOSE HARDWARING ER SHOES. REACHED PORT SAID AND BOUGHT A PAIR FROM THE BUM BOATS WITH WOOD ANTI SLIP PEGS, (OR WAS THAT THE SHOES PURCHASED FROM THE SOUTH SHIELD MARINE OUTFITTES- (nO f--ING gOOD), AND THE CANAL BUM BOAT PAPER COMPRESSED CARD WERE NOT MUCH BETTER, ESPECIALLY IF WORKING IN THE CRANKCASE? oH mY MEMORIES BUMBOATS AND WHAT I THOUGHT WERE BARGINS? ONLY THE OLD MAN MADE A CUT FROM THE BOND BILL FOR ALLOWING THE BUMS ON BOARD. YOUNG AND INNOCENT I WAS ONCE????(==D)(EEK)(Ouch)


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## joebuckham (Apr 1, 2005)

seem to remember "boscos" down in argentina being to the wooden peg spec and quite comfortable and long wearing


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## makko (Jul 20, 2006)

Totector Midis - Great boots! One 4/E I sailed with had american "Logger" type boots - They only lasted about 1 month before they started to rot. They were held together with duct tape. I made very elegant miniature pennants and welded them to the exposed toecaps!
Rgds.
Dave


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## twogrumpy (Apr 23, 2007)

Best engine room boots I had were from a chum of mine in the RN, they wore very well, laugh is that they called them Steaming Boots.


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## A.D.FROST (Sep 1, 2008)

I once bought some work boots in Southampton,when the shop assistant asked about the laces I said you can keep them,she said do you work in the ships ER?


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## Burntisland Ship Yard (Aug 2, 2008)

Totectors were the best in my opinion, no breaking in / sole did not part from the shoe or boot.............


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## BOB.WHITTAKER (Dec 3, 2008)

My worst experience was a pair of " Totectors " on a triple Rotterdam / Brazil / Japan / Australia / Rotterdam . After 12 months the steel toecaps were loose in both boots , I misjudged the first rung on the ladder and caught the the tip of my boot on the edge of the step as I pushed down with my foot . The toecap pivoted and the back edge came down across my foot just behind my toes . At first I didn't want to remove my boot , fortunately when I did I still had a count of five albeit my foot went black with bruising and took the best part of three months to clear . Bob Whittaker


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## Duncan112 (Dec 28, 2006)

Best boots I have had are a pair of Georgia rigger boots that the agent got for me in LA or San Francisco - don't seem to be available over here though (Probably not EU approved).


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## makko (Jul 20, 2006)

Duncan112 said:


> Best boots I have had are a pair of Georgia rigger boots that the agent got for me in LA or San Francisco - don't seem to be available over here though (Probably not EU approved).


Duncan,
I use Caterpillar boots nowadays. I got my first pair because I was going up to Siemens in Charlotte (old Westinghouse ST plant) and I was told that to be allowed in the workshop, my safety boots had to have certain ASTM ratings, one being for anti sole puncture. The Cats were the only boots that I found with all the standards - They are great boots. I want to get a pair of boots with carbon fibre toecaps. They weigh nothing and don't set the alarm off in airport security. Well, when the Cats wear out which looks like never!
Rgds.
Dave


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## WilliamH (Jul 9, 2007)

I found Redwing boots to be comfortable when I worked in Bahrain, if you kept them polished your feet remained cool. I still use them for gardening and construction work, you can buy them on internet.


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## Mad Landsman (Dec 1, 2005)

40 odd years ago, while working for a company owned by Dunlop (the tyre people) I used to both wear and sell Dunlop Safety boots. 
They came in various styles to match various uses and occupations but they all had the steel toe cap. 
The more 'industrial' pattern boots were guaranteed to be oil and acid resistant.
I had loads of repeat business and very few complaints.

I have just checked and they still make them - I think I might buy a pair!


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## alan ward (Jul 20, 2009)

Cheshire Oaks discount village,Timberland boots at £35 a pair last me for years(working in the cellar hosing down and cleaning lines etc.boots/shoes rot quickly as ales a killer on leather)


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## JohnBP (Mar 27, 2008)

Bought a great pair of "hiking boots" great.. was working on the aft steam capstan on the Br Crusader. when I took the flange off some hot water spilled into one of my boots, my reaction was to flip my leg and the boot went overboard somewhere in the medi.....


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## mcglash (Oct 14, 2005)

Tried plastic sandals one trip gave great traction but wasn't the best for keeping hot liquids out,they only cost 5/- compared to the price you paid for a pair out of the chief stewards slops,they were a bargain. 
mcglash


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## jmirvine (Nov 23, 2006)

twogrumpy said:


> Best engine room boots I had were from a chum of mine in the RN, they wore very well, laugh is that they called them Steaming Boots.


I had a pair of them too! Big arrow stitched on to the front, and the sole was a series of circles.

Best ER boots I ever had.


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## Steve Oatey (Feb 6, 2008)

jmirvine said:


> I had a pair of them too! Big arrow stitched on to the front, and the sole was a series of circles.
> 
> Best ER boots I ever had.


We always knew them as "DMS boots".


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## Norm (Jun 21, 2006)

Never had heard of the need for ER shoes until my first trip. Then I found out the hard way that my ordinary to-tector shoes were no good. the 2nd told me to take out the turning gear. Whats that? said I. Oh god a first tripper! he replied.
Attempting to crank out the turning gear, my shoes couldn't get traction and were slipping all over the place. I used to skate around the E/R all that trip until I got myself a pair of safety shoes with cork soles.


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## Mad Landsman (Dec 1, 2005)

Steve Oatey said:


> We always knew them as "DMS boots".


DMS - direct moulded sole 
A method of boot/shoe construction which does not use stitching to the welt. 

Not to be confused with DM's - Doc Martin's (Thumb)


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## makko (Jul 20, 2006)

Mad Landsman said:


> DMS - direct moulded sole


That reminds me of when I started my Cadetship. I asked a lad from Bristol what his Dad did and he said in his thick accent,"He's a sowel molder" to which a Scottish lad from Buckie immediately replied,"Ah! He's a vicar then!". Well, it made me laugh........I'll get my coat.
Rgds.
Dave


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## Philthechill (May 8, 2007)

*Clogs!*

The most enduring engine-room footwear I ever had was a pair of clogs.

(Obviously the "irons" were removed and replaced with leather soles!).

They took some locating, (in York where I lived-----well, just outside in a village called New Earswick), as, even way-back in the 1960's, clogs were way out of use.

Once I'd got used to the solid wooden soles of them, (no "flex" when you walked), I found them both comfortable and hard-wearing.

You could walk on hot steam pipes with no worries that the soles would be melted or distorted!

Brilliant!

Apropos unsuitable ER footwear!!!

I well remember one junior, I sailed with, wearing a pair of "brothel-creepers"! Eventually, after his walking through the odd oil-spills, the rubber soles were the size of a pair of snow-shoes and gave him as much "adhesion" as rubbing two ice-cubes togather!!!! Salaams, Phil(Hippy)


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## twogrumpy (Apr 23, 2007)

jmirvine said:


> I had a pair of them too! Big arrow stitched on to the front, and the sole was a series of circles.
> 
> Best ER boots I ever had.


Yes, those are the ones with the circles on the soles, though don't recall the arrow.
Great boots.


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## ianrobson36 (Dec 9, 2012)

Engineroom shoes with wooden pegs had to be worn when serving on tankers, no steel of any kind because any other kind may spark when working on deck. I bought mine at outfitters in newcastle- upon-tyne 1957 

gingerbeer


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