Who Is He?
Hi, I’m Brian Bradshaw. I’m a super duper mega hiking enthusiast, with a love for everything that has to do with outdoors, hiking, gear, footwear and more.
I’ve lived all over the place, because I love travel and there’s no end to my love for just getting around. I currently live in Ventura, California. But you never know when that’s going to change.
My ancestors have owned a shoe store, where I, as a toddler, used to run around in. I have no memory of this. My grandfather was one of the last to run it. My grandfather, when he was still alive, showed me his shoe designs from decades ago. I was always impressed with how well he was able to draw shoes.
He knew what he was doing for sure. Being Dutch and having grown up in Holland, my grandfather has lived through WWII, and was obligated by the Germans to create footwear for the German army. He’d show the Germans how much leather he needed for this or that many pairs of boots. They believed him. Secretly, he’d cut the leather slightly differently, so he’d have enough leather left for making an extra pair of shoes. This extra pair would then be sold to well-off peasants in the neighborhood, to make an extra buck.
While the family shoe store was abandoned in my early years, I was always forced to wear the highest quality footwear when I was just a wee toddler. Throughout the years, I’ve learned an appreciation for the technology behind footwear. I’ve learned a lot from my grandfather, but also from doing my own research, and simply from the experience of wearing many different kinds of shoes (though not all at the same time!).
Footwear is in my family’s blood.
You can never learn enough about footwear. I’m still learning new things every day. Sometimes because one of you, my dear readers, will come forward and teach me a lesson on something footwear related, via my contact form. I have been known to include corrections and/or suggestions from my readers in my content. I’m grateful for every opportunity, so please keep contacting me.
Mission Statement
Over here at the Boot Bomb, I do my utmost best to write the most helpful reviews of all sorts of footwear. It started out with hiking only, but I soon expanded into reviewing other kinds of footwear, such as shoes for playing basketball, cross training, nursing shoes, shoes for standing up for long hours, working shoes, etc.
I go out of my way to make sure that the information I provide you with is correct. If you read something on my site that is incorrect, please let me know right away. When I discover erroneous information, I always correct it straight away!
The Boot Bomb has grown a lot. That’s why I am constantly quality controlling and updating my pages.
Contact
Since I have set up a contact page, I have received lots of email from people asking me questions and advice. I have also received a number of very nice compliments, leading me to become even more motivated to write more and more on this website.
I thank all of those who have taken the time to contact me personally. I won’t name names, but you all know who you are. Due to the fact that the Boot Bomb (and by extension: me) has fans, I currently feel very motivated to expand my website with many more useful reviews!
Do you want to ask me something? Do you want to give me a few handy tips? Got some nifty advice? Wanna set something straight? Got a question about anything you read on the Boot Bomb? Don’t like my haircut?
Feel free to contact me for anything that you have in mind.
Hi Brian,
What a site! Wow, I am thoroughly impressed and plan on using it as my “go to”. I have been doing a lot of independent research as my partner’s feet are narrow and very thin on the top. She needs a good arch support and has done well with Keen Targhees, Lowas, Oboes. We are looking for a really stable footbed, arch support and possibly ankle support for a shoe that she can wear around the house like a slipper-style. I have read your slipper reviews and found them very helpful. I am hoping to find something supportive on the footbed with a little higher ankle support like a pull on boot might give. Have you any feedback on the Keen Detroit? My hope is that if she has an easy pull-on style boot, she will slip into it and find it comfy and easy to use. I think thats one of the things we love about slippers is that we can just almost walk into them….Any suggestions or ideas? Thanks for any input and again for your fabulous research and sharing!
Ellen
Hi Ellen,
Thanks for the kind compliments. You’ve completely made my day!
You’re probably talking about this slipper review. If you liked my slippers page, you might also like my pages on:
They’re all kind of similar in the way that you can easily slip in and out of them. Some of those hiking sandals and water shoes have pretty high ankle support.
Every piece of footwear that I review on the Boot Bomb is of good quality and receives good reviews. I just don’t want to bother my readers with sub par quality footwear, so it’s hard to go wrong with any of my advised footwear.
Please have a look at my suggested pages and let me know if you need more help!
Sincerely,
Brian
30 years ago I broke my ankle in two places but thought it was a good idea to walk on it for eight days. It is a mess at this point. The doctor said it doesn’t get any worse than this. I am about to go somewhere where I’ll be doing a lot of walking and my ankle probably will not be very happy about it. I need something to support my ankle. I have flat feet and I’m overweight. Can you suggest something? Would you please respond to me personally Via email? Thank you.
Hi Sharon,
Sorry to hear about the problems with your ankle. If ankle support has high priority, then I would definitely look at something like hiking boots (see here) or work boots (see here), which are built to provide precisely that.
For your flat feet, I recommend Tread Labs insoles. They’re my personal favorite and I can’t live without’em anymore.
Sincerely,
Brian
Thank you for the detailed review of New Balance shoes for foot issues. It is so helpful to have solid insight before heading out to find new shoes when you have specific needs. Much better than being at the mercy of the sales person that may, or may not, be able to put one in the right direction of the best solution for your needs. Well done!
Hi Nancy,
Thanks for your kind comment. I wish all my comments were like that!
Sincerely,
Brian