Description
You need a safety shoe and you are uncertain what size to choose? Shall you order the safety shoe in the same size as your favourite sneaker or is it better to order it one size bigger to ensure that you won’t touch the toe cap? The latter is not recommendable, as you are running the risk that the toe cap won’t cover and protect your toe. But why do shoes vary so much in size?
Over the years, various sizing systems have been developed worldwide that are sometimes so different that it makes accurately calculating shoe sizes impossible and results in rounding differences. It therefore depends on which sizing system the manufacturer of you selected safety shoes uses in production.
The following sizing systems are used:
| Name | Length difference between two sizes | Examples |
| Paris point (continental sizing) | 2/3 cm = 6.66 mm | 42, 43, 44, 45, etc. |
| British unit of measurement – barleycorn | 1/3 inch = 8.46 mm | 8, 8½, 9, 9½, etc. |
| Mondopoint R1 | 5 mm | 270, 275, 280, 285, etc. |
| Mondopoint R2 | 7.5 mm | 270, 277, 285, 292, etc. |
The Paris point and the British unit are based on the length of the shoemaker’s last, while Mondopoint R1 and R2 are based on the length of the foot. This difference results in discrepancies between shoe sizes.
The sizes of uvex safety shoes have been determined using the following conversion principle:
| uvex shoe size | Foot length in mm (Mondopoint) |
English size | Japanese size |
| 35 | 217 | 3 | 21.5 |
| 36 | 225 | 3.5 | 22.5 |
| 37 | 232 | 4 | 23.0 |
| 38 | 240 | 5 | 24.0 |
| 39 | 247 | 6 | 24.5 |
| 40 | 255 | 6.5 | 25.5 |
| 41 | 262 | 7 | 26.0 |
| 42 | 270 | 8 | 27.0 |
| 43 | 277 | 9 | 27.5 |
| 44 | 285 | 10 | 28.5 |
| 45 | 292 | 10.5 | 29.0 |
| 46 | 300 | 11 | 30.0 |
| 47 | 307 | 12 | 30.5 |
| 48 | 315 | 13 | 31.5 |
| 49 | 322 | 14 | 32.0 |
| 50 | 330 | 14.5 | 33.0 |
| 51 | 337 | 15 | 33.5 |
| 52 | 345 | 16 | 34.5 |
For a shoe to fit perfectly, both the foot width and length play an essential role. The width of the foot corresponds to the circumference at the widest part of the foot – between the ball of the foot and the base joint of the little toe. In the next paragraph, we’ll explain how to find the correct size for your safety shoes by determining the width and length of your foot.
