How to determine the correct size to order for boots - Geoffrey Bonfield

Please note that Joe Rocket, Tourmaster
and MSR Boots that BGW sell are U.S. sizing.

It's easy. The only reliable way is to measure both of your feet to determine their size using the US men's sizing standard. Once you know the size of your feet, you're standing on solid ground. Any other technique is prone to error... you might order boots which won't fit well.

How to measure your foot and find its size & width
You can accurately determine your foot size and width using these simple instructions and the size and width tables below. The results will be the same as if your foot was measured with the familiar Brannock Device used in shoe stores.

You'll need:

• A chair
• A sheet of paper on which to trace an outline of your foot
• A pen or pencil
• A measuring tape or ruler
• Socks of the type you intend to wear with the boots

Feet swell a bit and get larger as the day passes. So you should measure later in the day.

As people pass through their middle forties into their fifties, their feet get larger. You can expect to gain a half to a full size during this period.
Left and right feet often differ slightly in size. Measure both feet and use the measurement for the larger foot. If the difference is over a half size, consider ordering custom fitted boots so that each foot can be accommodated with a boot of the correct size.

Follow these steps for each foot. It is easier to have someone else do the tracing of the foot.

1) Sit in a chair with the foot firmly placed on a piece of paper large enough to make a tracing around the whole foot. Your leg should be tilted slightly forward so it will not interfere with the pencil as you trace around your heel.

2) Trace an outline of the foot with a pencil held perpendicular to the paper at all times. Ensure that the pencil is held snug against the foot during the tracing.

3) Measure the length and width of the tracing at the points shown in the diagram below. The tracing will be slightly larger than your feet because of the thickness of the pencil. Subtract 0.2 Inches ( 5 mm ) from each measurement to compensate for the thickness of the pen or pencil. This correction gives you the actual length and width of your foot.

4) So, if the tracing of your foot measures 10.5 inches long, you subtract 0.2 inches (.5 mm) to get the actual length of your foot which is 10.3 inches which is about U.S. men's size 9.

Note that you can place your foot between two flat, solid objects such as bricks then measure the length and width between the bricks. In this case you get the actual length and width immediately and do not need to subtract anything to compensate for the pencil thickness.

5) Enter the Boot Size Chart with your corrected length measurement and find the USA Men's/Women’s size.

Boot Size Chart

Finally, you should consider this: you can always adjust the fit of a boot which is too big, but if it is too small, there is no way to make it larger! Good boots will not stretch in length and will only stretch a bit in width. So it's better to get boots a bit too large than a bit too small.