How is Boot Height Measured
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Courtesy Big Black Boots…
The official height specification for a pair of boots refers to how high the boots are on your leg when being worn. So the height is measured inside the boots from the sole up to the boot top... usually along the back of the boots. The measurement on the outside of the boots from floor to boot top is not what we refer to when we say "boot height".
For pull-on boots things make sense. A 16" pull up boot should come 16" up your legs when new. As they break in they'll sag some as the ankles crease.
Lace-up boots, on the other hand, don't make much sense. All US made lace-up boots sold are about an inch shorter than the stated height. That includes the standard 10" combat boot.
Here's how this all came about. When you look at the standard regular-toe logger boots there are 10 sets of eyelets in what is called a 10" boot and 12 set of eyelets in a 12" boot etc.. The lace-to-toe styles have 2 extra rows of eyelets - the semi-lace-to-toe styles have 1 extra row of eyelets.
Since the eyelets on US made boots are 1 inch apart, people used to estimate the height of lace-up boots by the number of eyelets because of the curve in the row of eyelets as they bend down the instep towards the toe, the boots are actually about 1" shorter than the number of eyelets. So a pair of boots that is described as 10” high is usually about 9" high and this goes for all heights. A pair of 20" lace up boots will come 19" up your legs. This 1 inch discrepancy applies to all lace-up boots made in the US including government issue combat boots.
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Wesco mentioned this in their custom build menu: http://www.westcoastshoe.com/wesco/home.asp click on Men's Custom, click on Jobmaster, custom-build your boots and go to Demo build.
Edit: Should work now.
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Interesting post.
When does a shoe become a boot and vice versa?
To me, a 5" cut Whites semi dress looks more like a shoe. 8" and up it looks like a boot.
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Must do, because everyone of the good bootmakers calls their lace-ups boots. But hey, maybe none of them know what they are doing…..
Well, in finnish language all footwear that have laces are called something that translates to "shoes" and the ones without laces translates "boots" then ofcourse there is different definitions of the purpose.
exception; ski boots, cross country or slalom are called "monot" which is plural, "mono" is singular.
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then how are boot laces measured? i'm still lost as to what length to buy!
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then how are boot laces measured? i'm still lost as to what length to buy!
from end to end buddy!
just measure the laces and cop some in that length (or longer/shorter)!… -
then how are boot laces measured? i'm still lost as to what length to buy!
from end to end buddy!
just measure the laces and cop some in that length (or longer/shorter)!…Haha. Who knew it could be so easy!
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Haha I know that's 1 way! but I wanna buy for my new pair of white's that are coming in that are of a different height than my current! so….... there is really no way for me to measure something that isn't here yet!
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then how are boot laces measured? i'm still lost as to what length to buy!
Buy the longest ones you can find 72" plus…. Cut to desired size once in boot.....
Assuming rawhide I guess
That's a pretty tall boot, even for someone with long legs.