Wellies again...

pete_the_caver

New member
Yes I know,  wellies have been discussed over the years, but it might be a good time to find out what people are wearing and what's on the market.

Recently, I purchased a pair of wellies from Hay and Brecon Farmers.  They're PVC topped with a very grippy Nitrile sole. They are a large, very wide fitting, bigger all round than a Suretred of the same size (I split size 12 Suretred because they're too narrow).  They're made by Wayne Safely, a South African company.  If like me you don't want toe caps, then you have the choice of green or black but if you do want to be weighed down, then there're lots of colour options.  So far I love them

As for Suretreds, I was informed that only the model for Sparkies is still available. These are white with a blue sole and a safety toe
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PeteHall

Moderator
I wore those ones for years Badlad, the round treads are brilliant and they are very comfortable, but I find they do wear out very quickly on the toes with all the crawling. Then they split just behind the toe-cap where all the flex of the foot gets concentrated.

Last year I deceided to try some cheap ?10 Dunlops for a change and so far they are doing really well. At this rate I think they will easily outlast the safety ones and they are much lighter into the bargain. So far I've not dropped any rocks on my toes either  :)

If Dunlop did that tread pattern and rubber weight, but without the steel toe, I think that would be the perfect caving welly for me.
 

Maj

Active member
Does anyone do wellies with a steel plate in the sole but without the steel toe cap?

Maj.
 

PeteHall

Moderator
I doubt it. The steel midsole is at the higher end of the safety ratings, while the toe cap is the most basic, so anything with a steel sole will have the toe cap too.

If you particularly wanted a pair with a steel sole and no toe cap, you could take the midsole out of an old pair of work boots and pop it in your welly. You'd probably want to stick it down and put an insole in as well or your foot would slide around. Or just use your normal safety wellies until the toe cap falls out ;)
 

Maj

Active member
PeteHall said:
you could take the midsole out of an old pair of work boots and pop it in your welly. You'd probably want to stick it down and put an insole in as well or your foot would slide around.

Yes I've thought about doing something like that.
The previous wellies I've used, the sole of the boot would de-laminate where the spring steel was moulded into the sole. The latest pair I've got, the steel plate is inside with just a very thin material covering. I'm hoping that they last a bit longer.
Since I'm not really concerned about a steel toe cap, I was thinking a cheaper pair of non safety wellies (usually about 1/2 - 2/3 price of safety wellies), insert my own spring steel insole with a neoprene insole on top.

Maj.

 

pwhole

Well-known member
I bought a pair of the Screwfix-brand wellies (Site) a while ago for ?17, and was so astonished at their durability I bought another pair, so I can rotate them. They're full safety, so steel midsole, which makes them quite heavy, but I live on a second floor, so I need to keep my legs working. Had no issues with grip either, and they have a ribbed front, like the Acifort. The first pair took a year of hard caving before any leakage, and then it was only a small slit under the toecap on my right, where I kick the wall when ropewalking, no doubt - easily glued-up. I never thought cheapo would pay off, but in this instance it has.

Although - last time I was in there a couple of weeks ago, I picked up a pair in the shop and they felt suspiciously lighter and thinner. Maybe they'd had a board-meeting to bawl out an over-generous Production Manager...
 

Madness

New member
I'm using a pair of cheap steel toe cap wellies that I had for site work about 20 years ago. They work for me. When they need replacing it'll be with another similar pair.

At the end of the day wellies are......

....err.....wellies
 

Les W

Active member
Madness said:
At the end of the day wellies are......

....err.....wellies

Not really...

The Dunlop Suretreads had a phenomenal grip, on various types of rock and mud. I haven't found anything that replicates that, so it must be down to the actual compound of the rubber sole.
It was a sad day when Dunlop discontinued the Suretread.

The grippyness (is that even a word) of the sole is likely down to the softness of the compound, so the more grippy ones will be softer, and will wear quicker.

I use Dunlop Acifort now, but they are not in the same league as the Suretreads...
 

Madness

New member
I've never really had an issue with grip. Mud, gravel etc are great levellers when in comes to the grip level of footwear. The difference in grip levels are more noticable on clean rock.

At the end of the day 'you pays your money.....'
 

crickleymal

New member
I have a pair of chemical boots Egoli Inyati or something, which look identical to the ankle boots on the web page of Wayne Safety. The tread is very grippy possibly because it's so deep, the only snags are the shar edge to the rubber round the ankle and the eyelets being rubber get sawn through by the laces after about 10 trips. Now I know they do wellies I'll probably buy some.
 

andrewmcleod

Well-known member
Etche canyon boots from Starless River. I have had to replace the laces, but much prefer wet feet to lugging heavy wellies around all the time...
 

The Old Ruminator

Well-known member
I rather wanted a different colour.  Lots of snazzy ladies boots about. Not much for men. Settled on -

Dunlop Acifort Heavy Duty Wellington Boots Yellow.  ?20 from Tools Today.
 

Pete K

Well-known member
I have issues with the Acifort steel toe boots. Inside the toe, there are rough rubber edges left over from the moulding that rub badly unless I wear neoprene socks. Love the non steel versions though, best rubber I've found since the Suretreads.
 
I've always used "wellies", because wellies are wellies. More recently, I had a pair of actiforts for work. One day I was out with the drillers and forgot my wellies. I was given a set of Dunlop Purofort wellies, which they all swore by and my whole world was changed. Lovely lovely rubber, not PVC cable sheath stuff, really soft and supple latex stuff. I am guilty of wearing a set of Puroforts like slippers. They are that good. A while ago, I picked up some Buckler Boots (neoprene jobs) which were about ?80. They are crap. Like not-happy not-comfy crap. I went to may's farm shop and bought some new puroforts. They do various tread patterns, toe, toe+sole and insulted steel everything.

Gucci Boots are mostly a load of hype but Dunlop Puroforts are in their own league. Utterly fantastic footwear and I'd buy them if they were ?100 a shot. Once you have worn a pair, you will say "how on earth did I ever wear normal wellies". I have a pair for wet trips that I put some drain holes in. (my originals, which were not water tight anymore).

I wear a pair of Berghaus walking boots as shoes (which are nice things).
Have a set of Stein Wolf chainsaw boots for site work (as I utterly hate cheap steel boots). If you do fieldwork or sitework and need "the best" steel boots. The Stein Wolf jobs are like feet-gloves.

Dunlop Purofort for wellies, everytime. They are so good.

https://www.fanevalleystores.com/product/315549/dunlop-purofort-plus-full-safety-wellington

Buy a set of these and you will also be converted.
 

pwhole

Well-known member
I'd always wondered if these were worth the money - or rather, were cost-effective as caving wellies as opposed to general use. You're quite convincing, and that's quite a decent price - but as I already have two intact pairs of wellies I'm not sure I dare at the moment. I did but some Buckler work-boots recently, which are wonderful, but that's another story.
 
I'd buy a set of decent ones for general use and then take them caving when you replace them. The buckler ones are going in the bin. Waste of money. I wouldn't even bother taking them caving
 

pete_the_caver

New member
Les W said:
Madness said:
At the end of the day wellies are......

....err.....wellies

Not really...

The Dunlop Suretreads had a phenomenal grip, on various types of rock and mud. I haven't found anything that replicates that, so it must be down to the actual compound of the rubber sole.
It was a sad day when Dunlop discontinued the Suretread.

The grippyness (is that even a word) of the sole is likely down to the softness of the compound, so the more grippy ones will be softer, and will wear quicker.

I use Dunlop Acifort now, but they are not in the same league as the Suretreads...
If you read my original post, you'll see that Suretreads are still manufactured but only in white with blue soles. The Wayne boots have a sole as grippy as my first pair of Suretreads (black with brown sole), so I suspect that Suretreads had a Nitrile sole. In a similar fashion, the Wayne boots have small ribs on the sole cleats.


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