Boot recommendations?

[ForcedSig]

Definitely agree with the Lowas and Ive also had good luck with Bates

 

[outrider58]

Great feet sthink alike it seems. You see my post (#32) B?

Saw the pic.

If I get six months out of a 'production' boot, I'm happy. My latest pair of Moabs was purchased 12/8/22. I wore them every day for work(for the last six years of employment, I was on my feet 8 hrs a day). I retired last Oct 27th. and the shoes are still comfortable, though showing their age.

The only work boots I would get a full year's wear out of were my Carolinas and Red Wings, both loggers.

The aforementioned Moabs at about a year and a quarter...

 

[outrider58]

Definitely agree with the Lowas and Ive also had good luck with Bates

I wore(through) tons of Bates. No complaints, but they only lasted about four months. For their price they were fine.

 

[Archeryrob]

Merrell meh. Bought a pair (actually 3 pairs March '23 of Moab 2 Mid Waterproof). They fit great, were comfortable and figured I'd get several years of wear out of each pair. I just submitted a warranty claim on the first pair as the sole is separating from the upper. I submitted the claim 10 days after the warranty period technically expires and today sent the corroborating info. Mow I may get the warranty on the first pair, but the other two are BNIB and when/if the blow out there is no way a warranty clim would be accepted. I have logged an estimated 700 miles with a combined weight (me and weighted vest) of 220 lbs. All of it has been on the very mild Northwest Branch trail system. I'm not impressed with their durability especially given they are marketed on Merrell's website as a boot suited for "Rugged Hiking". Attached is an image of the blowout...

View attachment 461509

Best thing I have used to fix loose soles like that is JB Weld. All the shoe goop and stuff they sell for it fails. Mix a little and spread it inside the split and wrap with big rubber bands. Give it 24 hours and they are together again.

 

[mpollan1]

Saw the pic.

If I get six months out of a 'production' boot, I'm happy. My latest pair of Moabs was purchased 12/8/22. I wore them every day for work(for the last six years of employment, I was on my feet 8 hrs a day). I retired last Oct 27th. and the shoes are still comfortable, though showing their age.

The only work boots I would get a full year's wear out of were my Carolinas and Red Wings, both loggers.

The aforementioned Moabs at about a year and a quarter...

View attachment 461597

Things wearing through I can fully accept. Things quite literally coming apart at the seams, not so much. Discard that seam pop, and they look like something Biff might wear when he goes gardening. We'll see how Merrell treats this...

Best thing I have used to fix loose soles like that is JB Weld. All the shoe goop and stuff they sell for it fails. Mix a little and spread it inside the split and wrap with big rubber bands. Give it 24 hours and they are together again.

Never thought to use JB Weld as I consider/ed it to be too stiff. This particular split is at a high flex area (right at the ball of my foot). You threw a wrench into my plan to break out the shoe goo.

 

[Archeryrob]

I had Cabelas boots I loved for bowhunting and they delaminated on the fronts of them and the sole was coming off. I smeared them with JB Weld and got more life out of them until the stitching started failing also. Maybe it cracked inside and I could not see it, but they were just as flexible and never came apart again. I did it with broken tread on other shoes also.

Shoe goo has never lasted for me.

 

[mpollan1]

I had Cabelas boots I loved for bowhunting and they delaminated on the fronts of them and the sole was coming off. I smeared them with JB Weld and got more life out of them until the stitching started failing also. Maybe it cracked inside and I could not see it, but they were just as flexible and never came apart again. I did it with broken tread on other shoes also.

Shoe goo has never lasted for me.

Thank you Rob

 

[ground chuck]

I like keen boots

 

[gwchem]

Danner is garbage anymore.

Shoe Goo is what you need to fix the sole.

OP, head on over to Rokslide and go into the boot section. Short answer, lots of good brands, but they need to be tried on. I've used Salomon, Lowa, Merrell, but my newest are Schnees

 

[gforce]

Merrell meh. Bought a pair (actually 3 pairs March '23 of Moab 2 Mid Waterproof). They fit great, were comfortable and figured I'd get several years of wear out of each pair. I just submitted a warranty claim on the first pair as the sole is separating from the upper. I submitted the claim 10 days after the warranty period technically expires and today sent the corroborating info. Mow I may get the warranty on the first pair, but the other two are BNIB and when/if the blow out there is no way a warranty clim would be accepted. I have logged an estimated 700 miles with a combined weight (me and weighted vest) of 220 lbs. All of it has been on the very mild Northwest Branch trail system. I'm not impressed with their durability especially given they are marketed on Merrell's website as a boot suited for "Rugged Hiking". Attached is an image of the blowout...

View attachment 461509

Yeah like Outrider said, they wear out quick. I'm impressed you got 700 miles out of them. Its cooperate knowledge where I work that Merrells are a consumable good with a 6 month shelf life, I have found it to be largely true. Benefit is there is no break in period, they are ready to use off the rack, but they sure wear out fast. I've had at least 3 pair come apart exactly like yours pictured

 

[Coehorn]

Lots of excellent suggestions. Thanks!

I think there's a brand called Red Wing. Anyone use them?

Red Wings are excellent boots.

My side zipper boots are going on 16 years old.

Need to be re-soled as well.

 

[Coehorn]

My Danner Acadias are now 10 years old and have just been re-soled for the second time. Most comfortable shoes I own.

Can you share with us where you had your re-sole done?

My Red Wing side zipper boots need new soles.

Maybe zippers too. If possible.

 

[joppaj]

Can you share with us where you had your re-sole done?

My Red Wing side zipper boots need new soles.

Maybe zippers too. If possible.

Happy to, but it won't help I'm afraid. Danner does their own in-house recrafting and that's who I've used. That said, Red Wing seems to offer a similar service.

Repairs | Red Wing

www.redwingshoes.com

If they're as good as Danner is, it's worth the price.

 

[mpollan1]

Yeah like Outrider said, they wear out quick. I'm impressed you got 700 miles out of them. Its cooperate knowledge where I work that Merrells are a consumable good with a 6 month shelf life, I have found it to be largely true. Benefit is there is no break in period, they are ready to use off the rack, but they sure wear out fast. I've had at least 3 pair come apart exactly like yours pictured

So I walked today and was thinking about these boots. I'm at a 3.7-8mph pace. Simplifying the math giving myself a 3.5mph pace and doubling the distance to 1400 miles, that's the equivalent of wearing them for 10 weeks at 40 hours/week. That fvcking sucks.

 

[gforce]

So I walked today and was thinking about these boots. I'm at a 3.7-8mph pace. Simplifying the math giving myself a 3.5mph pace and doubling the distance to 1400 miles, that's the equivalent of wearing them for 10 weeks at 40 hours/week. That fvcking sucks.

Yeah if you held a 3.5mph pace every second at work, that would be a stupid short life span. However, most of us don't, so they last about 6 months. 1400 miles is a lot, 28 miles a day would be a pretty aggressive schedule. The lifespan really does suck on them though.

 

[mpollan1]

@Archeryrob I went ahead and JB Welded em up tonight. I'll provide a longish term report in a few weeks for anyone that might be interested in how they repair is holding up. Assuming it holds up ..

 

[MaxVO2]

@Archeryrob I went ahead and JB Welded em up tonight. I'll provide a longish term report in a few weeks for anyone that might be interested in how they repair is holding up. Assuming it holds up ..

****JB Weld is awesome stuff. I've fixed tons of stuff with it including shoes! Works *much* better than Shoe Goo.

 

[mpollan1]

****JB Weld is awesome stuff. I've fixed tons of stuff with it including shoes! Works *much* better than Shoe Goo.

Yes it is. I too have used it aplenty but never considered it for shoes as it dries rigid. Here's to another JB Weld fix notch on my tool belt

 

[Archeryrob]

The worst thing about using JB weld on shoes if if you let it overflow, use to much, you'll never get all the silver excess off. It will stay together and the extra excess will not come off, except with part of the shoe and a knife!!

I hope you are happy with the result. It should work good, but might not always be pretty.

 

[JoeRinMD]

I have very wide feet, and have tried many different shoe/boot brands over the years. For boots, I've found that Keen products fit best with a nice big toebox, and also come in wide sizes, which most shoe manufacturers seem to have abandoned.. Right now, I'm wearing Targhee II Mid (available in EE width). I also have a pair of Keen snow boots, with a rubber lower section...a little like the classic LL Bean boots. Checking their website, however, something like that doesn't appear to be available.

JoeR