Good brands for boots for winter in Europe
Hi, I am looking for a good pair of shoes/boots to get me through winter here in Europe. Where I am, it usually doesn't go below 0°C and mostly sits around 5°C. I have seen Reg Wings recommended a few times here, and while I like how they look they are far above my budget. I want to spend around 200€, any good brands you can recommend at this price point?
9 Replies
Give Blundstones a try
Blundstones is a great rec above. It also just depends on what you need out of the boots. Style, do they need to handle weather well, craftsmanship, or is it mainly price.
Beckett Simonon and Taft are both good brands that do MTO, so they're usually a bit cheaper overall for their quality.
Thanks for the hints! I mainly need them to handle the weather well and they should look somewhat decent.
I don't really like how the Blundstones look on the images but there is a shop nearby so I'll go check them out. Beckett Simonon doesn't seem to ship to anywhere but the US. Taft has insane shipping costs to my place.
dunno about red wings tbh, i have the iron rangers, and while i do wear them in winter in vienna, we don't get any snow here (which i guess you dont either), but still it's not a winter or weather proof shoe (there are days where i don't wear them because of the weather). maybe that makes you feel better about them being over budget haha
Blundstones get me through snow/ slush in Toronto winters (mainly walking around in downtown). Have held up very well given the abuse they take. Look perfectly at home in office where sneakers are acceptable.
Having said this, I am also in market for more "dressy" looking boots that can survive salt/ snow/ slush on pavements. Would wait for others to pitch in for something that satisfies these criteria.
I was wearing red wings in the snow and slush at 1 degree here in the uk, felt fine and feet are dry as can be
wouldn't go ankle deep in them mind
I'll defer to any Europeans on further boot company recs since I'm US based. But I would say if you're not trudging through big puddles or ankle height snow all day, most decently well made Goodyear welt or stitchdown boots will do you just fine in the weather, depending on the leather that's used. And I think you should be able to find something at the higher end of your budget for that.
I can vouch for Ecco, but only with a grain of salt.
I've had ecco schoes for ages, they aren't like artisan/heritage shoes that will last 20 years, but I've worn some of my eccos for ~5 years until they start falling apart.
They've been very good and suitable for winter in finland (except when you need shoes with spikes).
So what about the grain of salt? Well the last pair of eccos I got, don't fit me as well as the same size used to fit, I also feel like the quality has gone down a bit. But the biggest issue is the sole. It's a winter shoe and the sole is damn slippery!
I would probably still buy ecco, but if I get another disappointment like that, it's bye bye
I'm going to be that guy and say that Meermins are great, I've been putting mine through hell for a few years, resoled them twice and they still look and feel amazing