Georgia Logger Boots Review: I Try Their ‘Best Value’ Logger

Loggers, linemen, and wildland firefighters all know you need a good work boot. 

If you don’t have a solid pair, you’re in for a long season.

Recently, I’ve been checking out the most popular logger boots on the market to see which one is really the best. 

And the Georgia Logger might just be the most common logger boot out there. So is it any good? 

Georgia Logger Overview

The Georgia Boot company focuses on making sturdy work boots at an affordable price. Most of their boots are under $200 (though they have models with safety toes and other features that cost a bit more). 

The Loggers boots I picked are the standard, soft-toe waterproof version. But you can also get steel toe, composite toe, insulated, lace-to-toe, and there’s even a low-heel version. 

What is a logger, and why are they so popular? Recently, I broke down why logger boots have higher heels, which can help you decide if this style is right for you. 

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My Hands-On Review

First Impression

The Georgia Logger is a beefy boot. The waterproof version has several different pieces of leather—it’s a lot more complicated compared to most other boots. 

While there’s a specific lace-to-toe version of the Georgia Logger, I think the standard waterproof Logger already has a bit of that lace-to-toe design. 

Lace-to-toe boots basically have an extra eyelet or two toward the front of your foot, and that allows you more control over how the boot fits in certain areas. 

For instance, if you like to wear thick socks with your boots like the Camel City Mill Heavyweights, you can leave more room in the laces further down your foot. 

The downside to a lace-to-toe design is that it can create hotspots on top of your foot where the hardware is as the boot is less flexible overall. 

That said, the standard Georgia Logger isn’t a true lace-to-toe (though they have a version with that design). But compared to most boots, the eyelets come further down the vamp, which will help you in the sizing department. 

Leather Quality and Care

I got the chocolate leather version, and it’s a very rich pull up leather. Pull up leather is a type of leather that has lots of oils and waxes packed into it during the tanning process. 

While leather itself is never truly waterproof, pull up leather has so many hydrophobic compounds stuffed into it, you never have to worry about water penetrating your boots. 

The leather isn’t the highest quality, but it’s decently thick at 1.8mm and it’s supple enough for an easy break in. 

With the deep color of the chocolate leather, you don’t have to worry about darkening your boots when you use conditioner or leather preserver. 

Not too long ago, I did a huge test with 11 different leather conditioners, and I found out what the best leather conditioner for work boots is. So for my Georgia Loggers, I’m going to use Obenauf’s LP. 

It darkens the leather a ton, but with this color, it won’t matter too much. Obenauf’s adds a ton of weatherproofing to your leather, so it’s a great choice if you’re in wet conditions often. It’s not a great product for dress boots, but for work boots, it’s fantastic.

You don’t need to oil your Georgia Loggers before wearing them the first time—they’ll be fine with or without an initial oiling (the leather is already stuffed with oils and waxes). But some guys enjoy giving their new boots some TLC before introducing them to hard labor. 

Sole

The Georgia Logger is made with a 360-degree Goodyear welt construction. After closely looking at the welt, it appears to be made out of some sort of plastic, which makes sense at this price. 

While I prefer leather for a welt, I’d rather have some type of welt for weather resistance and longevity compared to a cemented sole construction. 

The leather is the strong point of this boot, and the sole is the weak point. 

There’s a removable foam footbed, which has decent padding in the heel but it’s pretty thin at the forefoot. The insole is compressed fiberboard, which can start to break down within a year if your feet are sweaty or if you crease your boots a lot (from kneeling down, etc.). 

The insole is attached to a PU rubber midsole with that plastic welt. One benefit of that PU midsole is that it’ll offer decent shock absorption, which makes these boots comfortable right away. 

And then the outsole is a single rubber lug piece with a two-inch heel. The lugs give this boot plenty of traction, and there’s enough rubber there that you shouldn’t wear through the sole any time soon. 

Georgia adds a steel shank along the arch, which is a necessity for logger and climbing boots. Steel is more rigid than a leather shank or a different kind of materials, but if you’re strapping into spikes or you’re standing on pole rungs, you want something stiff and inflexible in the arch for better support. 

Overall, there aren’t a lot of sturdy materials in the sole, and there isn’t a lot keeping it together besides that plastic welt. Georgia added some stitching through the midsole and outsole at the toe, which should help keep that front part from splitting, which is great. 

Fit and Sizing

Finding the right fit for your Georgia Boots is pretty simple—they go by standard US shoe sizes. So if you know your Brannock size, you should get that size. What’s a Brannock size? So glad you asked…

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I got my Georgia Loggers in my standard US sneaker and dress shoe size. My foot is a 10.5D on the Brannock, and I wear a 10.5 in sneakers and dress shoes. 

So I got the 10.5 in Medium width for my Georgia Logger and they fit perfectly. 

If you’re wondering: a Georgia Medium is D width, and a Georgia Wide is an EE width. 

A lot of other boot brands fit a bit big. For instance, with Red Wing, Wolverine, Timberland, and many others, you usually end up sizing a half-step down to get the correct fit. That’s not the case with Georgia Boots. Just get whatever your normal sneaker size is, or the most common shoe size in your closet. 

Break-in Period

With the amount of flexible PU in the midsole, fiberboard insole, foam insert, and soft pull-up leather in this boot, the break in is basically non-existent. 

If you’re getting blisters from your Georgia Loggers, it’s because they don’t fit well—not because you need to break them in more.

What Do Other Reviewers Say?

A lot of reviewers love their Georgia Loggers for their comfort and for the fact that most models cost under $200. 

I read a few reviews from folks who’ve tried the big boy brands like Wesco, Nicks, White’s, and JK. If you’re not familiar with those brands, here’s a brief run-down: they’re overbuilt and will last you ten years or longer. But they can be a pain to break in. And they cost three to four times as much. 

Some reviewers actually switched from the super durable Wesco climbers to Georgia Loggers just because the Georgia Logger is more comfortable right away. Sure, they have to replace them more often, but it’s not a wallet-busting event when they do. 

Georgia Logger Alternatives

JK Climber

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If you want a high-end climbing or logging boot, I really like JK Boots. I have their Climber boot with a safety toe, and it’s incredible. 

To be clear, JK Boots are in a totally different class compared to Georgia Boots, and the price reflects that. 

But if you’re interested in getting the best possible quality and essentially having those boots for the rest of your life, then I’d check out the JK Climber. 

My Thoughts Overall

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