If you’re a sailor you know it doesn’t take a very rough sea to get a deck good and wet. Moderate, windswept swells will do the job quite well. Boats are made to deal with that water so why wouldn’t your shoes be the same? Boat shoes were made for sailors who need superior grip and traction while working on deck. It’s not hard to understand why a flat leather sole just wouldn’t cut it on deck.

Grip and traction can be added to a shoe in three ways:

First, your foot must stay inside the shoe. You can have a great sole but if your shoe flies off your foot, that sole isn’t going to help you. We looked for shoes that would fit the back of the footwell so that even slip on versions would remain secure.

Secondly, grip and traction are created by the patterns printed on the outsole. Chevron patterns do a great job at direct water away from the sole so it’s not underfoot. All of the shoes on our list will provide that traction, though some to a lesser degree.

Finally, the material used to make the outsole is supremely important. This material is usually a soft form of rubber known as sticky rubber. It has a little give to it so that it grips when you wear them. It does this by spreading out slightly, forcing water out and giving your foot a larger surface area to hold on. A good boat shoe will be made with a soft, slightly pliable sole to provide you with the very best defense against slick, wet surfaces.

Sticky rubber forms a great sole but other materials also work well on a boat shoe. These include gum rubber (like you find on the bottom of rain boots), rubber with aluminum oxide embedded to create a rough surface, and neoprene. Please remember that soles built for traction in winter will use different material in the outsole and a different tread pattern mainly because they are meant to prevent snow build up in the tread and to cut into the snow. Winterized soles may damage your deck and you don’t want that. Choose a sole that is meant for water resistance, rather than snow, ice, oil, or grease.

Having a pair of nautical footwear that isn’t water-resistant won’t do you much good while you’re at sea! Waterproofing is one of the most important consideration while you make the choice of which pair to buy and should always be taken into consideration. There are certain materials that offer excellent protection from water and moisture like rubber and Gore-tex, which are two of the best choices for any water-related activities.

There are two ways that boat shoes are designed to deal with water in the upper. Most sailing shoes designs are made specifically to resist any sort of moisture intake or retention. Others are made to air out and dry quickly. The material used in the upper will essentially tell you which design was used. Canvas, mesh and synthetic weaves are designed to dry quickly and to allow water to escape while waterproofed leathers are designed to prevent, as much as possible, water from entering the shoe, to begin with. A third design is a hybrid, with some leather and some mesh parts to the upper, giving you dual function water handling.

Leather Upper: Leather is a common material used in boat shoes because it has some natural water resistance. To provide further water protection, oils are used to coat the leather. Oiled leathers are fairly effective in preventing water from entering the shoe. There is a flip side to this though. If water comes in over the top, it will not find an easy way out unless there are other design elements, like ports (holes) in the side which can allow the water to escape. Oiled leathers are a common element and were part of the original boat shoe design.

Synthetic or Mesh Upper: It is also common to see boat shoes with mesh uppers. Mesh is extremely breathable and provides great drainage because of its open weave. Water will easily get into your shoes but it can also escape just as easily. Another benefit of mesh is airflow – mesh uppers dry out quickly. It has nothing to do with boating really but you’ll appreciate that airflow also keeps your feet cool. This is especially great if you deal with excessive sweating.

Rubber will provide 100% waterproofing and is often used for either the outsole or the entire build of the shoe. If you can opt for a pair that’s entirely made from rubber you can rest assured that no water will be able to sneak inside of your shoe, whereas, if the upper is made from another material there is always a chance of leaks. Gore-tex is mostly used in the lining and it provides an excellent shield from any kind of water.

You should consider which type of design (and therefore the material) is best for you. The decision is a personal one. Feet that sweat? Canvas. Feet that itch when wet? Leather will help keep them dry. Need to keep them on your feet through a wet shift on deck? Leather may work better for you. Have some time to dry them out before the next wear? Canvas will work. Ambivalent? Great, then you can go straight to the next consideration – fashion or performance?

Another factor that we considered, and you should too, is whether a shoe is constructed for performance or for its style. Both are legitimate considerations in a shoe and the choice will entirely depend on why you are buying a boat shoe.

The Sailing shoe, also known as the top-sider, has managed to bridge the gap from being known as strictly work or utility shoes to being a staple in men’s and women’s fashion. Lisa Birnbach’s 1980 publication, The Official Preppy Handbook, helped to turn this style of footwear into a household one and it was no longer just for sailors to wear.

Yachting shoes are easily recognized by their unique appearance which will usually see a moc-toe design with two to three-eyelet lacing and a non-marking outsole that’s often white. In the past, this type of footwear was mostly made from leather, but today they’re crafted from other materials like a canvas which offers a lighter feel that’s better for warm weather.

If you are going to be working (or fishing or lounging or sightseeing) on the deck of a ship or boat, you may be more concerned about the performance of the shoe. If you aren’t going near the water but you want to look great and be comfortable, you may be more concerned about the appearance of the shoe and how well that appearance will hold up. Our reviews give you the important information you need to determine whether the shoe is a high-performing, designed for the sailor, stick to the deck shoe or whether it’s really more of a super comfortable choice for looking great in those new jeans shoe. We have shoes that will do either well, we also have shoes that will do both at the same time, proving that you do not have to sacrifice style to get great function.

Either way, you also want to be comfortable and boat shoes are comfortable. Some people have even replaced their sneakers and slippers with a good pair of boat shoes because they are casual and comfortable and not just good at preventing slips.

Unlike a lot of summer footwear, boat shoes can be worn with socks even when it’s hot. Some people prefer the socks and some like the barefoot feel they were designed for. If you wearing them for boating, however, we do recommend that you wear them without socks as you will find much better performance in very wet conditions.

We all know how hard it can be sometimes to find the perfect pair of shoes that we not only love, but that also fit snugly and comfortably. With so many styles, brands, colors and models, how can one compare hundreds of supposed “size 10s”?

To assess for trueness-to-size, we considered the opinions of thousands of wearers from across the globe to find out the answer to the ultimate question: do these 10s fit like a 10? While some things can give you a hint as to whether they will fit true, small or large; like brand name, shoe type and year of make; we believe that the opinion of buyers cannot be wrong. If they say the shoe doesn’t fit the way it’s supposed to, then you won’t find it in our 10-best list.

You will find that a pair of shoes or boots or sandals that score high on this metric tend to experience a trueness-to-size that was verified by our large community of sampled buyers. Just don’t forget to take into account the factors above to also make sure your favorite pair will fit you perfectly.

A quality product is one that will follow you through the years and work the same way it did on the first day you bought the product. In regard to boots, we assessed durability in a few key ways, analyzing the materials, details, construction methods and brands to deliver to you a simple opinion: will this set of boots do the job and do it again and again? Take a look at each area we evaluated:

The Materials
Which type of materials were the product made from? Are they synthetic or natural? How do they smell out of the box? All of these are critical questions we asked when evaluating the materials of the product. A pair of boots made from fabrics that don’t retain heat? They didn’t make our list!

The Details
Extra buckles, complimentary cases and reinforced fabrics are all good indicators of a manufacturer that is setting you up for long term success with their product. Attention to detail separates the high-quality producers from the cheap ones.

The Brand Name
A reputable brand is a signal of quality and trust. Often, high performers continue to perform and out-endure the competition. While there are always exceptions to the rule, we gave higher marks to manufacturers with solid reputations.

The Construction
You can tell a lot about a pair of boots or shoes by how the zippers behave. Do they pull swiftly and softly, like cutting butter? Or do they jam and snap? What about the sew? If there was threading after a few wears, we considered that a warning sign of a lack of proper construction and durability.