Ill say this once, WEAR BOOTS! I know, we all wear sneakers and flip-flops but during the Apocalypse and even during hiking and outdoor activity wear boots! I have two pairs of boots, one is a Ozark Trail hiking boots and the other pair are Magnum combat boots. The Ozarks took all day to find and the magnums cost $120. It costs a lot but their worth it. Try to get one made of leather and with a zipper so you can take it off really quickly.

yea, seriously guys, I have 2 pairs of G3 Combat boots, and I have a pair of Gortex Wet Weather they are both standard Army boots, full leather, and fully water proof to the top of the boot if they are laced up properly, Inside on top and if you need extra ankle support the lace is usually long enough to be wrapped around your ankle when its half way laced up, then lace it up the rest of the way after you wrapped it around, so its stuck there and wont loosen easily, but a zipper might be more convenient but sometimes not as water proof, if its cheap

Simple question - How many of you wear boots during your normal everyday activities?

I only wear boots during training or when I am going on a hike or something that requires more traction and ankle support than normal shoes can supply. I hardly wear boots outside of the army, unless I am in the forest. a good pair will outlast any shoe. Boots are essential when you dont know what kind of terrain you will be crossing

Which leads to the next question - Do you carry them everywhere with you?

no, but I always have a pair at my house, and when I am doing a weekend excersice there is most likely going to be an extra pair in my ruck sack. but like I mentioned, if I am going over unknown terrain I will most often be wearing a pair.

Which leads to a specific point I am trying to make - during your everyday activities you are not within 50 yards of your boots (and quite possibly anywhere near your equipment). If Z-Day just pounced on you, you would not be wearing those items, nor have immediate access to them - meaning you need to make due with what you have until you can have that opportunity. My point is during an apocalyptic event, you will be wearing natural every-day clothing. It would behoove everybody to expect to not have gear unless you place your gear into a BoB, and carry that BoB everywhere you go as to always allow immediate access to the gear you find necessary to survive.

I wear boots when I need to and remember if they were easy to find or cheap keep looking.

well most often I am quite close to my boots and some gear, my first plan is to go home and get suited up because I dont want to be caught outside without being prepared. but if in the odd chance I am caught without my boots I would have to make due in the mean time, there isn't alot I can do for supplies if I am caught away from home, but we are just talking in best case scenario if you could get your boots

The issue is that while talking best case scenario is swell and all, it is more than likely not what is going to happen. What is more than likely to happen is as your doing an every-day event z-day will hit like a surprise attack. As you get home thinking you are going to be able to gear up and hole up, you may end up finding out some putz got into his car after being viciously attacked, accelerated to high speeds, then died from lack of blood and lost control of said car. From there, the car had fun taking out half your house's first story. You should always have a BoB in your vehicle. Not even for Z-Day alone. What happens if you get stuck on the side of the road during winter? What happens when you are the first on the scene of an accident? Yes, boots are great. They give you extra support. They are difficult to pierce at the ankles, and they have a sturdy grip. The issue is that they do not assist in speed, mobility, and after long durations of wearing boots, your ankles are weakened by always having that firm support. Caplaw, bad advice. If they are cheap and easy to find, stock up. You may end up needing them in the long-run.

I do not those boots but waterproof boots.

So you have rubber boots?

No I have, well, kind of utility boots but not really. they work just as well. I go paint-balling in them and stuff.

Boots are nice, there was a time when boots were the only footwear I owned. But now I only wear boot 60-70% of the time with the exception of winter. Choosing what I put on my feet heavily depends on what I will be doing, it is a simple trade off between durability and mobility, I often wear hiking boots since they offer a bit of both. I do find myself wearing boots less and less because they are just not practical for a lot of situations. Although you may not always have access to them they are definitely nice for when you do. They have saved my feet from a lot of trouble more than a few times but are far from the ultimate foot protection many of us would like them to be. A few months back I dropped a long knife into the top of my foot, it missed the steel toe and it sliced through my boot and into my foot as if it was butter, if I was wearing a pair of cheap sneakers the damage probably wouldn't have been very much worse. Unfortunately at the time I didn't have anything with to patch myself up witch I think helps stress the importance of carrying some gear. I did get lucky though, an army medic just happened to be walking by at the time and seen that I was bleeding pretty good so he gave me some gauze and tape. I hope to someday return the favor by helping someone else in need. Overall one of the biggest benefits I find boots to have is keeping your feet dry. If it is wet out I always choose boots. I definitely agree with NIE that keeping some gear handy is a very beneficial thing. Unfortunately not having a vehicle and being on foot a lot prevents me from carrying much since it would end up getting stolen or lost eventually but when I do bring a pack with me it's contents almost always ends up being useful at some point and it's even saved my ass on a few occasions, especially in winter.

I wear my Red Wing Work boots every day, whether I am at work or not. In my opinion good work boots or hiking books are far more comfortable and easy to walk in for long periods than combat boots. Boots will also help keep your ankles from twisting. A twisted ankle is a real pain, when you have to walk on it.