Leather Boots vs. Rubber Boots -- Safety

[mtomek112]

Could anyone possibly tell me where I can find some documentation showing that leather boots are safer than rubber boots. I'm doing some research. If I can prove the above to be true, I'm going to propose that our standard issue is leather. I bought a pair myself and love them. Think everyone on our department should have them, just gotta prove they are more safe than rubber. Thanks for any help.


Matthew Tomek
Bolivar County VFD
Cleveland, MS
motmek@bellsouth.net

[captstanm1]

Contact Tradition Footwear. www.fireboots.com (I think) They have a hard copy of a study that was done somewhere on the East Coast, perhaps by the University of Maryland. Maybe hwoods can help.

[ADSNWFLD]

Lighter, more comfortable, sure. Safer? Probably only as far as better footing is concerned.
You'll have to weigh the fit vs resistance to chemicals.
Myself I would pick leather hands down.
Good Luck

[Rescue101]

And unfortunately not safer in the Northern climes on Ice where the soles tend to be stiffer than the ones on the rubber boots.This makes for more fall injuries in icy going.I think it results from the "compound" the sole is made of being stiffer on the leathers.Before you ask I wear my leathers year round but I move slower in the winter to keep my feet under me.T.C.

[jpsmith2]

Before you ask I wear my leathers year round but I move slower in the winter to keep my feet under me.

I second that comment. Leather boots on ice are treacherous. But the benefits far outway the detriments.

I wear a size 13E. In rubber boots I can have trouble walking up steps... in leathers (14" pull-ups) I can climb chain link fences.

[MOTOWN88]

I applied "roof cleats" to my leather boots and they get more than enough traction even on those severly pitched iced over Detroit roof tops.

[Dalmatian90]

This makes for more fall injuries in icy going.

Sure, coulda told me that before I ended up on my keister last night...hmmm, wonder what caused the car to go off the road anyways...

With one addition, I'll echo Rescue101 & ADSNWFLD comments already. I find I'm much more agile in Leathers -- better grip on step edges, I can "climb" up on a compartment to reach high stuff in the Rescue that I couldn't do in rubber boots between grip & bigger bulk. Haz-Mat trailer has rubber boots we can change into -- even for most of our members who get the issued rubber fire boots, they have green boots to use for spills & such to keep the bunker boots cleaner.

[mtomek112]

Well, fortuantely I don't have to worry about the snow and ice too much. I live in the Mississippi Delta and we get snow and ice maybe once every three or four years, if we're that lucky.

you know how it is though, when you try to talk the powers that be into change, you better have something to back it up!!

[ltbeal]

Having worked as a firefighter in the chemical industry and for the Department of Energy and through this experince have learn to view safety from many aspects. Since most structural fire fighting is done in an hazardous atmosphere not to mention the materials that are involved in the fire, the water streams will pull these products out of atmosphere creating a chemical cocktail that we crawl and walk in. Since leather is known to be absorbent and does not decontam well, anything we walk in can or will be absorbed into the leather. I would be concerned about the permeability of the leather and exposer to the chemicals that could or would be in the leather boots over time. The rubber boots don't have the permeability issues that leather has and just because a leather boot is bloodborne compliant does not make the boot chemical resistant. I'am looking for chemical permeability information and dermatology studies of chemicals through leather.