Another internet search question that directed a visitor to my website lately stated, “Justin Boots made me slip and fall.”
My thoughts?

Poppycock. No one brand of boots over any other — or cowboy boots for that matter — can “make” anyone slip, trip or fall. Take it from me, an honest-to-goodness certified klutz: it’s the man wearing the boots who “makes” himself slip, trip and fall, not the boots.

Here’s what’s going on. Most cowboy boots have a smooth leather sole. That type of sole has no traction whatsoever, especially when the boots are new and not broken in. Smooth leather soles slip a LOT. Pull on a new pair of boots with a leather sole and try walking on a carpeted floor. Slip…slip…slip. That’s normal. To reduce how smooth leather soles slip, see the “practice” section below.

Heel height has a lot to do with tripping while wearing cowboy boots. The higher the heel, the more likely a guy — especially one who is unaccustomed to wearing boots with heels — may trip while wearing them. Simply, he catches his heel on a step or curb, and blammo, down he goes (sometimes embarrassingly in front of others.)

If a guy chooses boots that have a riding heel — that’s the most common style of heel that is higher than most — then he is introducing a problem if he does not wear boots often. If the guy is accustomed to wearing regular shoes with a low heel or sneakers that have no heel at all and then pulls on a man’s boots, it would be easy for him to trip and fall because he needs to retrain the muscle memory in his legs to walk in boots properly. You need to lift your legs when you walk in boots. Shuffling along like a guy does when wearing shoes, sneakers, sandals, or flip-flops unfortunately trains the muscle memory in the legs not to lift. Thus, when a substantial heel is introduced, a trip is highly likely.

My recommendation for guys who wear shoes or sneakers (or other non-heeled crap like flip-flops on their feet) but want to man-up and wear boots, do this: get a pair of ropers. Ropers are the most common boots that men wear (in the U.S. southwest and western states.) Ropers traditionally have the lowest heel of any style of cowboy boots. It is far easier for a guy to walk in ropers and avoid tripping. Ropers are “easy boots” to wear and walk in. A roper heel is quite similar to a heel of a dress shoe in height, size, and composition.

If you would rather wear a traditional cowboy boot, but you have concern about heel height affecting your ability to walk without tripping (that is, if you are a klutz like me), then look for a “cowboy walking heel.” This type of heel is the lowest found on traditional cowboy boots. While its height of 1-1/4 to 1-3/8 inches is higher than a shoe heel, its flat composition is easier to walk in and to help train the legs to lift again rather than shuffle.

Overall, learn to walk in boots. Seriously. When no one is looking, pull on your boots and practice walking on a sidewalk or pavement by lifting each leg as you stride. Practice walking up stairs that are made of wood or concrete (or similar hard surface–not carpet.) Most tripping occurs to guys wearing boots while walking UP a flight of stairs. The heel catches on the next riser as a guy lifts his leg to step up — but does not lift his leg high enough. I tell ‘ya, “muscle memory” is quite strong. If you have inadvertently “trained” the muscles in your legs to lift only so much when walking up stairs, then it’s easy to clip the back of a heel on a boot and take an embarrassing tumble forward.

Walking on rough pavement like a concrete sidewalk is the best and fastest way to “rough up” or break in a new pair of boots with a smooth leather sole. Once the smooth sole is scuffed up by walking on pavement for about an hour or so, the boot sole should have formed a texture that provides a little more traction than it did when new.

One other thing: avoid walking on wet surfaces with smooth-soled cowboy boots. Even when fully broken in, smooth-soled cowboy boots can slip easily on wet surfaces, especially roadways (such as crossing a street.) I suggest rubber-soled boots when walking on wet surfaces. (Many cowboy boots are made with rubber soles these days. Be sure to look for that when you shop.)

So that’s it: boots themselves cannot “make” anyone slip, trip or fall. The smoothness of a leather sole and heel height has a lot to do with it, but the muscle memory is the most direct cause of tripping when a guy is accustomed to wearing footwear with a low or non-existent heel.

Life is short: man-up and wear boots!