I dunno how many times I’ve had to say goodbye to a beloved pair a boots. Best I can do with modern boots is about a year and a half or two. I just came to accept it too. I’d burn a pair up, throw them out and mourn - and then go down to the store and shell out $150 ~ 250 for a light hiker… and then they’d break in, break down… and I’d do it again. The hell of it is that for most modern boots, once they’re broke in… they’re basically finished.
Everyone makes the old fashioned moc toe boots. There’s other designs but the thing about them is that they’re made to be repaired.
These’ll clean up just fine.
A good pair will run around $400.00 Canukistani and up. Or at least they did 5 years ago? Mine are finally due for their first resole. I suppose for me the economics are the same but I get the luxury of having a broken in boot that still looks half decent too.
It is truly anguishing. Ther used to be a cobbler over in the next county. Sadly, he's no longer there.
ReplyDelete- WDS
For leather preservation I recommend products from a company down in Texas, Chamberlain’s Leather Milk. They have several formulations for different purposes. I have a pair of seven eyelet boots from Chippewa (with Goodyear welts so that they are resoleable with Vibram soles that wear extremely well, something I learned in my backpacking/mountain hiking days), and whose leather was oiled. The Leather Milk really nourishes the leather with the oils in it. Shiny it is not, nothing like waxing, but the health of the leather is uppermost here. A bit of maintenance has repaid the periodic expense of time with well conditioned leather, making it feasible to resole the boots when that time arrives.
ReplyDeleteI have used other of their formulations for treating smooth leathers such as gloves and belts with excellent, palpable effects. One of their formulations offers a bit of waterproofing through its ingredients which I used on an old Schott leather jacket that I inherited from my dad. Its leather was kind of stiff, but after I used that treatment, the resulting softening (and slight darkening) of the leather was astonishing and very welcome. I also purchased a formulation intended for leather furniture that I have yet to apply, but judging from my experience with their line so far, it will likely work wonders.
www.leathermilk.com
JerseyJeffersonian
Yup. I use mink oil to waterproof them in the winter and boot oil in the summer. I’d never let my boots get like those in the pic. If you take care of your boots, they will take care of you…
DeleteWork boots that are csa and chemical resistant and water proof will set you back $600+ these days. The good news is if you take care of them you get get 6-7 years out of them. The bad news all the new ones have smaller leg sizes so if you have thick calves the new ones wont fit. The new styles are made for twinks.
ReplyDeleteExile1981
Yup. If I had to buy work boots I’d buy Nick’s. They build their boots from the ground up and repair and resole them too.
DeleteI'm a very long time fan of Scarpa boots - had three pairs of SL's, but they changed to a narrow European last about a decade ago and they no longer fit my broad hoof. I've now developed a love-affair with Lowa boots and have a pair of Z8-S Gtx. Brilliantly light, supportive and yet flexible enough to drive safely in them. As an all-round boot for tough outdoor conditions you can't go wrong. The Finns get a taller version still (Z11 from memory), which might be better in the frigid conditions you get Glen? Only failure is they cannot be re-soled. Expensive - $500 - $550, but I have around 3,000km walking on them and they are about half-way worn. Expect at least another two years heavy use.
ReplyDeleteI dunno, A. I looked hard and long at the Lowas too. But I wasn’t sure if you could rebuild them or not? I know back in the 50s … if you wanted a hiking boot - you generally bought the moc toes in the pic. I went with them because it appears that any shoe maker should be able to do it and maybe even rebuild the lowers. I dunno if they could handle the high end, high tech materials of the Lowas…?
DeleteI’m not worried about high uppers myself though… if I have to contend with snow I just use gaiters.
Sadly I need the ankle support (thanks arthritis!) when carrying a pack. The Z8's use lacing loops instead of hooks - which I discovered are extremely practical & better than hooks. They are waterproof almost to the very top. Soles are NOT replaceable, but by the time the soles are dead, the uppers will be too. Lowa makes re-soleable models (ie Tibet wides), but they are too heavy for every day, all day use and too stiff to use safely when driving. YMMV.
DeleteI think you will be happily surprised about how the not-so-few pounds you lost will increase the life of your boots. It isn't just the reduced weight, it is that your stride is smoother and more on-center.
ReplyDeleteAs a young man, I took a pair of cowboy boots thru 4 or 5 re-soles before the poor cobbler told me there just wasn't enough material left to stitch on a new sole. That one hurt. Hurt bad.
ReplyDeleteNow I barely ever touch boots, except as needed for work rules. I think my feet flattened out as I got old, I can hardly find a pair that fits right and when I do, I just don't wear them enough to break them in. I go thru a pair of sneakers about once a year and several pair of flip flops in the same time period. I'd go barefoot most of the time except I'm too lazy to pick up the dog poop in the yard and so there's just too many land mines to walk around bare foot.
Three day old dog turds feels nice oozing up along your toes... Nice thing about Alabama, the armadillos would come out at night and eat the dog turds, but would also tear up your lawn looking for grubs and June bug larvae...
DeleteI like when they get dry, white and crusty then you hit them with the lawn mower and the basically turn into a dog poop dust cloud into which you must walk.
DeleteActually Don Curton, dog poop no longer turns white. They changed the formula for dog food to remove the bone meal that turned it white; citing concerns over Mad Cow Disease.
DeleteFrom 1969 (USAF) on, 1974-82 shipyard crane rigger. '82-2015 tree service, I lived in high top boots. Once we moved to Tennessee, I figured out I could hike the hills, go to town, whatever, in slip ons (now, Wally World, proprietary, imitation, tactical, crocs) and loafers, for dress. I must have spent years putting on and taking off work boots during those 46 years. Now when I need boots, I use Ft. Campbell, surplus Danner style, combat boots, $40 instead ot $240. I don't wear them often.
ReplyDeleteThere's something in my sweat that dissolves the glue used in common boots. My foot funk has even dissolved the glue holding down the liner in US Army issue combat boots.
ReplyDeleteThe longest lasting pair of boots I found so far, are Ariat. I've worn my current pair for 7 years now. And they have survived at least one strike from a machete, and innumerable scuffs and scrapes.
I bought a pair of insulated, waterproof Timberlines when I was stationed in Alaska in '81. They cost me over $200.00 US back then, but were worth every penny! When I retired from the US Coast Guard, I still had those boots, and I had used the CRAP out of them! I used Sno-Seal on them. By the time I got out of the CG, the soles Vibram soles were peeling off of them. We have a cobbler in our town, so I took them there. For $50.00 US in 2002 dollars, he put new Vibram soles on them and buffed them out. 'Damn things looked like NEW, but felt good and OLD. 'Haven't had much use for insulated, waterproof boots in the southern California desert, but those boots are still SOMEWHERE in my barn!
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