# Yet Another Boot Thread. Results of Steel Toe VS Non Steel Toe



## slowp (Mar 17, 2011)

Yesterday, I wore what my coworker called "city boots". They are fru fru hiker boots with a soft nylon/bits of leather upper. No steel toe. A chunk of wood bounced on the ground after I cut it, and landed on my foot. Ouch and an expletive.

Today, I wore the Viking Calks (pronounced corks) with steel toes and dropped a chunk of wood on my foot. The same results. Ouch and an expletive. 

That is the result of my unofficial test.


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## Gologit (Mar 17, 2011)

No Kuliens?


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## slowp (Mar 17, 2011)

We're in snow. Kuliens become 1970s platform shoes in snow.


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## Labman (Mar 17, 2011)

No safety device works 100%. I wouldn't think of doing much of any sort of work without my steel toed shoes.


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## Gologit (Mar 17, 2011)

slowp said:


> We're in snow. Kuliens become 1970s platform shoes in snow.


 
True. But when you have a foot that's small enough to fit into a sardine can wouldn't the cans be an acceptable alternative to steel toe boots?
Lots cheaper, too.


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## RandyMac (Mar 17, 2011)

I think those cans come in blue too.


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## Gologit (Mar 17, 2011)

RandyMac said:


> I think those cans come in blue too.


 
How 'bout red..with a matching hat? Tin, of course. With a cute little ribbon.


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## madhatte (Mar 17, 2011)




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## paccity (Mar 18, 2011)

madhatte said:


>


 
thats so funny. i saw them in 77. have to dig out the old records. wait i don't have a player.:msp_smile:


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## 2dogs (Mar 18, 2011)

Steel toe don't work in a wildland fire environment. So no steel toes in my White's. In the winter except when tending burn piles I wear steel toe Vikings, corks or Vibram. I have very wide feet esp just behind my toes so most steel toes don't fit my foot anyway. Vikings do fit.


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## 056 kid (Mar 18, 2011)

Blue for oil,

Yellow for mustard,

RedOrange for Louisiana hot sauce,

they all come in the same size, and they all do a hell of a job on an empty stomach,just dont forget the usually free but sometimes .25 cent pack of saltines, along with the free spork. Don't forget either Libbys or Armore "vi-en-yas" along with beenie weenies and or pork & beans. My personal fav is Phillips beenie weenie, but I don't think you pacific north rusters get Phillips brand around here, ####in shame too, ####s packed with protine & carbs, straight go juice man. .

I love steaks @ lunch, cooked over hydraulic fluid buckets hahahahahahahahahahahaha. .

Oh, steel toes are a bad idea unless you work in a computer job. . .


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## 2dogs (Mar 18, 2011)

Gologit said:


> True. But when you have a foot that's small enough to fit into a sardine can wouldn't the cans be an acceptable alternative to steel toe boots?
> Lots cheaper, too.


 
Yummm....sardines. I'll take a boot full.


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## Philbert (Mar 18, 2011)

slowp said:


> Yesterday, I wore what my coworker called "city boots". They are fru fru hiker boots with a soft nylon/bits of leather upper. No steel toe. A chunk of wood bounced on the ground after I cut it, and landed on my foot. Ouch and an expletive.
> 
> Today, I wore the Viking Calks (pronounced corks) with steel toes and dropped a chunk of wood on my foot. The same results. Ouch and an expletive.
> 
> That is the result of my unofficial test.



Please do not test any helmets this way.

Philbert


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## Humptulips (Mar 19, 2011)

slowp said:


> Yesterday, I wore what my coworker called "city boots". They are fru fru hiker boots with a soft nylon/bits of leather upper. No steel toe. A chunk of wood bounced on the ground after I cut it, and landed on my foot. Ouch and an expletive.
> 
> Today, I wore the Viking Calks (pronounced corks) with steel toes and dropped a chunk of wood on my foot. The same results. Ouch and an expletive.
> 
> That is the result of my unofficial test.



It is spelled caulks. Yes, the spelling police have arrived.:msp_tongue:


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## slowp (Mar 19, 2011)

Humptulips said:


> It is spelled caulks. Yes, the spelling police have arrived.:msp_tongue:



Ah gentle reader:

I disagree. I looked it up in my Webster Dictionary. I do not have a Funk and Wagnall. 

Calk is defined as a sharp point. There's a reference to horseshoes.
Caulk is "to make watertight." 

So for me, it shall be spelled Calks. 

I have noticed that the more I read on the internet, the worse my spelling becomes.


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## 2dogs (Mar 19, 2011)

Those Canadians must be speaking the Queen's English.
######################################/showthread.php?18130-West-Coast-Logging-Camps-Shops-Barges-etc.


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## 2dogs (Mar 19, 2011)

What the heck happened?
Again.
######################################/showthread.php?18130-West-Coast-Logging-Camps-Shops-Barges-etc.


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## 2dogs (Mar 19, 2011)

What the heck happened?
Again.
######################################/showthread.php?18130-West-Coast-Logging-Camps-Shops-Barges-etc.

OK I give up. I am trying to cut and paste a link to heavyequipmentsforums.com, forestry operations, west coast logging camps page one.


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## 2dogs (Mar 19, 2011)

Dang! Sorry about the multiple posts I don't know why this is happening.


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## RacerX (Mar 19, 2011)

Not sure how a non-steel toe would fare in a fight with a chainsaw. One reason I always were them.


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## slowp (Mar 19, 2011)

2dogs said:


> What the heck happened?
> Again.
> ######################################/showthread.php?18130-West-Coast-Logging-Camps-Shops-Barges-etc.
> 
> OK I give up. I am trying to cut and paste a link to heavyequipmentsforums.com, forestry operations, west coast logging camps page one.


 
That happens when the automatic censor kicks in, I think. There's a good timber falling site by the BC Canucks but it has D I C K in it somewhere so the censor thingie won't print it.


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## Philbert (Mar 19, 2011)

2dogs said:


> What the heck happened?
> Again.
> ######################################/showthread.php?18130-West-Coast-Logging-Camps-Shops-Barges-etc.
> 
> OK I give up. I am trying to cut and paste a link to heavyequipmentsforums.com, forestry operations, west coast logging camps page one.


 
2dogs,

How about pasting the link one more time with the word 'Richard' in place of the offending word, and we will know to replace it with the familiar version of that name?

Philbert


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## 2dogs (Mar 19, 2011)

If you look at post #18 you will see what I was trying to link to.


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## Philbert (Mar 19, 2011)

2dogs said:


> If you look at post #18 you will see what I was trying to link to.


 
I could not find the thread using the search function.

Philbert


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## 2dogs (Mar 19, 2011)

The thread was from heavyequipmentforums.com

Then find the forestry operations thread and then find the thread about camps etc. There you will see images re boots.



Heavy Equipment Forums


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## lfnh (Mar 20, 2011)

slowp said:


> Ah gentle reader:
> 
> I disagree. I looked it up in my Webster Dictionary. I do not have a Funk and Wagnall.
> 
> ...


 
Maybe of interest ( no sawdines though ) -

- Lumberjack Lingo


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## Philbert (Mar 20, 2011)

2dogs said:


> The thread was from heavyequipmentforums.com


 
OK - I was searching A.S. in the Large Equipment Forum. Your link was blocked because it referenced another site. I assume that this is what you were referring to (?):

Philbert


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## slowp (Mar 20, 2011)

If signs trump the dictionary then:

Roda is road. As seen in a warning sign, LINES ACROSS *RODA.*The sign maker said it was late and he was very tired so mixed up the stencils. 

Then there is *LOGGIN* AHEAD. This one was done in the way that the sign maker pronounced the word Logging. 

And the Huff and Puff drive in now sports the word *EAl * in bright orange as the top of the T broke off. :msp_smile:


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## madhatte (Mar 20, 2011)

Along I-5, where 72nd crosses the freeway in Tacoma, there's a strip mall called "Tacoma Place". For several months awhile back, the "TA" in the neon sign were out on the side facing southbound lanes. It always cracked me up to drive past "Coma Place".


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## Philbert (Mar 20, 2011)

A landmark in Saint Paul is the old Schmidt's Brewery, with a large, lighted sign that can be seen for many blocks. Apparently, an old Halloween prank was for high school kids to climb up there and disconnect every other letter.

Philbert (P_i_b_r_)


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## Philbert (Mar 20, 2011)

slowp said:


> If signs trump the dictionary then: . . .


 
Any idea on why they are pronounced 'corks' (like what you plug into the end of a wine bottle) instead of the way it is spelled (like the painters sealant)?

Philbert ("Fill-Bert")


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## Gologit (Mar 20, 2011)

Philbert said:


> Any idea on why they are pronounced 'corks' (like what you plug into the end of a wine bottle) instead of the way it is spelled (like the painters sealant)?
> 
> Philbert ("Fill-Bert")


 
Tradition. Don't over-think it.


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## 8433jeff (Mar 20, 2011)

Wintertime cold boots have a lot of extra padding. The steel toe Sorrels I do have are named the refrigerators, and unless I'm walking more than I want to, they stay at home.
Otherwise, steel toe.


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## 2dogs (Mar 20, 2011)

Thanks for posting the picture Philbert! Bill (pronounced bill) 

BTW that pic is showing a foreign language...Canadian (prononunced Molson)


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## slowp (Mar 20, 2011)

2dogs said:


> Thanks for posting the picture Philbert! Bill (pronounced bill)
> 
> BTW that pic is showing a foreign language...Canadian (prononunced Molson)



Then shouldn't it be 

DO NOT PARK IN FRONT OF SHOP DOORS eh. ?


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## Humptulips (Mar 20, 2011)

Looked it up in my American College Dictionary. They have it as Caulks but it sounds like many use calks and caulks interchangably.
To be honest I've never seen anything but caulks on shoe boxes.
Remember when caulks used to come in the tall cardboard shoe boxes.
Also learned a few things about the origin of the word. Sounds like it came over from horse shoeing. 
I think the pronunciation is more likely attributable to a caulk spelling. The L starts to become silent it and it sounds a lot like corks.
Oh well, you'll have to stop at Kuliens and ask which they prefer.:msp_confused:


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## slowp (Mar 21, 2011)

I'm thinking it is an North East Coast thing. If you've watched "This Old House" they pronounce saw as sawr.


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## indiansprings (Mar 21, 2011)

I have never worn steel toed boots, too uncomfortable on a wide foot.

My BIL was in a serious industrial accident, a heavy auger fell over 20 feet and landed across both feet, it crushed the steel toes in the boot cutting off two toes on one foot and one toe on the other. It was a major hassle for the surgeons to get them removed from his feet, they basically had to grind them off. He was disfigured and cripple for life. You could not get him near a pair of steel toed footwear.


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## Philbert (Mar 21, 2011)

indiansprings said:


> My BIL was in a serious industrial accident, . . . crushed the steel toes in the boot cutting off two toes on one foot and one toe on the other.


 
Sorry about your BIL's mishap. 

This has been discussed at length, and even explored by the 'Mythbusters' TV show. Although, they are hardly the epitome of science, the general consensus is that any force substantial enough to crush an ANSI compliant steel toe and cut off someone's toes, would have reduced those toes, along with parts of the instep, to jelly without the steel toes. 

Nothing can stop everything - doesn't mean that one should forsake basic protection measures even if they would be of limited use in a catastrophe.

Philbert



> _Testing has proven that a compliant steel toe is much safer than the alternative. The misconception that extreme weights will cause the steel toe to crush and amputate the wearers toes is categorically false. The weight required to crush a steel toe would also easily crush an unprotected foot, effectively amputating the toes. In most cases, the engineering of the steel toe causes the impact force to be redirected._


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## indiansprings (Mar 21, 2011)

It was a very large diameter stainless steel auger used to carry dehydrated food product for packaging in the Army's MRE's.
Emergency rooms should carry the equipment on hand to deal with such emergencies. The boots were made by redwing, it still crushed everything in his feet, really anything this severe would have resulted in the same results steels toes or no steel toes. I've decided I just don't need the aggravation of laying there two or three hours while getting them off, just smash or cut them off onsite, it'll be less painful in the long run. I ruined one or two pairs of good heavy leather boots with saws, luckily none have gone through to the meat.


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## hammerlogging (Mar 21, 2011)

indiansprings said:


> I have never worn steel toed boots, too uncomfortable on a wide foot.
> 
> My BIL was in a serious industrial accident, a heavy auger fell over 20 feet and landed across both feet, it crushed the steel toes in the boot cutting off two toes on one foot and one toe on the other. It was a major hassle for the surgeons to get them removed from his feet, they basically had to grind them off. He was disfigured and cripple for life. You could not get him near a pair of steel toed footwear.


 
I guess you could say my first real labor oriented work was a summer gig on a commercial fishing boat, no steel toes allowed there since if you're crushed they're stuck on you for hours or days until you get help, I kind of figure thats sensible enough for me out in the woods too, it can be a pretty damn long ways to anywhere- I've only ever had one pair of steel toes and don't really miss them- yes, I can see the benefit at times or in certain trades, but I don't think I'm in one of them.


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## Jumper (Mar 27, 2011)

Quite simple in this country, if you want to work on most job sites, construction, manufacturing, warehousing, oil patch whatever, you wear steel toes with the green patch. And if you don't want to wear them, find a job in an office or someplace equally less hazardous. On the site I am now working add reflective Nomex clothing, gloves, glasses, hardhats and no facial hair except for mustaches. Watched them hand out razors to more than a few at the new hire safety brief I attended two shifts ago, interferes with respirator use.

And they now make plastic toes that meet the same standard for winter wear.....a lot of people wear them here in Alberta. And toecaps to fit wide feet are also available.


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## snowmaniac (Mar 28, 2011)

As Reagan said,scariest words in the english language, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help."


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## Jumper (Mar 28, 2011)

snowmaniac said:


> As Reagan said,scariest words in the english language, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help."



No one is forcing people to wear steel toes here, you have the option of working elsewhere where they are not required.

History shows individuals and corporations will generally not enable safe behaviour in most workplaces,(and elsewhere) thus regretably governments in advanced countries have to step in. 

On a related topic, watched an interesting documentary on the Triangle Shirtwaist fire in NYC on TV this weekend.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire


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