12 Hours In Wooden Shoes 

fun fact for you: Sabotage comes from the French word for clog :Sabot, apparently annoyed workers would throw their shoes into the machinery of the factory that had annoyed them, and damage the gears etc

You remind me of my son when he was 7 years old. I brought him a pair of wooden shoes back from the Netherlands. I think he wore them to school for two weeks.

As a Dutch guy, I must say I'm very glad you liked our wooden shoes =) It fills me with patriot pride or something like that, it just is nice to see an American enjoying a bit of our culture and history =D

I had a pair of wooden shoes back in the 1970s. They were a gift, They turned out to be my favorite after skiing shoes. Amazing how they did not slip in the snow or ice, and my feet stayed warm and comfortable with the thick wool socks. Smart Dutch.

Klompen (as we call 'em) are fantastic for stepping outside for just a quick minute (say, bring out some garbage). Very practical, and the good ones are quite comfortable.

I googled wooden shoes, there are a few jokes about them. My favorite I read was "I found a wooden shoe in my toilet, it was clogged". I'm sorry if this isn't proper, but that joke made me laugh.

Had a pair of these in my late teens early 20s. Wore those things everywhere. Always got lots of funny looks but I didn't care because they were so comfy. Even wore them during our harsh Canadian winters.

My Great great grandfather used to make those in Denmark. He made more money making shoes than furniture according to his memoirs. Then he settled in Northern Oregon.

My grandmother, who was from northern Spain, always told me that they used to wear those "madreñas" all the time, when outside the house. Still today old people wear them in villages of that cold and rainy region. They use to slip in their feet with house warm shoes, which bring cushion and heat. Also the madreñas used to have three big wooden spikes, useful to walk on mud. These are also called "zuecos", probably as derived from "suecos", meaning swedish. As your wife is of swedish ascent, I guess that is where you got them!

Cody, I do remember my grandpa back in France wearing his "sabot" and to avoid the rocks getting stuck into the wood he was nailing pieces of rubber onto it. I think one time he used an old wheelbarrow tire cut to size. He was a farmer and that was his working shoes. He was never concern about the beauty of things but more the practical way, as long as it wouldn't cost too much. A good example, he was tired of repairing the tubes in his bike, so he used an old heavy duty hose, rolled it up to size and fitted it in place of the tube, the fix lasted his lifetime.

I used to wear them every day going to school :) (I'm Dutch) Glad to see you like them so much ^___^

I got a pair of wooden shoes from when I was in Holland. I LOVED them!!

What? No Wranglerstar brand burned into the side to make sure they don't get mixed up with anyone else's? ;)

surprised not to see any linseed oil on them

For safety in a workshop wooden shoes are great. I remember watching a programme on TV showing the difference between a steel-nosed workboot and a wooden shoe, the steel was compressed quite easily, and a metal spike with some force went right through. The clogs held up amazingly, and only broke after a second or two from the spike giving the wearer the chance to pull their feet out. :) Climbing is the only thing wooden shoes might not be ideal for. :P

Im from the netherlands and i love to see u wear klompen (dutch name for those wooden shoes). This makes me proud to be dutch haha... I dont wear them never had because i live in the city and not in the farm areas where they wear them the most.. Awesome to see u wear them and that u happy with it! :)

I've been wearing wooden shoes for gardening here in California now for years.... bought them in Holland . Love them. Just kick them off before coming inside.

Wooden schoes have a S3 rating in Holland. just like steel tipped boots.

@Wranglestar As a Dutch kid I grew up wearing them and I could even run with them. Can you imagine? You have to estimate your braking distance though as they will slide quite a bit, especially on the tiles we use on sidewalks here.

You could have bought them here in Holland Michigan at the tulip time festival this week. 😊

Maybe try wood gloves too ??

We dutch know what we're doing right ? ;). Even though almost nobody here still wears them they are really comfortable and warm! But the sock makes all the difference!

I Wear wooden shoes when ever I can very comfortable

A man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an idea.

This question is a bit off topic...but what editing software/workflow do you use to edit your videos? I ask because I just started my own channel and the editing process is quite tedious and long.

Hmmm... Mine are up in the attic from my 1988 trip to Holland. Perhaps I should bring them down. Holland was the most friendly country I visited as well! Thanks!

Ther are also clogs with a leather strap on top, those are a bit more comfortable to wear for a longer period of time. I wear mine around the house, all year round. They are really warm in wintertime! But I'me from Holland :-)

I have had my wooden shoes for over 25 yrs. When I first got them I went to a shoe repair guy and had him put soles on them.......... glued rubber (hard) to the bottoms and told me if they are come loose , he would make it right..... I still use and have not lost a sole. keep up the good work....... For God and Country

Hoi, leuk die klompen! They are pretty good on ice, and slippery floors since the wood is a softwood (they will break if you drop the and fall on the instep side) like poplar and the wood gets a bit hair like, which will stick. You can wear them daily, but wear them more than a year your bones in your feet, specially at the instep will react and grow because it will get the most pressure when walking. There are models that have that part removed leaving the front toepart only, and have a heavy cotton or rubber at the instep part. before they wear out, you should try to make a toy sailboat out of them, and after that put some soil and a tulip in there and hang them on a wall:-) Give one of us Dutch a call and we will buy some new ones for you. Enjoy as i enjoy your video's!

So when are you going to paint them? (you know, so you can find which ones are yours when they all get parked in the hall?)

I wear them all the time in my workshop and in the garden. What makes them more comfortable is a leather strap in front of the hole, over your foot. This is mostly done by people who don't wear them often or are starters wearing them. Most farmers/wearers do it without.

hows the heel on the wooden shoes? for me i need a good heel that wont slip off and those clogs looked like they could get fall off easy

Thanks for sharing Cody. When I went to my friends home I wondered how his dad's wooden shoes felt to walk in.

What? No boiled linseed oil?

Hi Cody, nice shoes! One question though, doesn't the top side of your foot start hurting? I've tried walking on clogs once I'm Dutch) but walking really hurt the topside of my feet, hence the question.

Cody, My respect for you went up a couple of notches with this video. Don't follow the crowd or ignore personal experience. That is eyes wide open.

When my son was a small boy, he only walked on wooden shoes. He could do everything with them. Run, walk long distances and even climb in trees. Doctors even recommend them, especially for young children as they mimick barefoot walking which is better for your feet and back.

Im dutch, 57. My grandpa used to wear them all the time round the house, which was in a small village where he grew vegetables and tended the chicken and such. Lots of ppl did at that time, though not in the city where we lived. I had some, for when i visited grandparents. At that time, round 1970 there was still some wooden shoe makers. Dont think there are many around today, but you can still buy wooden shoes, factory made, at every 'Boerenbond', which originally was a national chain of shops for farmers. The wooden shoes are actually quite good for a number of reasons, even today. NL is 2/3 below sea level today. It wasnt in the past, but bc it is a delta of 3 major European rivers, it is flat and the ground was awfully soggy. They are perfect for walking through that. At present the water table is managed of course and it has been for quite a while (with one of the other things NL is known for; windmills, which were used to pump water out). This pumping dry soil, led to ground sinking in, which is the reason so much of NL is below sea lvl. They are also good when working with cattle and can withstand a cow or horse stepping on your foot. They are easily preserved, usually made of willow which is naturally resistent to rot. So no preservation, oils, etc were used. They did have painted wooden shoes (in dutch "klompen") when going to church and such. A tad hard to run on, but it can be done. And it may take some getting used to walking on them. But once used to them, ppl often dont want to stop wearing them. They are also no problem in the rain; most water will run off. But obviously eventually water will be in and your feet will be wet. Its not much of a problem if you left them sitting in the rain for a week. Put them inside, stick em full with newspaper and leave them for a night and they will be good to go ;] Another benefit is that you can step in and out of them with ease, making them very suitable for everyday work round the house. Just the other day i was trimming a hedge which had a 'vuurdoorn', err firethorn google says in english, but that may be too literal. Anyway, its a native shrubbery with large thorns on it. When i later stepped on a branch of it, it went right through the sole of the shoe and into my foot. Wouldnt happen with wooden shoes. The metal scraps you stepped on in the workshop can be pretty bad for rubber boots and such, so even though the wooden shoes seem to suffer from that, they will withstand it. Most of the piercing it endured will expand back to the original form and close most of the gap. Even today, they are not bad. ;]

My mother has a pair of wooden shoes. She loves them to do her gardening in. She has a pair of sheep skin liners in her for extra comfy fit.

Just got a pair of wooden shoes - absolutely love them, very comfortable!

You could paint them shiny black so you look like a cartoon character with wicked cool leather shoes? no? I will now go to bed

My granddad went to Holland in 1950ish, and the whole time growing up, his home had ornaments from there, including the shoes and lots of toy windmills. Thanks for the video, I never saw anyone ever wear his things.

Although India isn’t cold at all, I remember as a child in the sixties in Delhi people wearing wooden slippers during winters inside homes to protect feet from ice cold floors. People would go around clomp clomp in homes. Even I had a pair which were replaced by rubber soled slippers. Monks always wore them and they are called ‘Padukas’, a Sanskrit word for foot wear.

On daily base, you can walk a year on these shoes. They become flat. After they become too thin, and you get a hole in the bottom, you buy new one. Still common to use them in the countryside by farmers. And indeed, officially safety shoes.

Dear, A tip from the Netherlands. Klompen, or wooden shoes, are not really comfortable if you wear them the whole day. A lot of Dutch therefore make a leather strap, where your feet touches the upper edge of the Klomp, so your foot doesn't get irritated by the sharp wooden edge. This makes them much more comfortable.

i wear them 7 day a week , there even legal as workingshoes in the netherlands.

You really did that? Rub the klomp with the rocks in it against that perfect edge of your nearly finished mailbox post? 😉

Lol! Very stylish. Glad you had fun and like your shoes. It is fun to try new things.

I envy your life up there in the woods Sir. and Love this Channel

+Wranglerstar what music is it you play in some of your videos? I've wondered for years now! and if ever stumble all the way over here to little ole Delaware I would love to sit down and have lunch with you and your family

well thats one alternative to steel toed! tfs

Just wait till winter. You will never ever want to wear anything else. It's like wearing shoes with air conditioning. "Maintenance" tip: You will get them wet sometime. Don't do what you would do with normal shoes. Place them some place warm and dry. You may skip your normal reasoning when dealing with wet wood because wooden shoes are so durable but drying them with heat * will* crack them. It basically is cause of death #1 for wooden shoes.

Another great advantage is the fact, that you can leave them on the porch of your front or backdoor. You walk into the house on your socks and leave no scatchmarks on your wooden floor. As à child, when we were chasing eachother you would kick them off whilst running. This way you could run faster.

The way I heard it they work really well in the mud. The Netherlands are quite waterlogged and summer times are a muddy affair. Have you heard any similar stories?

a fun fact. In the Netherlands clogs are defined as heavy duty shoes, meaning on most jobs where you need steel toe-tipped boots you can actually wear clogs legally.

My grandparents both walked on these on the farm every day for almost 70 years. Never had any problems with their feet. It takes some getting used to but they are real comfy once you are.

Some people buy a size bigger and throw a little hay in the bottom. Great in the winter, and you can put fresh in whenever you want to keep it dry. They are meant for outside work on soft ground. You may have noticed that you can turn your ankle pretty easily, and nastily on hard surfaces. Don't go for the wooden pants, though.

here is a tip from some one who grew up in Nederland and used clogs wear a thin or normal sock then wear over that a thick wool sock either goat or sheep this will form a tighter fit and provide a better cushion for your feet

Cody have you tried wearing clogs or even the rubber Crocs. I have used both and really like them both but the rubber Crocs great for Florida wet weather.

My Oma's klompen had a black, oily kinda paint on them. She wore them in the garden and around the yard, tending her plants and flowers. They stayed dry.

A lot of people don't like them because it hurts on the top your foot, close to your ankle. But if you run on them for 2 weeks or so it doesn't hurt. When you step in it it hurts for a minute but after that you don't even notice it. In my region they have a lot of wooden shoes with a really big opening. They put a piece of leather over it so it doesn't hurt and it feels more comfortable.

These are best for working in the garden when it's wet. Sticky clay will mess up normal shoes, but have no impact on clogs. To clean, let it dry and the dirt will rub off easily. My dad used to wear them when gardening. I wear crocks but get wet feet whenever I need to walk through my wet garden. I might get some clogs if I see them for a good price. They are not very common, the local shoe stores won't have them and souvenir shops will be overpriced or low quality. You should find good ones at large gardening stores.

They are cool and they could double as a percussion instrument.

I think the philosophy with them being like steel toe boots is that if the object is heavy enough for it to crush the wood then you are SOL any way. They look great, my only issue is tread and the lack there of.

This too shall pass.

I wonder if the wooden soles are like leather soles on cowboy boots. They are very slick when new, but as the bottom wears, they actually don't slide as much because of increased friction.

As they say dont throw stomes at glass houses, I guess don't start or fight fires with wooden shoes?

Hey Cody, I was wondering if you are still wearing them now, would be great to hear from you!

From Germany--my mother had to wear wooden shoes, and so the shoes wouldn't fall off--she to her older days had her toes turned inward because she had to do the turn under to keep them from falling off. Now my father made the top using leather rather than wood nailed to the upper part like a innersole. Which made them more comfortable on the upper foot !

my grand father wore them every day in the garden or working out side i use to l use to tease him about it he always said they are the most comfortable shoes for working in

Hi, i'm from Holland myself and almost everyone i know wears them once in a while. i wear them quitte a lot especially when its cold outside, you never seem to get cold feet in them. Greetings from Holland.

Imagine someone going up the little stairs on Air Force one in those!

Once a year I need new klompen. I wear them around the house, in the garden, in the shed etc. Cool in summer, warm in winter times.

Mind you that the bottom/sole will wear down when walking on abrasive surfaces (gravel, asfalt etc.). You can put (rubber) soles under them to make them last longer.

LOL, looked like you were walking a little funny at the end there. I wear "clog style" kitchen shoes, and you have to get used to walking with the open back.

Just a small tip for your wooden shoes, try to keep them dry if you are going to to walk on hard floor (like your garage) or els they wear down quick

when are you going to try to make your own version

just love the sound they make.

Be careful you don't turn your ankle on uneven ground. I have some clogs (not wooden) to slip on before going out side for a quick chore, and I've gotten hurt stepping on a bump or dip in grass or a bit sideways on a slope.

Thanks for this video, you've renewed my idea of getting a set of clogs. I'll probably get leather topped ones, as that's what's traditional in England, but still great shoes

Yeeaaah!! A Yankee in Dutch wooden shoes!! They are not just cute, they are also recommended as healthy food wear (what could be more natural than wood?) and in The Netherlands they are even approved as safety food wear in building and construction!! They are cheap, healthy and, as you saw Wranglestar do before, the shape can be easily customized and you can also paint them in whatever style you like!! Gooo wooden shoes!!

in the uk i wear boots with leather uppers and wooden soles that have a steel sheet on the bottom with irons similar to horse shoes and hobnails in the middle of the soles,the rocks would be no problem the studs crush them as they do with glass and plastic

I was told that if you need them to fit more securely, for walking and such...Just add Straw? Have you tried that Cody.

You don't have to go to Europe for those. Just come to Orange City, Iowa (especially around tulip festival time). You can even see them being made.

where will you get replacements when they wear out?

would you spray plastidip on the soles for more traction, less noise, and cushion?

No idea if it's a good idea, but wouldn't carving a pattern on the sole of the clogs prevent them for slipping so much? I guess it would trap quite a lot of mud over time in rainy weather, but it may help. Thank you for the work you put into your videos, and greetings from Belgium!

Hey one thing I just thought about.... are they even varnished at all? Not seen that at all.. mentioned

hi i just saw your vid of the klompen. i,m dutch and i have a farm with horses. i weer klompen al day, i have tride lether shoes with steel toe but that is verry dangeres, becaus the steeltoe thee bent inwords hurting your foot, wen ever a horse steps on them. never had that problem with klompen, go throu 4 paars a year. for the last 25 years. enjoy your klompen. ps in the winter wen it is verry cold i put a littel strow in them . keep you warm.

Are you gonna shine them with BLO?

Search for "Traditional Swedish Woodworking: Clogs, Spoons and Chairs" and you'll find a video of a man making a pair of wooden shoes with only simple hand tools back in 1923. I really find it fascinating to watch.

if you wear them allot your feet will get used 2 them and you can even walk without socks on and what allot do here for slippery floors get an old tyre cut bottom parts out for under the clogs make a bit of room under the clogs with a carving set and make youre own soled clogs

Having never worn a pair, it's hard to believe that they would be comfortable at all. They are handsome, but I'm going to stick with m y work boots. To each his own, and I respect your opinion.

I'll have to get a pair whenever I go visit Holland. I think I'd have to put a bungee type cord across the back, though, to keep them on a bit more securely.

"UnderArmor" should make clogs lol

What about a thin (1/4" or less) rubber "tread" that will help keep slipping minimized? Also, did you have to change your walking style to keep them from coming off while walking? Love the videos...take care!

Why not glue a thin layer of rubber (like a bit of inner tube) on the walking surfaces to prevent picking up rocks?

Nice clogs :). Are you thinking about punting some rubber or leather on bottom?

I have seen that water tank cut in half lengthwise and used as a stock water tank or feeder. Legs of angle iron complete the trough.

Could you reuse some old tires by cutting some pieces and tack or glue with barge to the bottom and improve traction of the shoes?