Tough Classic Style Boots?

Hi all, I have a tale of woe and need some recommendations for boots.
I have been looking for a 'classic' style pair of heavy duty MC boots like the old Fieldsheer etc. types (scrambler style, tongues and buckles down the outside, steel tipped commando style soles, I'm sure y'all know the sort of thing. I settled on Merlin 'Clan' boots as one of the rare options in the style. They had a zip down the inside which set the warning bells ringing. Sure enough in no time flat the zip bust and, returning them I was left with no boots and out thirty quid for two lots of shipping. As a stopgap I bought a pair of modern black MX type boots for a hundred quid form J&S. Sort of leather jobs with plastic reinforcement on the legs and over the foot with plastic 'cable tie' type snap locks branded as 'GP Pro MX' boots. Three short outings later and the feckin' plastic has all split and cracked on the insides of the legs and feet with big chunks missing!

When did motorcycle boots become so crap? I often wear 'firefighter' (Jolly, Tuffking etc.) and 'rigger' boots for walking the dogs and all manner of shit kicking hard work and the things last until the soles are worn through, hard as nails and usually only need disposed of because they stink but my recent experience of MC boots seems to indicate that they barely survive walking around in them let alone actually falling off yer bike! When I was a young-un I had a pair of Frank Thomas Scrambler type boots as my first 'proper' motorcycle boots and they lasted until there was no tread left on the soles! They didn't even cost much either.

 

Well @Sandi T. The old style boots I was ideally looking for were super simple. Easy to get on but seriously tough and offering the maximum protection. They just had a number of 'tongues on the outside that you pulled onto metal pins. Ten seconds to put on, snug on your legs so they are never coming off in a crash and tough enough that they greatly reduced any risk of twisted or broken ankles and reduce risk of damage to the lower legs and feet. When I bought the Merlin 'Clan' boots I chose them because they looked to be of a similar design to classic scrambler boots but they made the fatal mistake of adding a second gusset and zip on the inside of each boot to make them even quicker to get on which actually just introduced a failure point given that the leather was so rigid that flexing your legs put tremendous strain on the zips around the area of maximum movement (the ankle). Simply very bad design due to someone thinking they could make them even easier to use and not factoring in the stress induced by a leg moving inside the boot. This is the sort of style I mean https://img0.etsystatic.com/029/1/7050345/il_fullxfull.522233456_f1f9.jpg

You see I have quite muscular legs and typically pull-on high leg boots rarely fit my calves neatly so a gusseted boot with buckles is the ideal combination of full heavy support for ankles, legs and feet coupled with ease of putting on/taking off and the ability to adjust to snugly fit the leg.

I do have to add as well that I have long considered them to be the coolest damn design in motorcycle boots ever.

 

Ah Derry boots, I had a pair of those about thirty years ago. I caught the inside of one of them on a rough bit of metal and it sliced them cleanly all the way to the top of the boot. Not much protection in the event of an off.

The Sidi boot is the closest to what I want but it doesn't quite get the cigar as, at least in pictures, they just don't look rugged enough.

 

I definitely don't want 'fashion statement' boots. I'm not the trendy type and I want a pair of boots that you could kick down a brick wall with and that would also withstand a nuclear bomb going off. The fact that they look like they can do such a job and be mean and cool too is just a bonus.

 

I love Jack boots @Don the Don but it is so hard to find them now, especially in a size 12 to fit me. Even the Finns and Russians have moved to wearing lace-up boots now and I doubt the 're-enactor' ones will be up to Bundeswehr quality.

As for my budget I am willing to pay up to £300 or so if the boots come with an absolute promise that they won't disintegrate when given a hard stare, are designed the way I want them and will outlast me.

 

Hmmm Household Cavalry boots now those would certainly be an unusual look!

 

That's interesting @JayScram M&P told me they had never heard of such a thing happening before. My guess is that they were telling porkies.