They are an upgrade to the old flight deck boots I wore in the Navy. I still work on base and am required to have steel toe boots. These are light, very comfortable and water resistant almost to the top of the boot. The padding is soft but not hot and the high lace ups prevent me from injuring my ankles when stepping off a ladder wrong. Here in Florida it gets very hot but these stay cool somehow. When they get scratched up I just use boot polish and they look new again. The soles grip well even on a wet painted hangar deck.