These Bekina boots are the best of the best of the best. Here's why . . . .
I work agriculture and spend much time in a 4k ft equipment repair facility. Half heated half not. Anytime you walk from one to the other half it's going to be slippery. Outside in the fields at this time of year is all mud.My first concern was the outer edge of the sole looked like it would hold a terrible weight of slippery mud when coming inside. It does hold some mud, but not much and it seems to stomp off pretty easily. Even with the mud these boots feel light weight. From muddy field boots to crossing oils and solvents and cleaning tank splashes on the floor - both cold and heated floors - I've yet to feel any quick-step or loss of balance like I was going to fall wearing these. The tread pattern is much shallower between the sides of the soles and is probably why the soles don't hold much mud. So this "slippery" concern that I had - it's no problem so far.The very very large steel toe box is great. Terrific in fact. It's big vertically and horizontally. I get ingrown toe nails very quickly if my toes rub any area of a boot's toe box. I often have a ritual of putting bandaids on my most vulnerable toes when I wore my old boots. But not with these Bekina's.The overall fit of the boot stays snug mostly because of the very comfortable snugness of the arch area and ankle area. Not felt like my foot was moving around in these boots even when climbing on equipment or jumping down from something or moving briskly around in the shop.One thing I noticed, which may be a reason that some folks have a fit problem, is the the insoles, inserts, whatever they are called, they come with the boots and you can put them inside the boot or not. When I put mine inside the boots there was just a little too much arch/ankle snugness. I don't wear socks in rubber boots but if I did then the inserts would likely make the fit too tight for me (size-wise). Regardless, I took them out and all is fine. In fact, I don't notice anything - don't really notice anything about having them on at all, which is quite a high bar for measuring how satisfied I feel about the fit.Not certain what the material of the overall wellington part is, the Bekina product info did state what it is but I don't remember. It's a tiny bit like there's some silicone in their rubber mix but it's clearly not silicone material. It's sort of soft and strong. It "feels" like high quality stuff though.The steel midsole isn't something that can be seen or felt. I've no idea how that part works. The boot is not at all stiff so where's the steel? But I believe it's in there which was a must have feature for me. A co-worker stepped on a 6 inch thorn from a honey locust tree (they have incredible sharp long damaging thorns all over and under their umbrella). The thorn he stood on punctured his steel toed Walmart brand boots and it went right up into the middle of his foot - like a perfect shot from the tree's point of view. Greg had a big medical problem from that. Hence my personal insistence on the steel midsole.As far as being warm down to -22 goes, I don't know if that's possible for any boot. Not saying it isn't so, but I've worked outside midnight shift in Chicago and Detroit and they are pretty cold places. Used to wear Navy deck watch suits from the surplus store and had many nights I still got really cold. Maybe these boots will meet that -22 test but have some doubts. I live in Tennessee now and hope to never find out.The lining of these boots feels like luxury to me. Really helps easily sliding my foot in. Hope the lining wears well. Seems to be very good material and again I personally just like how material feels. I'm thinking it will last some years despite roughly pulling the boots on and off. But that said, these boots are the easiest rubber boots I've ever put on. So figuring out what I'm trying to say here may be too hard to do, but it's also too hard to rewrite.There are sure to be other good things I'm not mentioning because I've taken them for granted (like saying they don't leak water from any part of the boot - well, no leaking) I shopped and shopped and shopped for the "just so" boot. I wear a regular size 10 which is a pretty common size and the size 10 Bekina boots fit me perfectly - but without socks or the insert, which is how I wear my rubber boots anyway.The length is perfect. The super roomy toe box is perfect. That said, different feet and different people's opinions probably come from that arch/ankle aspect that seems to make the boot stay on so well. My opinion. If anybody has skinny ankles or low arches - or fat ankles or high arches - the sizing would likely need to be adjusted. But I'm an average-average and did fine with my regular size.I've purchased and returned so many different brands of boots in the past year that I might could buy the most expensive pair of boots ever made just on the amount I've spent on return postage. Now I've found Bekina and am unlikely to ever change. For that matter, I might never need another pair of rubber safety boots (someday I hope to retire.)Those are my reasons for the glowing review. I am totally bowled over by these boots especially in comparison to the many lower quality ones I've tried. For my 2 cents worth, buy these boots (with any personalized adjustment you might feel is needed for your own feet) buy 'em, don't look back, be happy, be safe, stay dry.