Black Diamond Boots?

[smartin91]

First off I'd like to apologize if I'm posting in the wrong thread, but I was wondering if any of y'all have a pair of Black Diamond X2 boots. I currently have Thorogood Hellfire Power HVs, but within a month of getting them, the left boot started to break in extremely fast and is now starting to let moisture in. I know usually one side will break in faster, but that's always my right and now 8 months after getting them, they're past breaking in and is wearing out and peeling so I'm sending them back to Thorogood for a refund (for some reason they won't replace them) and instead of getting a new pair, I'm going to get a whole new pair of boots. Usually I'd just get a replacement pair even though they're only refunding me, but another member of my station had problems with his pair of Power HVs so I'm going to try something new. If not, what do y'all recommend? Most people at my station still wear rubbers or have Pro Warringtons or Globes, but I'm looking for something with a little more ankle support due to a past injury and a little cheaper.
Thank y'all.

[Wolfn]

While this thread exists, I have a question to ask about boots:

I bought a pair of Servus rubber boots from Tractor supply for yard work and nature hikes. My feet are size 9.5 and I bought a pair of Servus rubber boots in size 9 and with two pairs of work socks feel comfortable enough to walk long distances. Are firefighter boots going to be similar and I will need to order a smaller size?

[EastKyFF]

I had the Black Diamond boots for a while and I loved them. They size true to your actual shoe size. The Servus boots I had over the years were generally a size smaller than my normal shoes.

Going from Servus to Black Diamond was like moving from Meredith Vieira to Maria Bartiromo. Going from Black Diamond to my leather Globes was like going from Maria to Erin Andrews.

[FyredUp]

smartin91,

Currently between 3 FDs and my teaching job I am doing my own impromptu boot test. With my career FD we wear Haix, with my #1 POC FD we wear Thorogood, with my #2 POC FD we wear Globe, with my teaching job we wear the new Black Diamonds.

The Haix, Black Diamond and Globe are allacombination of leather and hard plastic(?), the Thorogoods are all leather upper. They are all comfortable to wear and so far no leaks or obvious signs of distress or failure of the components.

My honest evaluation is I don't feel deprived no matter which boot I am wearing. I have a very wide foot, 4E, and all of these manufacturers now make wide boots so this is no longer an issue. I have had the Black Diamonds the dhortest amount of time so I can't give a fair evaluation on how well they will survive the obvious abuse I will give them as an instructor. So far I like them very much.

If you have the opportunity to try on a couple of different brands then do it and buy the one that seems to fit you best and is the most comfortable to walk in.

[smartin91]

I dont have the chance to try on a bunch of different brands sadly. So would I get my running shoe size 14 or would I go with my boot size which is 13 since I guess they are both my actual shoe size? I'm guessing I should probably order them this weekend since they have labor day sales on most sites too?

[FyredUp]

Mine are same size as my shoes.