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.

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.

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.

Week 48: More Doc Martens

I've been wearing my Doc Martens a lot again. Wore them in work 4 days, and wore my Adidas boxing boots for one day. At the weekend I mainly wore my Vans. I wore my Lonsdale boxing boots a few times in the evening. I'm wearing them at the moment - trousers tucked inside.

Week 47: Doc Martens

It has been cold and/or wet this week so I spent most of the week wearing my doc marten boots. I wore my gola boxing boots for work on the monday but the DMs for the rest of the week. In the evening I briefly wore my Lonsdale boxing boots a couple of times. Since these boots live under my desk at home, I often slip them on while I'm using the computer.

On saturday I did a bit of work in the garden so I wore my green Le Chameau wellies for a while. On sunday I wore my Vans hi-tops for most of the day.

week 45: more Doc Martens

It's getting more like winter so that means wearing my Doc Martens more often. I wore my boxing boots for work most days, wearing my DMs a couple of days and also at the weekend. I have decided to wear my Gola boxing boots more often so I have left them in my office and I change into them when I get to work. They still aren't as comfortable as the Adidas Tygun, despite looking like they are based on the same basic shoe. I'll see if they soften up after I've worn them a bit more.

Boot-Inch-Hours

I have decided to try a new way of measuring how much time I spend wearing my boots. I have measured the height of each of my boots, taking the ankle as the zero point, so the height is the distance above a normal low-top shoe.

My boots range from:

• Converse high top : 2¼ inches
• Vans hi-top: 2.5 inches
• Mid-height boxing boots: 6 inches
• Lonsdale boxing boots: 10 inches
• 20 eye Doc martens: 11 inches
• Blue wellies: 12 inches
• Green Le Chameau wellies: 14 inches

I measure the number of hours I spend wearing each boot and multiply by the height. Lo-tops count as zero. I am going to try this out as an experiment during November so see what kind of results I get. I I will just wear boots as normal, rather than try to wear taller boots. For the last week I have been doing a bit of a 'preview' of the experiment, but since I spent the last week wearing taller boots, the numbers will be higher.

During the last week I wore nothing shorter than my boxing boots. On monday I wore my adidas boots all day then changed into my Lonsdale boots in the evening - a total of 15 hours and 114 inch-hours (9 hours * 6 inches + 6 hours * 10 inches).

My highest Boot Inch Hours score was 269. This was today, thanks to my 24+ hours of boxing boots which started yesterday morning. I spend all of today wearing taller boots - mostly wellies and doc martens. Simply wearing my boxing boots all day would have scored 240 boot-inch-hours. The highest possible score is 336, which would be if I wore my green wellies for the full 24 hours.

For a bit of comparison, the list below shows how many hours of Converse wearing is equivalent to one hour of my other boots:

• Vans Hi-Tops : 1.1 hours
• Mid-height boots: 2.7 hours
• Lonsdale boots: 4.4 hours
• Doc Martens: 4.9 hours
• Blue wellies: 5.3 hours
• Green wellies: 6.2 hours

Week 43: a mixed bag of boots

A mixed bag of boot-wearing this week. I wore my Adidas boxing boots for work for a couple of days but wore my Vans quite a lot. I wore my new Lonsdale boxing boots at home one evening. I was out of the house for most of Sunday and wore my green wellies nearly all day.

Week 40: Boxing Boots and Wellies

Apart from Monday, when I wore my tall converse-style Levi's boots, I've been wearing my Adidas Tygun boxing boots for work every day during the week.

On Saturday I mostly wore my Vans hi-tops but in the afternoon I put my wellies on and went for a walk. It wasn't wet but it was cold and windy so I thought the boots would be useful against the wind.

Sunday was a better welly day. I was out all day in the countryside with the girlfriend. I put my Vans on to drive there but when we got to our destination, I put on a thick pair of socks to keep my feet warm. This meant I had to put my wellies on because my hi-tops wouldn't fit any more. I wore my wellies for the rest of the day, until it was time to drive home.

My ideal boot collection

This would be my boot collection if I had free reign to buy anything I wanted. Starting from shortest:

I would have to have a pair or two of the classic Converse all-star hi-tops. They are great to wear in the summer.

I would also get a couple of pairs of other ankle boots, probably skate hi-tops or basketball boots. From the age of 16 until my early 20s, I wore basketball boots pretty much all the time.

As an alternative to skate or basketball boots, I might get a pair of low-cut boxing boots. These should be ok to wear with shorts.

Next in height, the tall Converse and mid-cut boxing boots. When I was in my late teens, I had a couple of pairs of converse-style tall boots which I wore as much as possible. I was quite disappointed when they finally fell apart and I couldn't find any more in the shops.

While I'd love a pair of genuine Converse x-hi, they are quite expensive and not easy to find in my size. These boots from Demonia would be a great alternative - and they have zips up the side so they would only take seconds to put on.

I would have to have a pair of mid-cut Adidas boxing boots. I love my old pair of Tygun boxing boots. Since they aren't available any more, I would probably get a pair of the Tygun II boots.

Getting all sensible and practical next, I would get myself a pair of rigger boots. These would be my gardening boots when the weather is too warm to wear wellies. Since these boots are designed to be worn with the trousers tucked inside, I'd be able to wear them like that all the time.

I would have to have some sort of mid-length leather boot, possibly Doc Martens.

Or possibly a Demonia boot.

Next, high-cut boxing boots. I am actually getting a pair of these Lonsdale boots soon.

When I was at university, I had a pair of these Adidas Box Champ. Back then I didn't have the confidence to tuck my trousers into them and wear them in public, but I often wore them like that when I was on my own.

Getting closer to knee-length, there are the ultra-tall Converse-style boots. These boots usually have zips up the side so they will be easy to wear. Demonia have a wide range.

Alternatively, there are these boots from 'Refuse to be usual', on ebay. They come in a wide range of styles:

I would have to get a pair of knee-length or almost knee-length leather lace-up boots. I already have a pair of 20 eyelet Doc Martens, which are as tall as many wellies.

Or there are many different boots available from Demonia.

I would have to get several pairs of wellies. One pair would stay near the back door so I could wear them in the garden. Another pair might live by the front door if I needed to wear a pair when I left the house. A third pair would be kept in the car in case I needed to wear some while I was out. I would probably also keep a 'clean' pair for wearing indoors if I felt like it.

I wouldn't just get traditional rubber wellies. I would also get a few pairs of leather 'country boots'. They would be great to wear inside or outside trousers. I could walk around wearing them and nobody would know I was wearing knee length boots.

Moving higher than knee length, there are some available from 'rtbu'. I wish these were available in my size - they look perfect to me.

Otherwise there are these 'thigh length' boots, which would be fun to wear, and are available in larger sizes.

I have never worn fishing waders but I'd be tempted to get a pair to try. I think I would have to get an 'all in one' pair like the Le Chameau at the bottom of the page. They look like an actual thigh length boot rather than a normal pair of wellies with 'leg extensions'.

Week 39: Week of Boxing Boots

It has been another week of wearing tall boots. I have been wearing my boxing boots for some part of every day.

I wore my converse style Levi's boots on monday. At lunchtime I went for a walk in the countryside again. Like last week, I tucked my trousers into my boots.

The rest of the week I wore my adidas boxing boots. I wore the gola boxing boots at home in the evening on a few occasions.

Saturday started with me wearing my Vans sk8-hi but later on I changed into my Gola boxing boots (trousers tucked inside) when I walked to the shops. Sunday was similar - I wore my Vans boots to start with but later in the day I wore my Adidas boots. In the evening I wore my Gola boots for a while.

Week 38: welly time again

On monday I wore my Vans hi-tops.

Tuesday was a good tall boots day. I wore my Levi's boots for work, then changed into my Gola boxing boots when I got home. Later in the evening I wore my Le Chameau wellies for a while.

On Thursday I wore my 'fake converse' boots for work and in the evening I briefly wore my wellies again.

On Wednesday and Friday I wore my doc martens for work. On both days I went for a walk at lunchtime, around the fields near work. I tucked my trousers into the boots and walked through the long grass.

On Saturday I started off wearing my old black & white converse but changed into my gola boxing boots when I went out. I tucked my trousers inside and laced them up all the way. It was quite a warm day so my ankles got a bit sweaty.

Today is another warm day so it's short trousers and boots. I have been wearing my Vans sk8-hi for most of the day.

Week 35 - assortment of hi-tops

I mostly wore my taller hi-tops this week: Levis red tab, adidas and gola boxing boots. I wore one pair of 'low' hi-tops: my Vans sk8-hi.

Week 34: Week of hi-tops

I have been wearing my vans and my converse hi-tops almost exclusively this week. I wore my gola boxing boots a couple of times at home. It's been quite warm most of the week so it's been short trousers and boots all the time.

Week 33: assorted hi-tops for work

No doc martens this week - it's been a bit warm and there hasn't been as much heavy rain. I've been wearing various pairs of hi-tops this week for work: Vans sk8-hi, Levi's red tab, adidas boxing boots and my old pair of black & white converse. The latter are becoming even more tatty - a hole has appeared in the toe of one of them. It will soon be time to replace them with a shiny new pair.

At the weekend I wore my gola boxing boots and my Vans around the house.

Week 32: All kinds of weather

The week has been a bit varied. Some days of rain so I got to wear my doc martens a couple of times. Some sunny warm days so I wore my black and white converse. I also wore my Vans hi-tops a few times, and occasionally wore my boxing boots around the house.

Week 30: Vans and Doc Martens week.

Mainly wore my Vans and Doc Martens for work. Briefly wore my boxing boots at the weekend.

Week 27: Shorts and Converse

The heatwave continues so I've been wearing my shorts and my converse hi-tops all week. Friday started off cold and wet so I wore long trousers and my tall Levi's boots but by late afternoon I was too warm. As soon as I got home I changed back into shorts and my black and white converse. I also wore my vans hi-tops at the weekend.