shoes for kilts in the desert heat?

[jjoseph]

Hey mates,

Got a question re. shoes: For casual wear (about town, frisbee golf, etc.) I've been wearing my redwing steel toes or USAF combat boots which are both very comfortable, but they are damned hot in the summertime. If I'm wearing cargo shorts, I feel comfortable in sandals, but they just "don't look right" with the kilt to me.... now to the park where you can go shirtless, the kilt looks fine just barefoot, but that won't work at the mall, so any suggestions what I can wear that's not hellish hot here in the 101F heat?

[Rigged]

As a Ranger for Burning Man, I spend hours walking in the desert.

There are things called, "desert boots". They're usually a suede leather and designed for walking around in the desert. REI has some hot-weather hiking boots. Lands End has some leather slipons that look great with a kilt.

I usually wear sturdy leather work boots out in the desert. I make sure they're well broken-in before I wear them out there though. I've worn steel-toed workboots in the desert, but I think the steel in them absorbs and hold heat. Combat boots are great for jungles and swamps, I guess, but the material is thin and allows heat to penetrate. Thicker leather insulates the feet from direct sunlight.

Something like this would be a good bet:
http://www.bigmen.com/shoes/workboot7.html

Or a Clarks Desert Boot:
http://store.yahoo.com/fwbrmc/beesbrowleat.html

Or the military style desert boot:
http://www.shoeline.com/asp/dcpItem....refURL=froogle

I've found that the most important thing is good socks. Cotton will hold perspiration and bunch up, causing hotspots and blisters. Good-quality hiking socks rated for the weather conditions you'll be wearing them in will help your feet no matter what kind of shoe you're wearing.

If you're going to be doing a lot of walking, have two pairs of shoes or boots and enough socks that you can change shoes and socks every day. Fresh socks keep your feet dry and changing shoes each day lets your feet recover from whatever rubbing each pair of shoes causes.

[An t-Ileach]

...There are things called, "desert boots". They're usually a suede leather and designed for walking around in the desert...
If you're going to be doing a lot of walking, have ...enough socks that you can change shoes and socks every day. Fresh socks keep your feet dry and changing shoes each day lets your feet recover from whatever rubbing each pair of shoes causes.

"Boots Des" were a "hot" item (excuse the pun) in British military circles when I was in the service - they were designed in the 1940s specifically for the Western Desert and have been in use ever since. They're very comfortable, but don't give you much ankle support.

I always found that you needed at least three pairs of (under) socks per day, and you need to wash and talc your feet often.

But if you're just slobbing about - why not go for "thongs" (to maintain the Oz allusion)(i.e. flip-flops) rather than blundies?

I normally wear Merrell's slip-on Approach Shoes most of the time: they're quite good even in hot deserty weather; but they can let in a bit of sand, grit, or whathaveyou, at the ankles.

[Andrew Breecher]

I wear Chacos all the time with my kilts, both traditional and modern. If I'm wearing a tee shirt, they look perfectly natural. I've even worn them with a button-up shirt along with a tartan kilt, and they still looked pretty good. And they sure feel good when it's 95 degrees out and 85% humidity.

Andrew.

[davedove]

It seems to me from what I've learned from the members of the board, just wear whatever you want! Personally, I like to wear a lightweight pair of hiking boots with my kilt.

[Colin]

What about Blundstones http://www.blundstone.com they seem to work for the Aussies.

[Manu]

What about a piar of converse All-star? It works for me. All black of course.

[jjoseph]

as for socks, yup, quality is a definate when it comes to wearing boots.

Hadn't considered Blundies, but I think I'd run into the same heat issue as the other leather boots (i used to wear blundies when working in Oz).

Now the converse all stars is a NEW idea, LOL... will have to try it and see how that flies!

[GMan]

The Converse All Stars do have the ability to let air circulate pretty well. I have seen them with a kilt, and they do look prettty sharp.

[Raphael]

I wear these:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...68138?v=glance