Pilot Shoes
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Vic, Australia.
Age: 35
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If you go the RM route... get them fitted correctly, a shoe Isn't just a shoe I guess... for 400 bucks make sure the shop assistant knows what they're doing.
I'm a twelve and that's all I've ever shouted, never knew leather stretched so much... I love mine, but after a good days wear they do some serious shape shifting, they feel one size to big.
I'm a twelve and that's all I've ever shouted, never knew leather stretched so much... I love mine, but after a good days wear they do some serious shape shifting, they feel one size to big.

Never used RM products as my dainty little extra wide size 12 hoof don't fit in them.

DF.

Chippewa has some both well made and rugged pilot boots as well:
8" MEN'S EPS LACE/ZIP BOOT
or these better known ones:
http://haynesandcann.weebly.com/stor...%A3150%29.html
8" MEN'S EPS LACE/ZIP BOOT
or these better known ones:
http://haynesandcann.weebly.com/stor...%A3150%29.html
Last edited by Less Hair; 7th Nov 2014 at 14:25.

Join Date: May 2007
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Originally Posted by peterc005
Doc Martins are the go.
They look like shoes when standing, are oil/petrol resistant, wear well and you can wear then out to watch a punk rock band.
They look like shoes when standing, are oil/petrol resistant, wear well and you can wear then out to watch a punk rock band.

Sprucegoose
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Hughes Point, where life is great! Was also resident on page 13, but now I'm lost in Cyberspace....
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What's all this talk of re-soling?
I bought a pair of Blundestones in 1993 (the good old plastic soled ones, not the rubber ones they have now). Wore them for ten years straight in the NT, flying, digging ditches you name it. Never had to have them re-soled and still wear them mowing the lawns now!
Best forty five bucks I ever spent!
I bought a pair of Blundestones in 1993 (the good old plastic soled ones, not the rubber ones they have now). Wore them for ten years straight in the NT, flying, digging ditches you name it. Never had to have them re-soled and still wear them mowing the lawns now!
Best forty five bucks I ever spent!


A pair of RM's that are custom made, you will not get a comfier boot (sorry, pilot shoe).
I've got 2 pair's of RM's, black pair and brown pair. The brown pair were my originals, just bought off the shelf. They go alright and I've had them for 7 years now and only 1 re-sole.
My black pair though, I had custom fitted when the store I went to didn't have the size I wanted. So they took all my measurements down, the specifics of what style and sole I wanted, and then after a few weeks, the best boot's (sorry, pilot shoes) I've ever owned turned up,
.
They're about 5 years old now and they've had 1 re-sole. Did me well when I was out bush trundling around in aeromed. Continue to do me well now in my current motorplane job.
morno
I've got 2 pair's of RM's, black pair and brown pair. The brown pair were my originals, just bought off the shelf. They go alright and I've had them for 7 years now and only 1 re-sole.
My black pair though, I had custom fitted when the store I went to didn't have the size I wanted. So they took all my measurements down, the specifics of what style and sole I wanted, and then after a few weeks, the best boot's (sorry, pilot shoes) I've ever owned turned up,

They're about 5 years old now and they've had 1 re-sole. Did me well when I was out bush trundling around in aeromed. Continue to do me well now in my current motorplane job.
morno

This particular thread highlights the type of pilot that lives for PPRuNe.. What an absolute joke. If you've got money to burn and you feel the need to fit in and look the part.. get RM's.
It is footwear for christs sake. There are so many brands of shoes/boots out there that are as good or superior to RM's for a better price. It's a big world out there!
This is very general but.. In my experience there is one thing that is common to every fresh faced CPL that presented on my dusty doorstep wearing RM Williams boots.. they all offered to fly for free.
Hush Puppies are comfortable.
It is footwear for christs sake. There are so many brands of shoes/boots out there that are as good or superior to RM's for a better price. It's a big world out there!
This is very general but.. In my experience there is one thing that is common to every fresh faced CPL that presented on my dusty doorstep wearing RM Williams boots.. they all offered to fly for free.
Hush Puppies are comfortable.

If you've got money to burn
My first pair lasted 13 years with only one trip to the cobbler, and now I have a brown pair and a black pair. Finest boot you'll ever wear.
P1


Join Date: May 2007
Location: Aus, or USA, or UK or EU, or possibly somehwere in Asia.
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Mongrels zip side ankle boots.
Won't come off during bailout/ canopy deployment
Nice and warm at altitude
Comfy cushion sole
No idea what they cost, my employer provides them.
They aren't specifically made for pilots like RM's obviously are, but I have found them durable and comfortable. And inexpensive.
I am sure there are many other shoes and boots that work very well. I had a pair of KMart elastic sided boots that were comfortable and lasted over 5 years, $39.99.
With the money saved I bought a pair of Propet walking shoes that I use when attending aviation events around the world. Very Light weight super comfortable, don't set off metal detectors, and guaranteed for 1000 miles of walking, but, hey they're just shoes FFS, not a frigging lifestyle.
What next,
Best underwear/briefs........ooh ooh I know....Haynes jockey style from Walmart, come in packets of 6, reversible and can be turned inside out for extended deployments so 4 days per pair between resoles, (that's R soles I think) plenty of ballroom, have excellent fart filtering capability and available in all the favourite RM wearing pilot colours, puce, violet, apricot........
Shoot me now!
HD
Won't come off during bailout/ canopy deployment
Nice and warm at altitude
Comfy cushion sole
No idea what they cost, my employer provides them.
They aren't specifically made for pilots like RM's obviously are, but I have found them durable and comfortable. And inexpensive.
I am sure there are many other shoes and boots that work very well. I had a pair of KMart elastic sided boots that were comfortable and lasted over 5 years, $39.99.
With the money saved I bought a pair of Propet walking shoes that I use when attending aviation events around the world. Very Light weight super comfortable, don't set off metal detectors, and guaranteed for 1000 miles of walking, but, hey they're just shoes FFS, not a frigging lifestyle.
What next,
Best underwear/briefs........ooh ooh I know....Haynes jockey style from Walmart, come in packets of 6, reversible and can be turned inside out for extended deployments so 4 days per pair between resoles, (that's R soles I think) plenty of ballroom, have excellent fart filtering capability and available in all the favourite RM wearing pilot colours, puce, violet, apricot........
Shoot me now!
HD

Sprucegoose
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Hughes Point, where life is great! Was also resident on page 13, but now I'm lost in Cyberspace....
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C'mon Howard, the thread is about pilot's shoes not gumboots.

What next,
Best underwear/briefs........
Best underwear/briefs........



Gucci driving shoes, with the dimples extending back up the heel to prevent your feet from slipping backwards. Available in various colours and exotic leathers such as crocodile. Or go for the plain loafers which will go equally well with jeans or formal evening wear.



Join Date: Jun 2001
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Looks like they have been remodelled slightly since I bought my last pair but these Howlers are tough as nuts, comfortable, waterproof and each pair has lasted me probably close to 4 years of rough daily use. Come up nice with a quick swipe of dubbin. You can buy for under a hundred bucks at most work wear type shops - can't go wrong!
Kikarse Workwear
Kikarse Workwear

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As it was written
"I settle once more into the right-hand seat, concerned lest there be a repetition of the crazy entanglement witnessed by McCabe. Therefore I am quite ready when I hear Ross enter the narrow passageway behind me. I turn to watch him hang up his coat in so precise and careful a manner it is easy to understand how his other articles of apparel present such an immaculate picture. His heavily starched shirt fits his powerful torso as if it was tailored by a master. The crease in his pants is knife sharp. His black ankle boots, of the type preferred by most line pilots, match the sheen of his cap-bill.
…
It is pleasant to think that now my ninety-day probation is safely past and as a consequence I might reasonably invest in a pair of jodhpur boots like Ross’, and so keep my ankles warm during the coming winter. With concentration I might also acquire that certain swagger which must go with the wearing of such boots. I will break them in carefully since they are extremely expensive for a co-pilot’s purse, and I will try to keep them shined as well as Ross’."
Attributed to Ernest k. Gann, "Fate is the Hunter"
(But no mention of socks)
…
It is pleasant to think that now my ninety-day probation is safely past and as a consequence I might reasonably invest in a pair of jodhpur boots like Ross’, and so keep my ankles warm during the coming winter. With concentration I might also acquire that certain swagger which must go with the wearing of such boots. I will break them in carefully since they are extremely expensive for a co-pilot’s purse, and I will try to keep them shined as well as Ross’."
Attributed to Ernest k. Gann, "Fate is the Hunter"
(But no mention of socks)

