The Armour Archive

Okay, quick question -- what sort of shoes or boots do you fight in?

Personally, I wear steel toe combat boots for safety and ankle support. I'm sure that there are better shoes for period considerations, but I really feel that safety is more inportant.

Matt

Oh, and hi everybody! (This being my first post here.)

(covered) Nike boots for indoors and Nike Landshark Cleats for outdoors. One of these days i'm going to get around to putting a vibram sole on my Revival boots. (Which, btw the way are on sale right now for christmas, buy one get the second 4o% off...buddy up and get some cool medieval shoes!)

I wear turn shoes(with ankle braces and insoles) in lists and jackboots in melees.

If it's raining Iwear the boots.

Matt_Stanley wrote:Personally, I wear steel toe combat boots for safety and ankle support. I'm sure that there are better shoes for period considerations, but I really feel that safety is more inportant. (This being my first post here.)

I had concerns about this as well. I damaged my ankles doing track in high school and subsequently severely twisted the right while sprint training in modern running shoes, and then again in high quality ankle height sport boots. I have suffered numerous minor sprains in both while wearing modern footwear. I have had at least 2 surgeons who wanted to operate (not surprising since they make money that way), but instead I have chosen to do rehab. I want to protect my ankles so I don’t need the surgery, but, I also wanted to try to feel more like a pre 1600 combatant.

I thought these would be incompatible goals, surprisingly they were not, at least for me.

What I have found is that my smooth soled turn shoes from Historic Enterprises (as well as my relatively smooth soled faux turn shoes from Revival) seem to be safer. I have not twisted either ankle since wearing them. I’ve worn them at practices, events, every major battle at Pennsic including the Woods battle, and wondering around the Swamp at night, in everything from hard ground to hills to the Pennsic floods.

I’ve come to a couple of conclusions about why I have found this type of shoe better.

First, I can feel the ground a bit better. Due to the thin soles I can get a feel for exactly what is happening to my feet.

Second, there is no edge of the sole to catch. If you look at most modern shoes there is a fairly significant sole edge that can catch. This gets thicker as you move into many hiking and combat boots. I’ve found that I don’t catch the tip or sides of the soles as much. Also the sole of the shoe can act as a little lever when it does catch, making the effect worse.

Third, I fall more. Why is that a good thing? Let me use an imperfect analogy. In many cases when you fall, the worst thing you can do is fight against it. Many martial artists train not to fight against the fall but instead with it. This prevents you from say sticking out your hand and breaking your wrist. I’ve found the same thing to be true with shoes in my case. A shoe that really locks me to the ground often will prevent the foot from going the direction that the body needs to go to release the energy from your miss step or balance error. I’ve ended on the ground several times in situations where I think my old boots would have locked me in place. Maybe the ankle support the boots would have over come it and allowed be to correct, or maybe the support would have been overcome by my 200 pounds of weight and the boot would try to stay in one place while my body went elsewhere (as happened the last time I severely sprained it). In other words, I’ve found that if I’m so out of position that I would have previously twisted an ankle I find I instead just fall down.

I don’t think that period foot wear will guarantee my ankles safety, but I have found I have had few injuries while wearing them.

The drawbacks are that you do get a toe stepped on now and then. I’ve had the 300 pound fighter in cleats accidentally stomp my toe and it hurts, but not like the burning tear feel of a twisted ankle.

Asbjorn

I wear one of my pairs of Bohemond's "SCA Boots" (with the additional ankle support of buckles or laces) for singles and many melees. I wear Nike cleats the other times. I'm looking for ideas on covering them, which I know has been covered time and again here.

I am another one who wears Nike Land Sharks. Rubber molded in cleats for good traction, and ankle support. My pair is a couple of years old, and after taking off the Nike swoop, they are all black, except for the little white around the ankle, and a while Nike on the bottom. I keep saying I am going to make sabatons to cover them, but there always seems to be something else to work on.

For practice I wear an old pair of sneakers. For events, including when fighting, I happened upon a pair of unlined, center seamed leather shoes. The only non-period things about them are the crepe sole and the heavy duty insoles I put in. The best thing was that they were only $35, in a store in the mall.

For years I fought in work boots, mostly out of concern for my ankles. But I haven't so much as stressed my ankles in almost two years of fighting in low shoes. YMMV.

Vibrum soled combat boots (covered with leather to give a better appearance).

I wear Carolina Engineer boots with Vibram Soles and a steel toe/shank:

That's what I wear, too, bro. I take of the bottom strap and buckle, though. I am on my second pair. They last quite some time if you don't kick the prick spur on your forward foot to often.

Falcone

Outdoors:

http://www.zappos.com/n/p/dp/556957/c/3.html

Indoors:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000AMS6C/103-7172610-2384603?v=glance

Hope this helps,
Karl

Apollonian wrote:That's what I wear, too, bro. I take of the bottom strap and buckle, though. I am on my second pair. They last quite some time if you don't kick the prick spur on your forward foot to often.

Falcone

I like keeping the buckle on. I have narrow feet and tightening that up a bit makes the boot fit better.

I have spurs with small rowels, but the leather belt on the spurs covers the boot buckle up pretty well.

I Bohemond's Boots with Vibram Soles dor most of my fighting.

For a Pas I wear my stuff from Brian Price.

Sir Guy

For my Roman impression in the SCA-

For now I just fight in boys boots. I need to get steel-toed boots tho one of these days.

Coppergate turnshoes. Or ankle boots, also from the Coppergate find. Never had a problem, in 16 years of fighting with steel. Tthough you have to get used to the different dynamic of leather-soled, heelless shoes, particularly walking uphill in slippery grass.

I wear revival turn shoes.

I made a pair of studded 14th c. ankle boots, added a vibram sole and an atheltic shoe insole.

They are as comfortable to wear as sneakers, support my ankle, and as long as I'm on my feet there is nothing modern visible about them!

If you pay me for shipping I'll ship you a free copy of my Boot Institoot book and a copy of my size 10 1/2 (mens) ankle boot pattern.

I do not understand why anybody thinks they have to wear steel toed boots for fighting. I have fought for 20 years, and have worn various kinds of shoes and boots mostly in the front line of a shieldwall. Yes, my feet get stamped on. Yes, my feet get occasionally hit by the occasional weapon. No, my feet have never been hurt, even one of my shoes came off (nope, I hold was not called--I pretty much just dived as fast as I could out of the fighting)! Perhaps I'm lucky.

But just for the record, these days I wear Cabella's Wellington Boots with insoles. Nice boots, really comfy. I have yet to find a pair of shoes or boots that I can afford that fit my persona, though I would dearly love to.

Mord.

I've seen a number of references to Vibram soles, and from looking on the web, I can see that many boot manufacturers use them, but are they something you can buy as just a sole, or are people just taking them off other boots?

Thanks

Varus

Most shoe repair or coblers I know have Vibrum replacement soles. Many (good) boots come with them already.

I wear black Sports shoes covered by sabatons (metal) I was a little worried at first as It felt wierd not to wearing boots! But I have found that I get fewer ankle twists now. They also look really spiffy-with the sabatons on you can see the cheap sports shoes

I wear black Sports shoes covered by sabatons (metal) I was a little worried at first as It felt wierd not to wearing boots! But I have found that I get fewer ankle twists now. They also look really spiffy-with the sabatons on you can see the cheap sports shoes

[img]http://www.rowe.ch/stiletto/picture/Lp_6/star.jpg[/img]

Ringlancer- those are...The Cruel Shoes...aren't they?

I fight in a pair of knee high light leather boots that I made. They have a rubber sole that I barged onto the leather sole. They are held up by garters when I'm in garb and my knee pads when I'm fighting.

I haven't had any problems with my ankles using them and I fight the woods with them.

[img]http://ealdormere.sca.org/ramshaven/K_A_Crt_Crop.jpg[/img]


Konrad

Sir Mord wrote:I do not understand why anybody thinks they have to wear steel toed boots for fighting. I have fought for 20 years, and have worn various kinds of shoes and boots mostly in the front line of a shieldwall. Yes, my feet get stamped on. Yes, my feet get occasionally hit by the occasional weapon. No, my feet have never been hurt, even one of my shoes came off (nope, I hold was not called--I pretty much just dived as fast as I could out of the fighting)! Perhaps I'm lucky.
[Mord.

At large melees my feet get stomped on ALOT and has been to the point where I have had trouble walking so I really see a need to put my little toesies in a pair of steel-toed boots.

Leather Mocassin boots, till I get my new ones made. I gave up on the cleats... turns out that Adidas was post period for a Varangian...

Ringlancer - aren't those the shoes Paris Hilton wore when she got tossed from the horse? How'd you wind up with them - "Save a horse, ride a cowboy"?

And, most importantly, did your lance reach its target?