A rigger boot is a particular type of pull-on safety boot in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. The name "rigger" comes from the fact that they were standard issue for workers on the offshore oil rigs

Brent oilfield

The Brent field is an oil field located in the East Shetland Basin north-east of Lerwick, Shetland Islands, Scotland at the water depth of . The field operated by Shell UK Limited was once one of the most productive parts of the UK's offshore assets but is now nearing the end of its useful...

 in the North Sea, but are nowadays worn by most types of manual worker as a general purpose workboot.

Riggers, as they are commonly nicknamed, are usually tan in colour and go approximately third of the way up the leg and feature a steel

Steel

Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...

 toe cap for safety. Other distinguishing features of the boots include pull-on loops around the top of the boot's shaft and internal fur lining.

Many rigger boots are unbranded or generic brands, some of which may have steel toe caps which may not conform to the EN-345 standard, and some workplaces concerned about their lack of adequate ankle support now ban them.

The boots are sometimes made in other colours, such as black, where they can be worn as fashion items in the punk

Punk fashion

Punk fashion is the clothing, hairstyles, cosmetics, jewelry, and body modifications of the punk subculture. Punk fashion varies widely, ranging from Vivienne Westwood designs to styles modeled on bands like The Exploited. The distinct social dress of other subcultures and art movements, including...

 and heavy metal

Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

scenes. They have recently started to become popular with young men in England on college construction courses.