Whites Boots

flashover604

TreeHouser
Joined
Sep 3, 2014
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443
Location
Lancaster Ohio
Hi all. I'm a phone man and have always worn Linemans or logger style boots. I usually buy Carolina's or Chippewas, or another $125-$150 boot every year and a half to two years. I've never plunked down $200+ on a pair. I just saw that Treestuff has $479 Whites Smoke Jumpers on sale for $299. I've read that they used to be top notch but the quality had gone down hill. What say you guys? Do you think they'd be worth the $299? Are they decent on flat ground? Last question, do they for true to size?

Thanks in advance,

Zach
 
I was on fire one time and the soles between the waffle stomper and the heel's came unglued. I was on fire after all.

Would not give mine up for double what I paid, which was 450 in 2012.

Does Tree Stuff have a return policy if they dont fit right or are you stuck with what you ordered? Who handles the warranty at that price?

299 is outta sight! Never seen them for anything like that.
 
I'm sure if there is no wear showing TS will refund completely unless there is some sort of a "sale" caveat.
 
Whites has a good rep, afaik.

I used to love logger boots, now I can't stand them, like walking downhill all day.
 
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  • #6
FFZ, the hottest I ever got was a fully involved bedroom in a structure fire. I dropped down on the floor with an inch and a half line and whipped it around to get to the fire behind a bed. When I went to get up off of the floor I felt something rip. I thought I caught a nail with my bunker jacket sleeve so I made my way out of the house. When I got my air pack off I saw that The room had been so hot that the carpet had melted and I'd layed down in it. The carpet was what I'd felt rip, not my bunker jacket.
 
$299 is a killer deal for whites, and they run true to size. No comparison to Carolinas IMO it's a handmade boot, made in the US.

Break them in with the nylon laces before switching to leather laces. Keep them greased, and they should serve you well. Rebuilds are about $225.
 
You guys that fight fires, is it entirely clear at what point the danger to yourself is the priority in what you do? I mean is it clear cut depending on what's going on? Fighting the fire in my shop was a real something experience. Some kind of beast all about, sort of like it was laughing at me. I took it very personally, I think how I was able to save the place. I guess if it's your own place that is burning, things might be different. Burned my hands dealing with some on fire blankets, but only realized it after, I think the panic. A corner and part of one wall and the ceiling were on fire when I rushed in there, all I could think was no way. An interesting profession it seemed, being wise within the calamity.
 
Whites are certainly top drawer boots. I wore Wescos for most of my 32 years with the US Forest Service, both Vibram and caulk soled, but my last pair were made by White (Buffalo branded, but from the same shop). No doubt they were every bit as good as the Wescos, but no better either. No slam from me either way. Only difference I saw was the Whites never were quite as good at keeping water out as the Wescos, both being treated the same with proper wax/oil on a regular basis. Of course, that was in the worst kind of off trail, steep and slashy sort of ground on the west side of the Cascades range...the hardest sort of environment for keeping your feet dry.

Cons...Whites, and Wescos just the same, are heavier than home-made sin. That never bothered me as a younger field man, but once I got into my fifties, as much as possible I wore a nice pair of all leather Danners, or even a pair of fabric/leather Merrills. But for the roughest ground, the Whites (like the Wescos) ruled.

BTW either Wescos or Whites, you can get them hand made to your personal size if you want (at least it was so in the not too distant past :)), at no extra cost. Contact either company direct to explore that option.

That price is certainly a good deal.
 
A lot of the older fire guys switched to Kennetrek or La Sportavia instead of the Whites.

I really like my Whites, but some of the seasoned guys I know are like Burnham, they switched to lighter boots and it has saved them a lot of aches and pains.
 
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  • #13
You guys that fight fires, is it entirely clear at what point the danger to yourself is the priority in what you do? I mean is it clear cut depending on what's going on? Fighting the fire in my shop was a real something experience. Some kind of beast all about

I was always cautious and left if I felt like I was getting too hot or just plain felt weird. Very early on I met a firefighter who had gotten trapped when he fell through a floor. He got burned up pretty bad. The sight of those burns and the story he told made a very distinct impression on me and I carried it through my short career. As long as there was no one alive inside that fire I took very few chances. We always had the hot dogs that would go in to a room that was involved and stand up just to get their face shield to melt. (The temp on the floor could be several hundred degrees cooler than the temp at your face if you stood up.) They thought it was cool, kind of a "see, I can take so much heat that my shield melted again." I never felt the need to ruin a piece of equipment so people thought I was a badass.

One of the neatest things about the job, for me anyway, was how fire moves in a structure. Outside fire moves very fast. If you look at a wildfire or bonfire or even a house fire on the outside, the fire physically moves fast like the flames licking back and forth, etc.. This is because there is such a difference in temperature between the actual flame and the surrounding air. Inside a structure the air is almost the same temperature as the flame, so it slows way down. You could watch a wall of flame actually start at the bottom of a wall, roll up the wall and across the ceiling. It might take five, six, seven seconds where had the room been cold it would've taken a second or two. It's kinda of strange to say, but it was really cool to see. Especially in a training fire where you had no actual loss of property. When it got to the wiring in the walls the colors would change too. You'd get these really cool greens and blues and purples that would mix into the orange flames. It really was something surreal to see.

I miss it.
 
Fascinating, i mean as far as someone's misfortune allows you to be fascinated. Thanks for elaborating.
 
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  • #15
That's what I meant by the training fire. I never let someone's house burn longer so I could watch the fire, but in a training environment you could lay there and really take it in. It's really an animal. It will eat anything that burns. That includes you.
 
I where whites every day and love them. I will caution you that this whites boots have a awesome arch support that takes a bit to get used to great once you do though. That same great arch makes for a bit of a rounded bottom where your gaff lies thus making for a little odd exchange climbing in gaffs. I climb in wecos and love them wouldn't do it without. They have a flat bottom with steel plate in the heel makes for a sound fit. I ordered a pair of nicks which arrive tomorrow setup for climbing in gaffs so we will see how they work.
 
You guys that fight fires, is it entirely clear at what point the danger to yourself is the priority in what you do? I mean is it clear cut depending on what's going on? Fighting the fire in my shop was a real something experience. Some kind of beast all about, sort of like it was laughing at me. I took it very personally, I think how I was able to save the place. I guess if it's your own place that is burning, things might be different. Burned my hands dealing with some on fire blankets, but only realized it after, I think the panic. A corner and part of one wall and the ceiling were on fire when I rushed in there, all I could think was no way. An interesting profession it seemed, being wise within the calamity.

Usually an officer makes the decision on how to procede at a structure fire. Thats not to say he or she cant make the wrong decision, and people often do.

We have a rule that "everybody goes home" and that idea is supposed to help you decided. Basically risk a lot to save a lot....such as a save able life.

Risk a little to save a little....such as a structure that can be saved. Risk nothing to save nothing.......fully involved structure, no chance of save able life. Dig in and keep the fire from spreading to adjacent structures.

In theory that sounds like a good plan, in practice it is up to the individual to decided how much to risk and often times people are hurt or killed in situations that were losers.

Most firemen are killed in abandoned or unoccupied structures.

I have a bit of that in me. I roll up to a structure fire and I am already mad. I have cursed at a fire, just mad as hell and willing to do more than I should to beat it.

As an officer, I have become much less aggressive.


I would say its rarely entirely clear however. There is some risk of death or injury in most of what we do, sometimes you ignore it, sometimes you over react. One person's judgment is not infallable, so you listen to your crew, listen to your command, listen to the inner voice that says "get the F out!"

You have to try to figure out all the things that are going on inside your head. Your neck is telling you its too hot, your lungs are telling you its too hot because every breath is burning from a hot SCBA bottle.

Your brain is telling you its too hot and your eyes are concerned because you cant see anything and putting on a flash light only makes it worse.

Trouble is that your ego says everything is fine!
 
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  • #18
As an officer, I have become much less aggressive.

It's interesting how the process changes when you're in charge of other people's lives. I am priveledged to know some very good officers that had been hell on wheels firefighters. Having someone else in there doing what they used to do really reined in their gung-ho. Finer people I've never met. I'd follow them wherever they went.
 
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  • #19
"In this line of work there are few second chances. These men choose to walk where the devil dances."
 
Working active fire is scary in the extreme, and but somehow can be exhilarating in equal measure.

Hat's off to structure firefighters...my experience is only with woodland/brushland wildfires. Somehow, being inside the fire seems more intimidating to me, even though I know from training and personal experience that a wind driven run of a wildland fire can place in deepest risk, and when the cards are against, eat a crew quicker than imaginable.
 
Yarnell Hill. Mann Gulch, Storm King, Rattlesnake, Loop, Inaja.........

I had an old timer tell me that all the information is out there, weather, fuels, topography.

He said that I owe it to my crew to NEVER be surprised.
 
Truer words have never been spoken, Jim. Don't ever forget them.

It's a damn hard thing to pull the plug on a "maybe" scenario, but you have to.
 
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