It may look like a beat-up old pair of hiking boots, but in fact it’s a pair of beat-up old hiking boots with new soles, lining, heel-counters, shanks, hardware, laces and one hell of a cleaning and reconditioning job.
Around 4 years ago I bought this pair of Danner Lights. They were worn fairly close to daily, and have some hard miles on them hiking and backpacking.
Sent them in to Danner for their recrafting service. 4-6 weeks and a couple days for shipping later I just got them back.
They’re just the tiniest bit snug because of the new lining, but otherwise these are unmistakably my boots that have broken in to fit my feet, but the soles still have treads on them.
Also, Danner customer service was great to deal with. When I shipped my boots out to them, I got the notification that they had been delivered, but after a day or two I hadn’t gotten the email from Danner to confirm they received it. I wasn’t exactly worried, I figured it would probably take them a couple days to open the box and get my boots checked in, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to give them a call anyway.
After a reasonable number of rings, my call was answered by an actual human.
And one with no heavy accent, who didn’t mumble into the phone, and had no attitude problem, and most astoundingly, actually worked for Danner at their office.
But so I asked if there was any way he could confirm that my boots had been delivered to the right place. He took my tracking info, looked it up, and was able to tell me that yes, they had them, because he knew the guy who signed for them.
And then he gave me a direct number to the recrafting department in case I needed to follow up with them any further (I didn’t feel any need for that, but after recently going through hell trying to get in touch with anyone at the local delivery hub for a company that was supposed to deliver some new appliances for me with no luck to figure out what the hell was going on with repeated delivery delays, I really appreciated that)
It’s kind of sad that I’m so used to automated menus, outsourced call centers, and customer service reps who clearly want to be doing anything else but helping me (not that I blame them, I don’t want to work either) that that’s all it takes to make a customer service experience feel great.
If I have any complaints at all about my experience, it’s that the white stitching around the soles was replaced with brown. I thought the white looked pretty sharp, but these are hiking boots they’re just going to get dirty anyway.
But anyway, I’m really happy with my experience, and I’m looking forward to hopefully another 4+ years with these boots.
I wore a pair of Double-H boots for ten years. So broken in they were like heavy leather slippers. Eventually the toe collapsed during a road trip on my motorcycle shifting gears. I was melting wax into the leather to reharden it but got overzealous with the heat and shrank the leather. I hope to find a cobler or leathersmith that can repair it. Double-H no longer make that style harness boot, not in brown anyways.
I can’t remember if I heard it here but I have heard (and feel, anecdotally) that cycling between wearing two different pairs of shoes leads them to lasting longer than if you wore one pair until they fell apart then a second pair until they fell apart.
I don’t know how that could possibly work unless giving shoes a “break” rather than wearing every day extends their life somehow.
My evidence: I have had a separate pair of running shoes and walking shoes for a few years now.
AFAIK, it is the leather ageing faster, linked to bacteria growth due to humidity. Cycling between 2, ideally 3 pairs, allows the shoe to dry and kill the bacteria in between.
That’s only a requirement for leather.
I live out of a backpack, so I can only own one pair of boots. I switched to synthetic, and my boots last decades instead of years.
In addition to the leather stuff the other commenter mentioned, foam gets compressed during usage (especially running shoes with a lot of foam). It can take several days for the foam to recover. If you run in the same shoes every day, you aren’t getting the full benefit of the foam, and you are basically beating it while it’s already down.
Aaah that kind of makes intuitive sense
Theseus’ shoes
but in fact it’s a pair of beat-up old hiking boots with new soles, lining, heel-counters, shanks, hardware, laces and one hell of a cleaning and reconditioning job.
Wouldn’t be cheaper to buy new boots?
New pair costs $400- something, and I consider them to have been worth every penny of that. Before I got these I normally got about 2 years out of a pair of cheaper, non-recraftable boots that usually cost me north of $200.
Recrafting cost $280 (and I suspect it could have been even cheaper if I went to a local cobbler,) so assuming I get at least 3 years out of them, still cheaper than buying a new pair of the cheaper boots, and definitely cheaper than buying a new pair of these3
Nice!
I don’t know this brand, but good quality, Goodyear welt leather boots can cost hundreds of dollars. This service, might have cost a couple hundred and still be worth it.
Don’t go judging a man’s actions before walking a mile in his shoes! 😜
Cheaper for who?
I don’t know… Maybe the one who spent money changing soles, lining, heel-counters, shanks, hardware, laces and paid for a cleaning and reconditioning job?
No, wait! Off course it’s cheaper for you! Wouldn’t be cheaper for you to buy new boots instead of writing stupid comments?
Based on the instance they chose to make an account on I wouldn’t be surprised if the point they’re trying to make is about waste. It might cost you more money but it’s “cheaper” in greenhouse gases and space in a landfill – something future generations are going to pay for.
Thankfully enshitification is encouraging repair even if replacement costs less because the replacement is cheap trash.
Nope it’s just cheaper all around, OP explained as much in their reply.
So, you’ve fallen into a trap of your own making.
First, you didn’t wait for OP to respond. Had you waited, you’d see that 8 minutes ago they explained that it was in fact cheaper to have them repaired instead of replaced.
Second, you’re sitting here arguing for consumption vs repair and reuse. I can’t think of a more morally defunct argument than this, and I will gladly explain to you why.
So, you’ve fallen into a trap of your own making.
hum?
First, you didn’t wait for OP to respond.
Yes, because i can predict the future! And the OP will answer all the questions that aren’t asked.
Second, you’re sitting here arguing for consumption vs repair and reuse.
I’m not arguing anything. I made a question because unfortunately most of the times repair and reuse is not economically viable. And if it’s not worth it, most people won’t go down that route. Secondly the stupid question was not from the post OP. Just someone trying to beat me in his purity test.
A lot of old army surplus boots and shoes are Goodyear-welted or in the case of Italian mountain boots, have a Norwegian double stitch. They cost nothing when compared to dress boots, you can find NOS boots for 25 to 100€ and they last a very long time: you can hope for 4-5 resoles if you let them dry after every wear.
Where would you recommend buying old army surplus boots?
Vinted or whatever the locals use the most in the EU. Outside of the EU I don’t know.
The joke back in the day was that tire sandals were good for 40,000 miles.
I learned the key is to avoid real leather. Even if you get $400 italian boots, that shit can’t take literally daily wear. It needs to rest.
The good faux leathers (using the material used in luxary yachts and car upholstery) lasts decades.
You’re not taking care of your boots then, leather is skin and needs care. I have a pair of boots in my closet that lasted ten years, until I made a mistake and ruined them. I’m not ready to let them go yet.
Technically all shoes should rest, but yeah if you’re in a humid climate leather handles it worse.
Good leather will last SO much longer if you take care of it. Had leather shoes I wore everyday until the sole wore through. It was initially super thick and I’d still be wearing them if it was a resolable shoe. Now that’s all I get and they’ll probably outlive me.
Personally my problem has never really been the leather wearing out, it’s almost always the soles that give out on me long before that.
And failing that it’s usually other hardware like zippers
The only pair I really remember having an issue with the leather was a pair of steel toed work boots, and they developed some holes on the toes because I tended to use them to kick things around. Not too many materials hold up too well to being banged around between steel and a rock on whatever, so I don’t exactly blame the leather there.
Yes, plastic typically lasts longer than leather. That is the primary selling point of plastic.
I personally don’t have any experience with Danner, but a friend swore by them.
I have two pairs of Redwing boots that have held up incredibly well over the years and highly recommend.
Redwing customer service sucks, their warranty is bullshit, and their Goodyear welt falls apart in just over a year. I will never purchase another pair of redwing boots and I am far from alone.
I’ve tried them twice. They never broke in and got comfortable.
Break-in was rough, took about a month of regular wear
I find them pretty comfortable once broken on, but they don’t have long left after that
Same issue. I don’t really care how long they last if I can’t wear them
Damn that is quite a split in experience. I don’t know who to believe!
Perhaps the company has changed in recent years. Remember, when people talk about how long their product has lasted, they bought it years ago.
(the link scrolls to wrong post, you’re looking for post by user “emptym”) Final boss 38 year old shoes https://www.styleforum.net/threads/shoes-with-character.61011/page-51#post-12480047
I definitely have been considering resoleable shoes but really seems like that is only do able for heavy duty shoes which I really dont have much cause to wear.
Thanks to the replies I have found many blake stitch and goodyear welt sneakers, now I just have to pick a pair and save up
Chacos (sturdy sandals) are able to be rebuilt Ship of Theseus style. A resole is half the price of a new pair, but you can swap out straps or hardware as desired. I need to send mine in.
Solovair make boots in the UK which are basically Dr Martens but still hand made. They are fairly light boots which can be resold and come in various styles.
I’ve had 2 pairs for a few years now and they are wearing beautifully. I’ve not had to re-sole them yet but it should be easily doable.
What do you mean by “heavy duty”? Thursday Boot Company has resoleable boots that are decidedly not work boots.
Yeah, unfortunately options are a little limited as far as what most people would want as an everyday shoe. Most of the recraftable shoes out there are either boots or what most people would probably consider to be sort of a dress shoe.
There’s still some options out there, Allen Edmonds has some recraftable sneaker-type shoes, though they may not be everyone’s cup of tea (they’re certainly not mine)
People gotta get punker and accept the glory of the work boot as an everyday shoe
seems like that is only do able for heavy duty shoes
Huh? Goodyear welting is just a construction method. You can apply it to any shoe style like loafers or chukkas. See e.g. Crockett & Jones “Harvard” or the less expensive https://berwickshoes.com/gb/9628-k5-superbuck-snuff.html
The only problem with Goodyear welted shoes it’s that the sole is very stiff. You can try Blake stitched instead.
But yeah in general you’ll need to change the shoe style you wear to more traditional. Goral has some more casual blake stitched styles too: https://www.goral-shoes.co.uk/collections/mens
