DECK SHOES

Here are the right shoes to stay comfy and leave no tracks on deck.

There’s a style that’s right for you, but our testing revealed some interesting facts about their function.

Even razor-siped soles will occasionally pick up a small stone. Boat shoes should not pick up rocks or sand. They should not scuff or smudge the deck. They should dry quickly because they will get wet. And they should stick to a moving deck wet or dry, and usually dry. All sizes listed are men’s.

TRACTION TEST

Most importantly, boat shoes should be able to grip hard, wet surfaces. We created a test ramp with textured plastic-covered particle board and, using a protractor, designed a gauge to reflect the angle of incline. Next, we put 10 pounds of lead shot in each shoe and raised the test ramp to see when the shoe would begin skidding down the ramp. We conducted the test on dry and wet surfaces and noted the results.

DRIP AND DRY

Many boat shoes have drainage in them. It seems if you’re taking water over the deck, the more drainage, the better. But shoes designed to drain the fastest have weep holes from the insole to the bottom of the outsole, and if you step in a shallow puddle of water, water can enter as well as drain. Whether you want those drains or not will depend on how often you’re in the water with the shoes. The more water work you do, the more you’ll like the drains. But we didn’t like them when walking down a wet street.

DRAINAGE TEST

We poured a cup of water into each shoe and let them drain for up to a minute. Many of our test subjects, even those with drain eyelets on the instep, didn’t drain because they were occluded by the insole.

DRY TIME

After dumping standing water in the shoes, we let them dry for two hours before taking three moisture readings at the top of each hour. The results were surprising. Some shoes that did not drain dried more quickly than those that did drain well.

They say your shoes tell the most about you on a first impression. Boat shoes tell even more. You could be a traditional guy in moccasins, a Friday office-casual guy in boat-shoe Oxfords, or a fishing fanatic in most of the performance shoes we tested.