Raise your trumpets and sound a 21-gun salute, for it is time to retire your crisp and clean summer sneakers to the big storage box in the sky (your attic). Yes, lovely trainer weather has come to an end, elbowed out the way once again by the season of puddle dodging and mud evading. Time to call in the cavalry.
Winter boots are an absolutely essential part of any man’s wardrobe, and if your old pair has seen better days then this list has come at the exact right time for you. We’ve detailed our nine favourite wind-, rain-, snow- and ice-beaters for 2019/2020, with the sustainable, city, hiking and pub-bound boxes all ticked. So no matter where you’re treading during a cold snap, you’ll be doing it in style.
Oh, it’s Converse all right, just not as you know it. This thing, this beast, means business, doing away with the famous lightweight cotton canvas and instead using a water-repellent upper and Gore-Tex lining to help you kick puddles into next week. It also comes in a somewhat terrifying all-black colourway too.
Buy from Size | £110
Hey, hey you, HEY, down here! Peel your eyes from the staggering beauty of this hiking boot for just a minute, so we can tell you all about how heritage and high-end Brit shoemaker Grenson has somehow made it chunky yet lightweight for round-the-clock wear, crafted from hand-painted calf’s leather, with a sturdy Richfield Commando sole and… ah forget it, you’re gazing longingly at the picture again, aren’t you? As you were.
Buy from Grenson | £285
World-famous Aussie skate shoe brand Globe has teamed up with the radical snow crew of YES to create the answer to every hard-partying ski and snowboarder’s problems – a good-looking boot that won’t have you slipping and sliding around after one too many post-piste beers. With an ankle-high, waterproof design, a reliable Vibram sole and a quilted Cordura collar for comfort, this premium leather clodhopper will ensure the only ice you’re getting a mouthful of is from your drink and not on the bar’s decking.
Buy from Surfdome | £153.95 (currently reduced to £100.45)
Whether you’re planning an escape to the Alpine powder this winter, or just anticipating a commute through a country-crushing winter whiteout, Danner’s new snow and ice specialist deserves your attention. Once you’re done purring over the rich, buttery suede, know that this boot can face down frosty conditions with a 100% waterproof barrier, Primaloft insulation, a Vibram “Arctic Grip” sole and a really rather handy side zip, making them all the easier to pull on and off with gloved or frostbitten hands.
Buy from Danner | $220 (approximately £190)
Ready to step up your hiking game? This is the boot to reach for. The engineered woven upper sheds the grams to increase the speed at which you tread your chosen trail, and a FastFoam midsole promises to maximise energy return, which will make you more efficient over your miles, too. In the light of all that this seems barely worth mentioning, but they look really good, too.
Buy from The North Face | £160
When the inevitable happens, and alien life forms try to relieve the human race of Planet Earth, this is the sort of thing our futuristic special-forces super-soldiers will have at the end of their space beds. Arc’teryx is no stranger to kitting out the armed elite – its Law Enforcement and Armed Forces (LEAF) range does that – but this stealthy, techy and water-crushing tie-up boot is more than ready for whatever this planet, or any other, can throw at them.
Buy from Arc’teryx | £220
There once was a time when wearing skate shoes from Supra meant strapping garish, gauche hypercoloured hi-tops to your shins and walking down the street as panicked mothers shielded their children’s eyes. Those days are long gone. Supra has chilled right out, slinging lightweight and stripped-back options like this ever-popular Aluminium silhouette that’s recently got the cold-weather treatment. That means a vulcanised sole, metal detailing and a gusseted tongue, so you can step up when the temperature drops.
Buy from Supra | £90 (currently reduced to £63)
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The sneaker kings at Nike have given its first ever basketball shoe a wet-weather reconstruction, sending it out into the elements with an extra-rugged outsole, water-repellent synthetic upper and chunky lace eyelets. If dancing between mountain and metropolis is your thing this season, you’ll do just fine with the Lunar Force.
Buy from Nike | £149.95
Better known for chubby-soled, extra-cushioned running trainers, Hoka One One has blindsided us with this hiking doozy. We are, of course, inclined to mention the waterproof bootie, full-grain leather, trademark comfort, Vibram Megagrip outsole and multidirectional lugs for extra traction over tricky terrain, but really, secretly, it had us as soon as we saw that fiery sunburnt colourway.
Buy from Hoka One One | £180 (currently reduced to £126)
Fracap has been creating summit-stomping mountaineering gear for over 170 years, hand-making iconic leather boots in the family-owned Italian factory since 1848. It’s why, along with the feeling of the superior leather used, you’ll be letting out a little “oooh!” when you slide your feet inside them. This boot is the heritage brand’s most iconic shape, rounded off beautifully with those sturdy eyelets, classic laces and dangerously cool shark’s tooth ripple sole.
Buy from End Clothing | £219
Not every wet walkabout requires footwear that can withstand hurricane-grade downpours. Sometimes, stepping out in the bleak midwinter means nothing more than a few hops over puddles to the local pub for a humble Sunday roast, zero drowning risk encountered. And when that’s the case, Novesta’s smart-casual hi-tops have you covered. Made in the very same Slovakian factory with the very same machinery that first produced them back in 1939, this chunky-toed winner is the best bet for your winter feet when all you need to do is put ’em up and kick back.
Buy from Oi Polloi | £59
