Thanks for that chart, Larry. I guess I missed it earlier.

I can see how you missed the chart, there appears to also be more that one Muck boot company.

I would say that my Mucksters run large but I don't wear really thick socks with them. Lots of toe space which is good for me.

Shadegardener said:I've always worn old athletic shoes for gardening but am getting tired of wet feet. Looking for a waterproof shoe that's comfortable for gardening and digging. Clogs don't work well for me as my yard isn't flat and my feet slide around in them too much. Any suggestions? TIA

try nike shoes highly recommended

'regular' Nikes? Or does Nike make shoes that are different from athletic shoes (what some of used to call tennis shoes)?

I never did buy mucksters but still need something that meets my criteria:
comfy fit
waterproof or resistance
easy to slip on and off
AND that I can wear with my existing socks

Picky? I don't think I'm asking for anything unreasonable.

I was shoe shopping last week at a local DSW. Too bad I didn't look at Nikes. And I even had a $10 off coupon. Dang.

Another update on my Muck low cut boots I bought about eight months ago for working down in the bog. I loved those shoes, wore them almost everyday. I starting feeling a strange tingling sensation in my feet, mostly the right foot. It gradually got worse, and I began to think I had some disease or nerve problem. Finally, for some reason I wore another pair of shoes down to the garden one morning, didn't really notice at the time or put the two together. But later it occurred to me that it seemed my feet had not hurt so much that day. Still, I did not pay it much attention. Then one night my feet were killing me with that tinging burning feeling like some sort of nerve pain. I had gradually began to notice that it might be the shoes. So for the next few days I wore my hiking boots down to the garden. No more foot pain. It seems that maybe the inner sole support collapsed. So they were good for really about seven months when the pain started.

Larry I have a good insole I wear in my tennis shoes and then put them in my Sloggers (preferable have 2 sets) when I garden. It helps my foot pain.

Bare feet, they are flexible and clean off easily.

Right now I use some great FitFlop sandals

I see this is a revised thread, and I just got new shoes. Too early to tell how good they are, but I wanted a pair of waterproof boots that were just a bit higher than the slip on style shoes I previously had. I also wanted them to be easy on and off, so I went for a zipper style waterproof boot. I bought some Clark front zipper boots, love the height, just perfect for the bog this year being it has not been very wet. I do have a pair of calf high boots should we get much hurricane rain.
The really big dislike for the new shoes is that the opening for my foot is too small, very hard to get the boots on, the zipper opening does not open up wide enough. The boots kick off really easily. Not a ton of support in them some better insoles would have been appreciated, but the support is decent.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08RS9ZCCT/

RpR said: Bare feet, they are flexible and clean of easily.

Makes it pretty painful when using your foot to cut in to hard soil with a spade, I would think.

No matter what I buy for rugged garden work, I always insert a cushioned shoe support in them.
Right now I've been wearing a Cabela's slip on shoe. Heavy tred sole, slips on, camo colors.

bloominholes2fill said: Makes it pretty painful when using your foot to cut in to hard soil with a spade, I would think.

Not really , use your heel to start and your shoulder and chest from there, although a shovel with a loop handle must be used.
I dig potatoes from my knees using the palm of one hand on the shovel blade and the in the handle loop rocking the shovel to get deep.

Start with the heel and then use the shoulder and chest? I can't seem to picture that in my head. I must be a real wimp, there is no way I would attempt to use a shovel even in my soft soil with out shoes on, too many roots lurking under there. I already have ant bites up my legs, can't imagine what my feet would look like after gardening without shoes and socks. Now when I am on the back deck in my rocker, beer in hand and fan blowing, I can handle being without shoes and socks!

@RpR, you are more rugged than I. I can't even walk on stones in my bare feet!

bloominholes2fill said: @RpR, you are more rugged than I. I can't even walk on stones in my bare feet!

Up North we have a crushed granite parking lot/drive way, I limp around on it in the spring till they toughen up.

There was a time when I could go barefoot on pretty much any terrain (although I'm not so sure about using a shovel to dig anything with bare feet...); now I am a total tenderfoot and continue to use my old athletic shoes for the garden, with the laces loosened just enough that I can slip in and out of them without using my hands... still the best garden footware I've found, despite having a pair of Sloggers, which I like except for the fact that (1) I have to use my hands to put them on and (2) they collect a ton of dirt in the soles. For me, at least, gardening isn't a job where I stay outside all day long and leave my footwear on for the duration - I might harvest something and then want to run it into the house, go back out and do some digging, back inside for a bathroom break, back outside... shoes on, shoes off, etc. the well-worn athletic shoes remain my best option! (and also give me a reason to buy a new pair for wearing when I'm not gardening! )

Growing up, our rural street was tar and chip. All the neighborhood kids could walk on it barefoot except for me.

I always used to run around barefoot too, but as I got older, for some reason I kept managing to step on bees or wasps in the grass. The majority of stings I've gotten have been pretty much self-inflicted.

I have a cheap slip-on pair of Skechers that I use normally in the garden doing any chores, navy color so matter what I do, they still look ok. It's too easy when your feet are slightly wet from damp grass or from perspiration from the heat to slip off the sandals I usually wear out back, and not something I want to do while walking behind the lawn mower.

And for those days when it's just too wet for the cool fabric Skechers, I have a waterproof pair of slip-ons called "Sloggers" that are actually very comfortable and reasonably priced. I just have a typical city/suburban lot size, so I don't need anything taller than a shoe.

Edit: I was surprised that Sloggers also makes them in tall boots, and they're also very reasonably priced.

I'm not sure if I posted my story before, so if I did, just ignore or humor me, whichever you prefer.

I used to wear waterproof flip flops years ago. They were a molded, all-in-one construction with a thicker sole than the typical flip flop from the drugstore, and they had traction. It didn't matter what the project was, whether digging and planting or simply watering, those sandals were my go-to. I broke one two years ago and bought very similar new ones. We're in the city as well and we are on the highest hill on the street. Our lot is a postage stamp, and the street was lowered some time in the 60's, so our hill is not long but it is steep, but only in front. So, in 2012, I was removing bushes on the East side of the front porch. DH and DD#1 had left for a ten minute errand. Our neighbor's concrete drive is just about 7 feet over and about 8 feet lower than our hill, there. It was a hot day. I had removed the last of 5 shrubs and was removing roots from that shrub. Just when I thought I had finished, there was one more root to cut. You know the old adage about using the right tool. Well, I was hot and tired and the loppers were "too far away" for me to take just a few steps to retrieve them, but the manual hedge trimmers were right within reach, so lazy me grabbed those. Bad decision!! Mind you, I was wearing those flip flops. So I squatted down, wedged the hedge trimmers in, and started my cut. Well, I lost my balance, did a half pirouette, and fell head first! On the way down, all I could think was, "Please don't hit the (neighbor's concrete) steps!!" There was no breaking my fall until I hit his driveway head first, and I landed about one foot away from those steps! The temple of my glasses broke off the hinge and gouged into my left brow, but at that moment I didn't realize it. So I jumped up, in what I thought to be a second later, gathered my tools, ran up the hill, dropped them off, and as I was running across to the other end of our property to go around the railing to head up the porch steps, blood started dripping down from that cut. So I cleaned myself up in the bathroom, ran to the neighbor, told her what happened and that I would clean up the blood (her husband was due home from work soon. They have no children, so can you imagine what would go through his mind to find a pool of blood on his drive as he pulls in? So DH and DD came home to find me sitting on the porch with a cold wet, blood soaked rag on my brow. We went to urgent care, and I wound up with stitches, from "Doctor Hack-It-Up" with no bedside manner! The nurse actually asked ME if I blacked out, seconds after I told her that there was nobody else out there at all, and neither of them checked for concussion DH and I eventually concluded that I had a mild concussion bc I was exhibiting symptoms. As a result, I now wear hand-me-down Timberlands when doing heavy work anywhere in the yard and gardens. Even in the back, where it is flat as a pancake! Love my Timberlands! I am super careful on the hill as well.