Snap On Steel Toe Safety Caps

When I was young, I used to do very physically demanding jobs. These jobs often necessitate that I do some heavy lifting. I used to do these jobs in Australia where there are strict work safety regulations.

One of these regulations require workers who work in very physically demanding jobs where heavy objects can fall by accident, to wear steel toed safety shoes. At first, I was irritated when I was forced to buy and wear these expensive and heavy shoes.

If your legs are physically not strong, these steel toed shoes seem like lead weights beneath your feet. During my first few weeks of wearing such shoes, I nearly tripped several times because these shoes seem to stick my feet in the ground.

Gradually, I became accustomed to them such that I don’t feel their heaviness when I walk. By continuing to wear these heavy shoes whenever I work, my feet got stronger from lifting them. In a way, they improved my general health.

Like I said, these shoes are called safety shoes, but you won’t really know how important they are until you are in an accident. And an accident precisely happened to me one day. I was lifting a big and heavy flower pot full of soil when I accidentally dropped it.

The flower pot landed on my feet and my toes could have been crushed if not for the steel cap inside my safety shoes. It’s hard to imagine the magnitude of this seemingly simple accident. The steel cap of my safety shoes was a little bit damaged/dented.

And this got me wondering, if the heavy flower pot full of soil was able to damage/dent a material made of steel, how about my feet which is only made up of soft bone and flesh? With this, I was finally able to realize just how important steel toe shoes are.

Steel toe shoes as self defense weapons is also something you could consider. There are many articles online regarding the use of these shoes as self defense weapons. For one, the steel cap of a safety shoe protects your feet from being stomped upon by an attacker.

Of course, we could not underestimate the impact a person could do when they use their steel cap shoes as an offensive weapon. This is especially true if you are the kind of person who can deliver kicks with their feet efficiently.

There are competing statistics from the many different online Industry Market Research Websites. According to the figures, the safety shoes market is worth between $6.6 billion to $9 billion, with a CAGR of between 3% to 6.9%.

But one thing is for sure, there is a steady growing demand for it as more and more countries introduce much stricter work safety laws. In fact, in some countries, a worker cannot be employed unless they own safety shoes.

Just think of all the workers in the manufacturing, construction, retail and logistics industries as a starter. Aren’t many of the workers employed in these industries required to wear safety shoes?

There are even companies who supply their workers safety shoes. This could be a work regulation from that particular company’s government or the company is just trying to protect itself from accident claims.

Let us also not forget the military which is by far the largest employer in any country. Ordinarily, soldiers don’t wear steel toe boots, but when they are doing for example maintenance work where the probability of an accident is probable, they wear them.

I guess at this stage of the article, it is clear that steel toe safety shoes are a must-have for all workers who work in accident prone environments. This is further evidenced by the fact that governments are requiring their use in everyday physical work.

It has also been explained that for many, they are a pain to wear. This is because they are both heavy and can interfere with one’s normal walking motion which may end up with the wearer tripping while wearing them.

It has also been pointed out that they are way more expensive than standard working shoes. It may also be pointed out that not many people enjoy wearing them. I can understand men being comfortable wearing them even if they are out of the job already.

Steel toe safety shoes tend to give a man a “manly appeal,” this may be because they are bulky which gives the wearer a notion of being big or muscular. Sadly, this seldom apply to women who still like to wear ladylike shoes.

So it seems that not all is perfect with steel toe safety shoes. They may be a requirement or a must-have for almost all workers doing physical jobs, but after these worker’s jobs are over, they still want to wear normal walking shoes.

I recently found out that such a products exist already, but I think a clip-on steel toe cap for shoes could be an answer for many of the problems or nuisances associated with steel toe shoes.

Basically, you just copy the steel toe cap on safety shoes and put harnesses on it such that it can be attached or clipped in any shoe. Just imagine a metal shaped like the toe of a shoe with straps attached to it.

In essence, this product allows a worker to use almost any kind of shoes for work. All they have to do is attach the metal steel toe cap in their shoes. A worker can simply bring this product with them to work and wear them when it’s time to work.

Then, when their workday has ended, they simply disconnect it from their shoes. I would be the first one to admit that this is the one-stop solution for all the problems and nuances associated with steel toe safety shoes.

They may even be rejected by government work safety regulators, but as you can see, they fill a need that occupies the area between normal shoes and steel toe safety shoes. But as you can imagine, many workers would be satisfied with wearing these than normal steel toe safety shoes.

First and foremost would be flexibility for the worker. With this product, it would seem that the worker has two shoes at once. The first shoe being the worker’s normal everyday shoe, and the other, the worker’s version of a steel toe safety shoe.

The second is price, compared to a steel toe shoe or to any shoe for that matter, a hard metal (most likely made of common steel) shaped like the toes of a shoe is easy to produce. All you need is a press machine to form the shape of the product and it’s finished already.

Another advantage of this product is that it’s transferrable unlike a steel toe safety shoes which you would have to replace in case it becomes worn out. It is again emphasized that steel toe safety shoes are quite expensive.

Another advantage, this time in terms of hygiene goes for this product as against steel toe safety shoes. Most shoes become smelly after being worn for prolonged periods of time. This especially applies to leather which many steel toe safety shoes are made with.

It is quite common for workers to have only one pair of steel toe safety shoes which they wear over and over for long periods of time while they work. The product negates the hygiene issue by enabling the worker to wear different kinds of shoes while they work.

When I think of cowboys, I associate them with the three things they usually wear. The first one being the cowboy hat, the second one would be the glistening silver buckle on their belt, and their third one, their boot spurs.

Most cowboys are proud of being known as a cowboy. And many people still aspire to live the life of a cowboy. In the urban sense, many workers who work very physically demanding jobs are related to cowboys. Both work hard and are proud of the hard work they do for a living.

If the product just so happens to catch on, I can already predict that someone would like embellish their steel cap with words and illustrations akin to what cowboys embellish on their belt buckle and even maybe spurs.

Just think of all the motorcycle drivers who want as much chrome and embellishments on their motorcycles and riding outfit. I can even predict that motorcycle drivers would buy the products not for their actual use, but for their cosmetic use only.

An obvious cosmetic use of these steel toe caps would be to prevent the leather that covers the toe from chafing. It is no secret that the leather located in the toe of a shoe is usually the most chafed part of the shoe.

But wait a minute! I distinctly remember watching old cowboy western movies and I just so happened to notice that some of the cowboys in these movies, especially the well heeled ones have steel tips that cover the shoes of their boots.

A quick Google Image search of the search keywords: ”steel tip cowboy boots” revealed that my product idea already has a close relative product. And by the prices of these steel tip boots, they don’t come cheap.

So, it is entirely possible that the product would be accepted by both workers and fashion conscious people for their safety and cosmetic use. The product also gives fashion or image conscious people a good excuse to wear them.

This is because they have legitimate safety uses. I must admit that I have rarely seen a person who is wearing steel tip boots, but this might change in the future if workers adopted it as a part of their safety gear.

Admittedly, steel tip boots are not really a common fashion item these days, what are more popular are the steel toe boots whose steel toe caps are hidden inside the boots themselves. But who knows, things might change in the future.

Steel toe safety shoes are a must-have and even a requirement for many workers who work in accident prone jobs were heavy objects can fall at their feet in an instant. The safety value of these shoes is merited.

The suggested product however, places itself between the comfort of ordinary walking shoes and the safety but uncomfortableness of steel toe safety shoes. A good marketer has a good opportunity to profit from all the advantages of the product to workers.

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