A week of knee length boots

I have decided to spend all of this week wearing knee length boots non-stop. I have my 4 pairs and have decided to wear my riding boots and country boots indoors, my wellies in the garden and my knee length converse outside.
I started off this morning wearing my riding boots for a few hours before changing into my converse to walk to the shops. I am now back in the house wearing my country boots. My plan is to wear each pair of boots for as long as possible so I will be wearing my riding boots overnight.
I will try to keep rough track of how many inch-hours I achieve. Since everything is roughly knee-length, I should get some good results.

October Boot Wearing

During October I decided to keep track of which boots I wore and for how long. I tried to wear boots as much as possible, and wear taller boots whenever I could. I did my usual 'inch-hours' measurements where I took lo-tops as the zero-point and multiplied the height of the boot with how long I wore them for. If taller boots are better than shorter boots, then the higher the inch-hours score the better.

I managed to wear most of my boots, from my normal converse hi-tops, all the way up to my riding boots. I wore boots for a total of 272 hours, and lo-tops for only 43 hours. The boots I wore the longest were:
Converse XX-Hi: 87 hours (worn on 14 days out of 31. I even slept in these boots one night, which I enjoyed doing.)
Lonsdale Boxing boots: 58 hours (worn on 11 days)
Converse Hi-tops: 54 hours (worn on 8 days)
Adidas Boxing boots and Riding boots: both worn for 22 hours each.

I also wore my wellies on 15 days during the month, mainly in the garden, but managed to wear them for a total of 12 hours.

My total tally was 2,800 inch-hours if I ignored any times when I didn't wear anything. If I counted nothing as -2 inches, then the total was 1,940 inch-hours, which was equivalent to wearing Converse hi-tops for 864 hours, or 36 days straight. This was also equivalent to wearing my wellies for 139 hours, or  5.8 days.

By subtracting time spend wearing no shoes, I have to wear boots for a minimum length of time to avoid being in negative inch-hours. Since normal Converse are just over 2 inches taller than lo-tops, I need to wear them for just under 12 hours per day to break even. Alternatively I need to wear my wellies for only 3 hours a day to break even.

Converse Close-ups

Yesterday was a nice varied boot-wearing day. I started off wearing my riding boots then wore a succession of black and white hi-top boots, starting with my lonsdale boxing boots, my new Converse hi-tops, my adidas boxing boots and finally tonight I wore my old pair of converse hi-tops. In the middle of all that I briefly wore my wellies when I went into the garden.

I am back in work now and wearing my new tall  Converse hi-tops, laced all the way to the top of course.

These are the hi-tops folded down, showing the star pattern on the inner lining. I quite like the star pattern but since I prefer tall boots I will be wearing them 'up' more often. I will only wear them folded down if I am wearing shorts.

This is a close-up of the ankle patch. It is a printed disk which appears to be sewn onto the inner lining of the boot. It appears to be positioned slightly too high though because with the top folded down and fixed using the studs, the top of the patch sticks slightly over the top of the boot.

The ankle patch on the outside of the boot isn't as good - it is just a plain printed disk which appears to be glued to the side. It is a pity this is lower quality to the other disk since this is the one which will be visible most of the time while I'm wearing them.

Boots and shops

Today has been another 'trousers tucked inside boots' day, with a slight emphasis on shopping with boots on display. I started off wearing my adidas boxing boots laced up with trousers tucked inside. I drove to the supermarket, got some petrol, then walked round the shop.

Later on I did a bit of gardening, wearing my Le Chameau wellies. When I got inside I changed into my riding boots.

This afternoon I walked to one of the local shops, about a mile each way, still wearing my riding boots. This is the furthest I've walked wearing them, and the first time I've risked wearing them in public in my street. I decided I didn't care what the neighbours thought - I was going to wear the boots and have them on show.

The left boot rubbed slightly just below knee, where the top of the boot is a bit tight, but otherwise they were ok. It got quite warm while I was out and the boots have softened up really nicely. I think I got at admiring glance from a young lady who looked at the boots and smiled as she walked past, otherwise nobody seemed to notice or care that I was wearing them.

Another fun boot day

This morning I went for a walk in the countryside. I decided to put my wellies on, which was a good idea because it had rained a lot in the week and the ground was quite muddy.
When I got home I changed into my riding boots. I haven't worn these for a few months and had been looking forward to wearing them again. I was still wearing my jeans and the boots were a very snug fit, quite difficult to pull on. I really should remember to wear thinner trousers with these boots. I first noticed this back in May when I bought them.

8 days a week of boots

For the past week, including today the past 8 days, I've only been wearing tall boots. Most of my time has been spent wearing knee length boots - either my riding boots, wellies or Doc Martens. The shortest boots I've been wearing have been my Lonsdale boxing boots.

I have been sleeping in my boots quite a lot recently. Last saturday I decided to wear my new riding boots for the whole day. I put them on friday evening and slept in them overnight, then wore them for all of saturday. I took them off at midnight.

I have been wearing my Doc Martens in work if it's been raining, otherwise I've been wearing my boxing boots. Every evening I changed into my riding boots when I got home. I like wearing riding boots - I think the close fitting shaft of the boot looks great as it reaches up towards the knee. When I'm watching TV or reading a book, I find myself looking at the boots and enjoying the way they fit.

On thursday night I slept in my riding boots again. When I woke up on friday morning I changed into my boxing boots to go to work. I wore my wellies for a while before changing into my riding boots for the evening. When I went to bed I changed into my boxing boots and slept in those.

It is now the 2nd saturday of this 8 day week of tall boots. I plan to wear my boxing boots for most of the day - the weather looks like it might be warm so boxing boots and shorts might be good to wear. I intend to change into my riding boots this evening and sleep in them for one last time before I return to my more normal boot wearing routine.

Shopping in my wellies 2

It was raining when I got home so I decided to put my wellies on to go out to the shops. As usual, I was the only person in wellies, despite the heavy rain.
When I got back home I changed into my riding boots. Either I've got one leg fatter than the other, or one boot is smaller around the calf, because one boot is tighter than the other.

Weighing my Boots

A few weeks ago I had a play on the Wii Fit while wearing my Lonsdale boxing boots. I thought the boots felt very light compared to my skate shoes, so today I decided to weight most of my boots and shoes.

Weights are in grams and are for a pair.

Vans Sk8 hi	1126
B&W Converse	945
Black Converse	880
Maroon Converse	905
Tall Converse	792
Adidas boxing boots	742
Gola boxing boots	732
Lonsdale boxing boots	820
Doc Martens	1742
Blue Wellies	2088
Le Chameau wellies	1958
Riding Boots	2278
Black and Red skate shoes	961
Grey Vans skate shoes	1080

Unsurprisingly the knee length boots were the heaviest. The one thing which surprised me was how heavy the Converse hi-tops were. I expected them to be much lighter than my skate shoes and didn't expect them to be heavier than my boxing boots.

Another month of Boot Hours

Back in November, I did a boot-inch-hours tally where I measured my boot wearing by multiplying boot height above the ankle by the number of hours I wore them. I said that I would try again in the summer so I have decided to do it again for June. Both are 30 day months so the results should be comparable.

Since I love wearing taller boots, I thought I'd start the month with my tall converse-style boots. I noticed it had started raining so I changed into my Vans Sk8-hi, which will lower todays score.

One thing is different: I have a pair of riding boots now. These are a couple of inches taller than my Le Chameau wellies, so any time I wear these, the boot wearing score will increase quite rapidly. I will be spending a few days on my own so I think I'll wear them as much as possible while I get the chance.

I don't know whether I will get much chance to wear my wellies this month. I managed to wear them a couple of times over the bank holiday weekend, for a couple of hours each time. I was out in the countryside and it seemed the right thing to do.

New Boots

I have been wanting to buy a pair of riding boots for a while. The pair I was originally going to buy weren't in stock at the time and have since been discontinued. Instead of driving all the way to Derby House, I found a local saddlery and bought them there instead.

The boots are pull-on instead of having a zip but they were fairly cheap and they weren't too difficult to put on and take off.

The boots are lovely and comfortable. They are about an inch taller than my Le Chameau wellies and reach all the way to the back of my knee. They are a lovely snug fit too. I can't fit my hand between the boot and my leg. They might be a little too snug because the boot presses against the front of my shin when I walk. Since I'm wearing them with my jeans at the moment, they might be better with thinner trousers.

I am just wearing them around the house today and they are quite stiff and difficult to walk in but I'm sure they will soften up eventually.

Out in the Country

I went to a country show today. The weather has been a bit wet recently so of course I had to wear my wellies. I put them on as soon as we got there and kept them on all day.
There were lots of different pairs of wellies being worn today. It was a good day out.

I want some new boots

I have got to the stage where I want a new pair of boots again. Every now and again I get the need for new boots, even though I probably have enough pairs. The last few times this has happened, it's been fairly easy for me to get a new pair.

Last year, when I found out about the Lonsdale Jab boxing boots, it was a few days before I developed an urge to buy them. I just felt that I really needed those boots. I'm glad I bought them because they are amazing to wear.

The year before, I felt the need to buy a new pair of wellies. Although I love my le Chameau boots, I really wanted a pair of black wellies too. I couldn't find black so I ended up with the dark blue wellies instead. I like them, but I would prefer a taller pair.

A few years before, back when I was at university, I wanted a tall pair of boxing boots. I looked around on-line before I bought the Adidas Box Champ. I wore them nearly all the time, until they fell apart.

Now I feel the need for a tall, knee length, snug fitting pair of boots. Riding boots would be great, but they need to have a zip. I don't want anything which takes ages to put on and take off.

The boots I want come from Derby House They are leather, knee length, and have a zip. All I need now is a chance to go and buy them without my girlfriend finding out.

Wellies in the snow

The best thing about snowy weather is wearing wellies in public.

I put my wellies on and went for a walk into town.

There were very few other blokes wearing wellies. I saw a few workmen and a few old men but that was it. There were quite a lot of people in town, just not many wellies being worn.

Summary of 2009

Ok, so 2009 is over. I was successful in wearing boots for some part of every day. There were a few days when I nearly went boot-free but I always managed to slip on a pair of boots for at least a few minutes of each day.

The most popular boots were my Vans Sk8-hi (worn for 110 days) and my Doc Martens (worn for 81 days). This is the same way round as after 6 months.

Next in popularity were my Adidas boxing boots (62 days), closely followed by Le Chameau wellies and Gola boxing boots (joint 57 days). At the 6 month point, the order was Gola,Wellies, with Adidas tying with my Levi's tall converse.

Running order after 6 months:

1. Vans Sk8-hi
2. Doc Martens
3. Gola boxing boots
4. Le Chameau wellies
5. (joint) Adidas boxing boots & Levi's boots
6. B&W Converse
7. Blue Wellies
8. Other Converse

After 12 months:

1. Vans Sk8-hi
2. Doc Martens
3. Adidas Boxing boots
4. (joint) Le Chameau Wellies & Gola boxing boots
5. (joint) B&W Converse, Levi's & Lonsdale boxing boots (new entry)
6. Blue Wellies
7. Other Converse

I only bought the Lonsdale boxing boots in October but I wore them at least once every week so they did quite well after only a few weeks.

I wore my different types of boots roughly equally. Low boots includes Vans and Converse. Boxing boots includes my Levi's 'tall converse style' boots. Knee length includes Doc Martens and Wellies.

As expected, I wore low boots mostly in the spring and summer. Knee length boots were mostly worn in autumn and winter, being worn less during summer. I wasn't expecting boxing boots to be mostly an autumn thing.

The numbers vary because I would have worn more than one pair of boots for some days, so each would count towards the total.

After 6 months, my Blue Wellies were my newest pair. They cost £20 and I had worn them fewer than 20 times, which worked out as over £1 per wearing. By the end of 2009, I had worn them 31 times. I actually bought the boots in the autumn of 2008, so I had already worn them a few times before I started keeping count. They are probably down to 50p per wearing by now. They are starting to look a bit battered since I was wearing them when I was painting the house, so I might get around to replacing them sometime this year.

Welly Happy New Year (a day late)

I was hoping to wear my wellies at new year but unfortunately it didn't snow so I didn't get the chance to wear them. Instead, I was wearing my Adidas boxing boots. 2009 ended like it began - wearing boots. I was wearing my Vans Sk8-hi at the stroke of midnight 2008/9 so at least the year started and ended with me wearing boots.

In the next few days I will post a summary of my years boot wearing. I successfully wore boots for every day of 2009.

I might not have been wearing my wellies at the new year but at least I've had a chance to wear them today. I put my Le Chameau boots on when I walked to the shops to buy a newspaper. I'll take them off in a couple of minutes when I go through to the living room to read the paper but since I love wearing wellies, I'll keep them on for a while longer.

I won't be keeping exact record of my boot wearing for 2010 but I'll keep wearing boots as much as possible.

Week 52 (extended week)

Since it will seem a bit strange to have more than 52 weeks in a year, this final week will be a few days longer, to take us up to January 1st. Week 1 was a bit short so this will even out in the end.

I wore my doc martens for the last couple of days in work.

I didn't get any boots for Christmas but I spent Christmas Day wearing my boxing boots so it wasn't too bad.

I wore my green Le Chameau wellies a lot - mainly in the garden. Most of the rest of the time I wore my Vans sk8-hi.

I was wearing my Adidas boxing boots when 2009 ended.

Week 51: busy in boots

Monday: Wore my Doc Martens in work. Changed into my green wellies when I got home. I went out to the shed to retrieve my blue wellies, which I put on the radiator to warm up. When I put them on later, they were lovely and warm. After wearing the blue wellies all evening, I changed into my Lonsdale boxing boots for about an hour.

Tuesday: Green wellies first, when I went outside to empty the bin. Then changed into my Doc Martens (trousers tucked inside the boots) to go to work. Trousers outside the boots when I got to work. When I got home I changed into my blue wellies. Later on, a couple of hours wearing my Lonsdale boxing boots.

On wednesday I started the day wearing my blue wellies, before briefly changing into my green wellies to go outside. After returning the blue wellies to the shed, I changed into my Doc Martens (trousers tucked inside the boots) for my journey to work. As with yesterday, I returned trousers to outside of boots when I got to work. In the evening I changed into my Lonsdale boxing boots again. My girlfriend was away so I decided to sleep in my boots again.

On thursday I decided to keep my Lonsdale boxing boots on and wear them all day

Friday I wore my Doc Martens all day.

At the weekend I wore my green wellies again. I only wore them briefly on saturday but I wore them a bit longer on sunday, when I put them on to go out to the shops.

This was another week when I only wore tall boots. The shortest boots I wore were my Lonsdale boxing boots, which at 13 inches, are still pretty tall.

Week 50: no short boots

I had a week of mostly wearing boxing boots. I had 4 days of wearing my Adidas boxing boots, and 2 days of wearing my doc martens. Today I wore my lonsdale boxing boots for a while, and briefly wore my green wellies too.

Week 49: Another week of Doc Martens

It's been another week of wearing my Doc Martens in work. I wore them for 4 days, and my Gola boxing boots for one day.

At the weekend I spent some time in the garden so I wore my green wellies. Back in the house, I wore my Lonsdale boxing boots for a while.

November Boot Inches

My November boot wearing data gathering is over. I'm not sure what to make of all the numbers I collected. I'll start with a few summaries:

I wore boots for 261 hours, out of a total of 720 hours in the month. I wore lo-tops for only 74 hours, leaving 385 hours when I wore no shoes.

My most-worn boots (in decreasing order):

• Doc Martens (139 hours)
• Adidas/Gola boxing boots (combined total 59¼ hours)
• Vans Sk8-hi (45 hours)
• Lonsdale boxing boots (8½ hours)
• Wellies (6½ hours combined for both pairs)

For my overall calculations, I counted lo-tops as zero and no shoes as -2 inches. This meant if I only wore short boots (eg. Converse or Vans) then I would have to be careful to avoid a negative score. Since I wore my Doc Martens and boxing boots so much, there was no danger of that happening.

My total for the month was: 1414 boot-inch-hours. This was equivalent to wearing Converse hi-tops non-stop for 628.5 hours.

The longest continuous period of boot-wearing was 13 hours, which happened on 2 days. Both occasions involved wearing my Doc Martens. The least amount of boot-wearing was 15 minutes. This was one sunday when I didn't leave the house. I briefly wore my Lonsdale boxing boots while I was using my computer, just to avoid having a boot-free day.

I might try the experiment again in the summer. The final total will be lower since I won't be wearing my Doc Martens as much.