Kitchen Garden Forum

I've had it with Crocks, they last me a year, I need to wear shoes without laces that I can walk into because of my poorly back.

So many of those garden clogs to choose from, some don't have a heel-support thingy and some have fabric inside which may not work for me. Also, I don't want heavy ones. I saw some which were were cut-down wellies, didn't like them at all and far to heavy.

You people have to be experts on garden footwear.

Yes, but I wear standard lace up safety boots.

Do I need to make a case for wanting to wear clogs ? Lace-up shoes or boots are mostly THE most sensible footwear for the gardener, however, two main points;

I need to be able to get-out and back-in my shoes easily when I go in the house because we have polished oak floors and I need to do this without bending-over to fit them onto my feet.

Walking in clogs is good for the joints in your feet which tend not to be used as much in shoes.

Right, can we start again ?

Apologies, just unable to advise from experience.

I used to wear wellies, but they stopped making them wide enough. I suspect a lot are made in Asia and they just make them longer for export rather the properly up sizing. Same sort of thing with affordable shoes, plus the soles tend to be lattice with cardboard glued on & no reinforcement I'm 6'1" & large so they collapse internally, I need strong footwear & safety boots are made to a standard.


No case needs making, each to their own, just requirements.

Most that I've seen fall into the two categories you describe, backless & welly-shoes. Crocs are useless except as beach shoes

Perhaps you need to look at traditional clogs. We have a local full-time clogmaker up the road in Cricieth. He doesn't seem to make what you are looking for, however

http://www.treforowenclogmaker.co.uk/home

Walkleys of Mytholmroyd might be worth a look for backless clogs. They are a long-established and reliable firm. I used to visit their factory.

http://www.clogs.co.uk/

I wear Crocks a lot but for most of the time they just aren't quite right and wear-out very quickly.

Welly shoes in the style of a clog but with the comfort of Birkenstock. Birkenstock make a rubber-style clog but I don't know anyone who has tried them, sort-of hoping for some guidance from my new gardening pals.

With a poorly back it's very important to reorganise your life and anyone around six foot tall is likely to create a poorly back, those digging hoes I discovered have been a massive back-saver. I managed to dig-over an area ten foot by five foot and incorporate manure in a couple of days with those digging-hoe, my feet need a little help though.

try traditional dutch clogs, they kill your feet for about 3 days but then ,when you get used to them ,they are really comfortable. you just slip them on & off.

Thanks Jon, how do they cope with getting wet, like wet-grass ?

Both my L4 & L5 discs are burst, so I have semi-permanent back pain. Contrary to your experience I found the technique for chillington hoes, pickaxes & mattocks exacerbate my pain.

The one tool I have found useful is a longhandled irish/cornish/american style spade. It meant no bending when digging.

peter wrote:The one tool I have found useful is a longhandled irish/cornish/american style spade. It meant no bending when digging.

Oh-yes. That was my very-first find when I came to Pembrokeshire. All the farmers co-ops have them in stock and most builder use them instead of the conventional shovel. Peter, are you describing a pointy shaped spade rather than a shovel. Mine is a shovel so not a digging tool at-all, maybe I need a digging-pointy-thing ?

Sounds as if your back is as bad as mine, probably more difficult if you're a six-footer still. I used to be almost six foot, I lost three inches over thirty years though i'm not sure all of that is attributable to L4/L5 changes and other problems in the spine. Both hips have been re-surfaced so there may have been some shortening after that procedure.

Who ties your laces and takes your boots off ?

Bizarre that you don't find the digging hoe a help with your back, I am going to buy a longer handle though, see if that helps even more.

Pointy sort, goes in the ground easier, was a Spear & Jackson, handle broke and item no longer made. Then a Focus DIY own brand, fortunately I bought a spare before they went bust, thin good steel. Amazing how bad a traditional english digging spade or fork are for the lower spine.

It's the pull bit of the action of the hoes that hurts me.

I do my own shoes.

My difficulty is standing still or sitting in bad chairs, amazing how many meeting/training rooms have bad chairs, also some cars, exacerbated by poor headroom.

Commuting by train I used a home cut hazel stick with a tick shaped top not just for walking but to hang my bag from when waiting.

Both our cars have good seats & headroom, something of a first after over twenty-five years of driving hunched up.

Currently I wake up sore & stiff, mobilise with 2 x 500mg solpadol and a regime of leg waving exercises before driving to work.

Used to be on four doses a day plus two of celebrex but decided to reduce as much as I could. I did have facet block injections followed by physio which improved things a lot.
My specialist had a faux pas where he cut a vein doing a spinal fusion last year but my wife still keeps suggesting I have it done.

How did I bust them?
First picking up a tent peg while on all fours on the lawn, then it really went when I was trying to relieve the pain two hours later with a hot bath. Forty minutes to get out of the bath & twelve feet into the bedroom, then onto the bed by using a walking stick as a hook over the mattress to pull myself up.
The second one went when I was doing up my shoes before going to work.

Can't help much with shoe advice I'm afraid. I keep a pair of Cloggies by the kitchen door for popping into whenever I venture out into the garden for light work. The original ones were of a much stouter design but tended to split and the current models are much more lightweight and fairly insubstantial. Also annoyingly, if I slip into them in bare feet as I often to in summer when I don't wear socks, the soles of my feet quickly get sweaty and the inner sole sticks to the sole of my feet and pulls out separately. I suspect some real Dutch wooden clogs would be better but I think there's probably an art to walking in them, even if you can find a comfortable pair that provides some support.

I occasionally use 'sawn off wellies', they work a treat and not too heavy.

Cheers, Tony.

Richard

I wear muck boots - which are a sawn off welly...but with a soft neoprene top. I love them - nice and easy to get on and off. Plus your paws don't get sweaty. You can see them here...

http://www.garden4less.co.uk/muck-boots-ribble-boot.asp

looks like they also do a shoe too - which might be just what you're after.

http://www.garden4less.co.uk/muck-boots-eden-shoe.asp

my only mini gripe is the sizing. I'm a size 5 and they are fine with a thick pair of socks (in winter). But in the summer with thin socks they are a bit loose.

Urban Fox wrote:Richard

I wear muck boots - which are a sawn off welly...but with a soft neoprene top. I love them - nice and easy to get on and off.

Thank-you, I already have something similar by Crocks that I use when I need to hang my pants over the shoe/boot, like when brush-cutting/strimming or using a chain-saw to stop the grass or woodchips from filling my boots or clinging to my socks.

For most of my use I need shoes that I can walk-in and out of.

I finally made a decision and ordered a pair of Birkenstocks 'Super-Birki' on the basis that Birkenstock shoes are always very comfy. Some of the recommended garden clogs are a third of the price of the 'Birki' but price wasn't the issue. Light-weight, durable and to able to walk-in and out.

I'll report back if any interest in this subject remains.