Caterpillar Safety Boots - CAT Work Boots

Caterpillar Boots - Work Boots, safety boots, and more

For the rigorous events of the working day, there is scarcely a piece of your outfit more important than your footwear. They must be a good fit for the environment you will be working in and the type of conditions you will be exposed to while working. Cat Boots are an excellent choice for work footwear as they are rigorous, utilise some of the industry's most advanced fabrics and techniques, and are of the same excellent quality as the rest of the Caterpillar footwear range. Caterpillar boots have been specifically made to combat the perils found in different workplaces and keep you dry, protected, and firm. As such, Caterpillar safety boots offer a variety of workwear-oriented features to help accomplish these tasks.

CAT Work Boots - Technologically advanced fabric and design

Caterpillar has utilised a variety of materials and fabrics in its footwear manufacturing processes to ensure their products fulfill their duty as effective work and safety boots. They must be durable, comfortable, and strong to withstand the demands of the workplace. 

When looking into workwear, a key factor in your decision should be durability. Shoes like the Precision Work Safety boots use full-grain leather for their upper, which stays strong in even the most demanding conditions. Getting one pair of quality leather work boots can potentially last you longer than two pairs of synthetic work boots would, hence providing good value in the long term. In addition, their natural strength means you have protection from small workplace hazards, like debris. Full-grain leather as is used here on the upper will also increase the breathability of the shoe, without removing the natural waterproofing properties of leather. Caterpillar Leather work boots include all this just by using leather in their upper, which shows the kind of quality footwear Caterpillar is making.

There are of course other materials employed to make durable and tough Caterpillar safety boots. The outsole is usually what determines how strong a boot is because that is what is being walked on and the part that is actually touching the ground. It is subject to the most wear and tear, and as such, must be among the most durable parts of the work boot. The Caterpillar Gravel 6” Safety boots have an outsole made from Flexion rubber, which is naturally good at weakening impacts and increasing grip, reducing the likelihood of slipping whilst wearing them. This level of resistance is classified as SRX (Extreme slip resistance) technology by Caterpillar footwear. 

Another tough outsole rubber is nitrile, as seen on the Caterpillar Powerplant Welted Safety boots. Nitrile makes the outsoles highly heat resistant, up to 300C in fact, which makes them great for working in hot environments like mines or around welding. They also are abrasion and tear-proof and resistant against oil or mild acids.

Comfort is important to any piece of clothing, but perhaps the most important to footwear, especially the case with work boots, as you are wearing them day-in-day-out in rough conditions. Cat safety boots live up to their name but don’t compromise on the feeling of ease any shoe should provide. 

Polyurethane is commonly used in Caterpillar boots for midsoles, footbeds, and mesh padding. PU provides great cushioning for the foot, the comfort of which is further improved by the shock absorption properties of PU. PU doesn’t compress very easily either, so over time it will keep the same shape and offer the same support for your feet as when you first got it, compared to other materials.

Speaking of other materials, one of the other most significant is EVA. Made of foam, EVA midsoles make for great cushioning, as they are very lightweight and flexible. In addition, EVA doesn’t conduct much heat, so your feet will stay warmer for longer.

Being the powerhouses in the workwear industry that they are, Caterpillar has innovated by creating and using their own custom materials for their footwear. One example of this is EASE, which is CATs custom foam-based material which they claim is 30% more shock-absorbing, 15% lighter, and 15% more durable than typical EVA is. Caterpillar safety boots like the Cat Bearing work boot use EASE for their midsoles, and thus receive these benefits. Caterpillar also has their Duofuse technology to use with their midsoles. Duofuse soles in Cat work boots are made from a mix of foam and rubber, which results in less weight, increased durability, and optimal comfort when compared to typical EVA foam alone. By working on their own proprietary materials like this, it shows that Caterpillar is determined to make the most effective footwear they can.

Of course, the fabrics and materials that make up Cat work boots are only as good as the techniques and technologies utilized to incorporate them into the build. Some shoes, like the Caterpillar Spiro Waterproof Safety Boots, have been constructed using the Strobel and Cement methods. In Strobel construction, the upper and the bottom of the shoe are joined through the use of a Strobel stitch, before the upper is finally cemented to the outsole. Strobel construction keeps the weight of the shoe to a minimum, which heightens comfort.

Then we have cement shoe construction. In this case, a strong adhesive is applied between the outsole and midsole and the upper of the shoe. These three layers are essentially glued together, and it's the resulting strong, permanent bond between each section that makes Cement construction so strong. Since there are no stitches between each layer, there are no stitches that can be broken. Cement construction raises the durability and lifespan of the shoes as a result.

Goodyear welting is yet another method Caterpillar uses in their shoe construction process, as demonstrated by the Premier Caterpillar waterproof boots. A welt is a strip of leather that is sewn to the upper of the shoe. The outsole is then sewn to the welt, rather than the upper. The gap between the insole and the upper can now be filled with a light, breathable material like cork, which applies those effects to the overall shoes. This way there are no direct links between the inside and outside of the shoe, which improves water resistance.

Don’t worry if you choose Caterpillar safety boots that don’t use Cement, Strobel, or welting in their construction, as most will come with triple stitching as a default, which provides plenty of durability for those boots in the future.

As the name suggests, Thinsulate is thin insulation designed to keep you warm but not weighing you down at the same time. Thinsulate consists of a combination of fine microfibers that work to trap heat articles, trapping heat inside your boot but not moisture, which can leave freely. Boots like the Cat Munising Work Safety boot include 200G Thinsulate technology to keep you warm without compromising comfort, ideal for working in wet or cold conditions.

CAT Work Boots - Protection and Safety Features

As boots specifically designed for use in the workplace, Caterpillar has included no shortage of protective features into their selection of safety footwear.

Caterpillar's steel toe boots add one of the staple features of work-orientated footwear to CATs' build quality and features. With the option for either a composite or steel cap toe, you can choose the right option to suit your workplace and individual needs, whether that be the lighter composite toe cap which doesn’t conduct electricity or the traditional steel toe cap that offers more protection and can withstand more powerful impacts.

Anti-penetration midsoles, such as the one on the CAT Striver safety boots, will protect you from sharp objects around the worksite like nails using their protecting force of up to 1100N. There is the familiar choice to make here between composite and steel midsoles, each with its own advantages, but CAT has boots with both options available, so pick the one right for you. Other workplace-specific enhancements CAT uses for their footwear are heat-protection features. Typical heat resistance on most CAT boots goes up to 200C, which should be more than enough for most workplaces. But there are even boots capable of withstanding even higher heats, like the Caterpillar Powerplant welted work boots, which have a high outsole heat resistance of 300C.

Polyurethane, as used in outsoles in CAT boots, has natural protection against oils, fats, and some solvents, making boots that utilise PU an excellent choice in protecting against the constant dangers present in the workplace. PU is also a highly durable material and will increase the lifespan of the boots that use it regardless of any hazards the boots face while being worn. SRC slip resistance is another common feature on Caterpillar safety boots, protecting the wearer from falling on surfaces covered in water or cleaning products. PU is just one of the materials that CAT uses to add slip resistance to one of their boots.

All Caterpillar boots comply with EN ISO 20345:2011 safety footwear standards. To earn this certification, all footwear must be capable of withstanding at least a 200 Joule impact, so you know CAT boots are effective and purpose-built for work. 

Caterpillar Work Boot Sizes

Alongside the feel of the material on the insole, the size of boot you choose is the defining factor in being comfortable in your Caterpillar boots. To learn more about the foot size of our Caterpillars Boots, you can simply check one of our Caterpillar shoe listings, as they contain an international footwear size conversion chart for both men's and women’s feet sizes respectively.

Caterpillar Safety Boots Delivered Worldwide

At Workwear Gurus, we deliver CAT Boots to a wide variety of locations across the UK, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, Singapore, India, and the UAE. In fact, we send them Europe-wide and across most of the globe.