Leather sailing boots

Ingwe said:
The main thing is to never ever wear your decent boots when you are cleaning your deck with any form of deck cleaner as the chemicals in a lot of them react with the rubber on the soles and make them go hard - since realising this my current boots (must now be 6-7 years old) still have nice soft rubber soles.

Also obviously never store them in direct sunlight for the same reason.
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And never wear them ashore!

Sea Boots live on the boat and are only used for sailing, everything else I have a £14 pair of wellingtons.
 
Sandy said:
And never wear them ashore!

Sea Boots live on the boat and are only used for sailing
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I'm not so sure about that, indoor sports trainers suffer the same problem with soles loosing their grip if only used indoors. Occasionally used on a rough surface abbraids the soles and they keep their grip, akin to giving them a rub over with emery paper.
 
fien397 said:
IMO they are still the best, but the dropping of half sizes, and making them so they can't be re soled is pretty disappointing.
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Thats the reason I won’t buy again. Why pay a premium for a cheapened product?

I didn’t notice a price drop when they binned their workers jobs in Ireland to offshore the production..
 
LadyInBed said:
I'm not so sure about that, indoor sports trainers suffer the same problem with soles loosing their grip if only used indoors. Occasionally used on a rough surface abbraids the soles and they keep their grip, akin to giving them a rub over with emery paper.
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Indoor sports, wash your mouth out with beach ?
 
Euphonyx said:
Last year I had my 20 year old Dubarry boots relined and re-soled in the factory for 50 Euro. Good for another 20.
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Older Dubarrys can be re-soled, more modern ones can't. Anyone know when they changed the design?
Mine started to leak after about 4 years, sent them back, but they couldn't be repaired due to the changed design.
They offered me 10% discount off a new pair in lieu of being able to repair, but as repairability was a big incentive to buy them in the first place I declined. Doesn't seem like reasonable value any more.
 
The soles on my old Dubarry boots went hard - I think because they were left in a very dry air con room. This made them dangerous.
The soles on my new Dubarrys are a different material and feel like they will not go the same way ! I really like them and would buy them again.
 
I decided to give the Dubarry's a go but now that they have arrived I'm not convinced. The sole seems a bit hard / slippery and while I might be wrong at £250 I'm not going to take the risk, particularly now that you cannot replace the sole, so they are going back
 
Ammonite said:
I decided to give the Dubarry's a go but now that they have arrived I'm not convinced. The sole seems a bit hard / slippery and while I might be wrong at £250 I'm not going to take the risk, particularly now that you cannot replace the sole, so they are going back
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Don’t blame you. Probably the biggest USP of Dubarry was their ability to be resolved. They still carry the price premium but no longer the feature.
As I suggested earlier, take a look at Quayside as I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
 
Skylark said:
Don’t blame you. Probably the biggest USP of Dubarry was their ability to be resolved. They still carry the price premium but no longer the feature.
As I suggested earlier, take a look at Quayside as I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
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Will do although Im going to attack my Musto's with a flap disc first to see if I can resurrect them! :-)
 
Ammonite said:
I decided to give the Dubarry's a go but now that they have arrived I'm not convinced. The sole seems a bit hard / slippery and while I might be wrong at £250 I'm not going to take the risk, particularly now that you cannot replace the sole, so they are going back
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Personally I find the grip very good on them despite the sole being harder than you might expect.
 
Long ago had rubber style, but they started to perish after 2 years, crazing then cracking then leaking.
I've had Orca Bay boots - lasted 2 years then started leaking at sole / upper joints, and then sole cracked across and leaked. I glued inner tube on with contact adhesive and wear them in my workshop as they're comfortable, but no use in wet.
Next were Henri Lloyd. Worn 2 seasons and while treads and soles look OK, they too started leaking. Liberal application of "dubbin" type oil/grease tried, but didn't work. Now pondering what to try next!
The above experiences don't give a clear clue as to what to try, but perhaps the fisherman's seaboots idea is worth a try!
 
We have had Maindeck boots for the last 5 years. Not bad, but now leak like sieves. They aren't as warm as Dubarrys, but were quite a bit cheaper. They seem to have gone up in price in recent years relative to their competitors.
 
billyfish said:
I'll never buy that type of boot again .
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My Musto boots were so comfortable that you could sleep in them. But they almost put me over the side, sailing alone in the North Minch. I will never buy another pair of those either. None of the makes can now be re-soled. Rubber wellies is what I use.
 
I have a pair of Quayside with hard slippy soles after 8 or 9 years. They were very good, and have lasted well remaining waterproof. I took the risk and attacked them with the angle grinder, which improved the grip in 2019, but didn't get to use them in 2020. I will buy them again.
 
I think the broad consensus of the replies to this thread is that - as the soles of all modern leather or textile boots go hard after only a couple of years or so and none of them can be re-soled - the best bet each time is to simply buy another budget pair at half the price of the fancy brands! Or just wear wellies.
 
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