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e

Sneakers

The Design Flaw of Boot Jacks

…at least in this city boy's opinion

By Rain Noe - January 28

Shortly after moving to the country, I saw one of these in a neighbor's basement, and thought it was a workholding device for woodworking.

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"No, it's a boot jack," he said, doing an excellent job of hiding his surprise that I didn't know what it was. (City boy, here.)

Out in these rural parts, boots are more common than Nikes, so it makes sense that everyone has a boot jack. What doesn't make sense to me is their design. You use them like this:

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Getting the first boot off, no problem. The part that doesn't make sense to me is that you then step on the jack with your freshly-exposed sock. More often than not, when I take my boots off, they're muddy. I assume you'd get fresh mud on the jack when taking the first boot off, then transfer that mud to the bottom of your sock when bracing the jack to remove the other boot. I looked around and every boot jack I saw, despite minor differences in detail, appears to have this same flaw:

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I actually think this would make an interesting assignment for an ID student: How would you design a similarly minimal object that gets the boots off, but keeps your socks clean in the process?

Rain Noe

Rain Noe is a writer and industrial designer based in New York City.

16 Comments

James Cobb

2 months ago

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The "solution" to this design "problem" is a doormat. Do you routinely come inside with mud on your shoes?

Step 1: Wipe off your feet outside (or wash them off with a water hose if super muddy).
Step 2: Go inside
Step 3: Use boot jack

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- George Mokray
  
  James Cobb
  
  2 months ago
  
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  Wiping your boots off before you use the boot jack is the obvious solution. Those who don't immediately think of it were probably raised in a barn. /snark
  
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Glen Downie

2 months ago

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I think this is resolved:
Doormat - Wet Removal
Boot Brush - Dry and Mud Removal
Boot Jack - Boot Removal

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Ken K

2 months ago

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Put a second one next to the first? If homemade, easy, cheap, compact.

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Joshua Cooper

2 months ago

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I would suggest putting the fulcrum/leg on the top as well as the bottom. That way you could remove one boot, flip the jack over and remove the other boot.

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- Tim Hines
  
  Joshua Cooper
  
  2 months ago
  
  Z
  
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  Neat and compact, although you do have to bend down to turn it.
  
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Lindani Ntongazana

17 days ago

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i suggest extending the stepping surface with its fulcrum to fit two feet, one for the dirty boot and the other for a bare sock separated by a barrier for no cross-overs.

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Lindani Ntongazana

17 days ago

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Extending the stepping surface for two feet spaces, for the contaminated boot as well as the clean sock and then extended fulcrum makes sense to me....

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Martin Siegrist

2 months ago

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Not thinking of a doormat is the problem. Cause when there’s mud on your shoes and you don’t wipe it off before taking off the boots, you’d probably step into mud no matter what.

Perfect example of a designer making incorrect assumptions

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- amunta nul
  
  Martin Siegrist
  
  2 months ago
  
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  I have yet to see a glimpse of evidence that Rain is actually a designer
  
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Ross Oliver

2 months ago

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The heel-to-toe stance makes balance much more difficult. I sometimes remove my shoes by standing the toe of one on the heel of the other, and I almost always need to lean on something for balance. I would mount the jack to a base 3x as wide, and stand feet side-by-side to use. Solves the sock soiling problem too.

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Taylor Smith

2 months ago

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In my limited observations the people who use boot jacks aren't using them with their muddy boots. Like the example in the video, crocodile belly boots aren't typically the kind of boots you get dirty like that.

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Mike Cheung

2 months ago

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Take boot 1 off halfway, then remove boot 2. Kick boot 1 off.

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Tim Hines

2 months ago

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Just make the stand on part wider, but try to remember to take the same boot off first ... :)

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Fred Reade

2 months ago

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I don’t know about minimal, but I’ve seen them with an arch over them and a swinging paddle that acts as a brace for the toe of the boot while you use your hands on an upper t-bar as purchase. Ends up being quite a large piece of hall furniture though!

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Jason Pokines

2 months ago

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Where are you, again? I've lived in semi-rural Ohio most of my life and have never come across one of these. Also, the only people I've met with boots like that are "cowboys" who like to line dance and drive lifted trucks.

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