We got my husband some Helly Hansen boots the year before last and we noticed a hole in them last year. I am right pissed. If I’m dropping hundreds of dollars on boots, I expect to get my money’s worth. What are your awesome boot suggestions to help me do just that?
The honest truth is that there are no buy it for life boots. A foot of snow, road salt, etc will wear down all boots. Water always wins eventually. Always.
However! There are lots of great recs here, and you can’t go wrong with many of the suggestions (keen has done me the best over the years), but no matter what you go with, you will get years of extra life out of them by investing in TAKING CARE of them.
Oil and condition the leather at least annually. Get some boot trees or a boot dryer and use it. Check outsoles and keep them clean and grime free. Speaking of grime, wipe your boots down when you come in, don’t just bang them off, leave them by the door and think they’re good. Towel them off, and make sure they’re somewhere they’ll stay warm enough to dry. Good boots are tough, and they’ll stay that way a long time if you treat them well.
Yeah, buy it for life was too ambitious, but I used to get ten years out of my $250 boots, now that’s a base price for shit that won’t last a year. Care is generally not a concern for us, we take good care of our expensive shit because we need it to last as long as possible.