5 ms·

Sam Vimes' Boots theory of socio-economic unfairness: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Vimes#Boots_theory_of_socio-economic_unfairness https://en.wikipedia.org

Sam Vimes' Boots theory of socio-economic unfairness: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Vimes#Boots_theory_of_socio-economic_unfairness https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Vimes#Boots_theory_of_soci...

chadgeidel 9y ago
I'm loathe to go down this rabbit hole, but I have anecdotal experience here. My wife convinced me to buy a pair of what I thought was very expensive boots. (Wolverine 1000 Mile boot). They are nice, and supposed to last "a very long time." There's a hidden cost though. I recently had them re-soled and had to buy some laces (this is after about a year and a half of wear) and the cost of re-soleing the boots was also very expensive! I'm not sure I am saving much over the cost of regularly buying less expensive boots.
- brianwawok 9y ago
  How many miles did you put in? It literally takes me like 3 years and a few 1000 miles before my shoes need resoled...
  - chadgeidel 9y ago
    I have no idea but not 1000 miles. I wear them to work and back. Apparently I'm hard on shoes? I didn't think they needed to be resoled, but I don't know shoes. My wife is the "fashionista". :-)
    - L_226 9y ago
      I've owned the same pair of Danner Mountain Light II's since 2012 and have never had them resoled or serviced. These boots have been with me to 15+ countries including trekking in India, have been on many, many hikes and all I do is clean and polish them every few months. I estimate I have walked at least 2000km in them, never had any issues. Can't recommend Danner enough.
- blackSnake 9y ago
  The key to shoes lasting long is taking care of them. Don’t wear them in the rain. Give them a break evey couple of days. Most importantly you have to keep polishing them. At least once a week. If you take care of the upper leathers of a shoe, they can last pretty long, not to mention that any shoe with good arches is worth it. For throwaway shoes that you cant resole, I like Ecco. Excellent!!
  - sokoloff 9y ago
    What good are boots that you can't wear in the rain and you have to polish more than 50 times per year? Even if polishing only takes 12 minutes, you'll spend more than 10 hours per year just on maintaining that one pair of shoes/boots. I just want my feet covered; I don't want another hobby...
    - toomanybeersies 9y ago
      Personally, I've found that polishing my boots is a really enjoyable task, it's quite cathartic to sit there for a few minutes with dubbin and a brush and clean your boots up. It's funny, because I used to hate polishing my school shoes as a kid. I only polish my boots around once a month, so it's a couple of hours a year. I spend more time sewing up clothes and sewing on replacement buttons, which I've also discovered now that I'm an adult is a cathartic activity. There's something nice about trying to distance yourself from the throwaway disposable consumer culture we have now, and actually fixing things. I guess I've become a hipster.
      - rhcom2 9y ago
        I don't want to put words in your mouth or anything but I find a lot of enjoyment out of "menial" tasks as well and attribute it to practicing mindfulness without realizing it. I recently had to sort huge boxes of legos for a hacker space. It sounded miserable but it really was relaxing just letting the mind blank out.
  - chadgeidel 9y ago
    I should take better care of mine. I've never polished them and they look pretty shabby. Any tips for polishing? I've got the gear, just never used it. I know, I know - Youtube is that way. :-)
- throwanem 9y ago
  Dress shoes need a lot more love. The uppers should last at least a couple decades if well cared for, but soles that thin won't.
toomanybeersies 9y ago
In my experience, that theory doesn't necessarily hold up in my experience. I've had <$100 boots last longer than proper Made in England Dr Martens. I guess that is a consequence of fashion becoming the primary driver of cost, rather than actual quality.

Sam Vimes' Boots theory of socio-economic unfairness: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Vimes#Boots_theory_of_socio-economic_unfairness https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Vimes#Boots_theory_of_soci...

chadgeidel 9y ago

I'm loathe to go down this rabbit hole, but I have anecdotal experience here. My wife convinced me to buy a pair of what I thought was very expensive boots. (Wolverine 1000 Mile boot). They are nice, and supposed to last "a very long time." There's a hidden cost though. I recently had them re-soled and had to buy some laces (this is after about a year and a half of wear) and the cost of re-soleing the boots was also very expensive! I'm not sure I am saving much over the cost of regularly buying less expensive boots.

brianwawok 9y ago
How many miles did you put in? It literally takes me like 3 years and a few 1000 miles before my shoes need resoled...
- chadgeidel 9y ago
  I have no idea but not 1000 miles. I wear them to work and back. Apparently I'm hard on shoes? I didn't think they needed to be resoled, but I don't know shoes. My wife is the "fashionista". :-)
  - L_226 9y ago
    I've owned the same pair of Danner Mountain Light II's since 2012 and have never had them resoled or serviced. These boots have been with me to 15+ countries including trekking in India, have been on many, many hikes and all I do is clean and polish them every few months. I estimate I have walked at least 2000km in them, never had any issues. Can't recommend Danner enough.
blackSnake 9y ago
The key to shoes lasting long is taking care of them. Don’t wear them in the rain. Give them a break evey couple of days. Most importantly you have to keep polishing them. At least once a week. If you take care of the upper leathers of a shoe, they can last pretty long, not to mention that any shoe with good arches is worth it. For throwaway shoes that you cant resole, I like Ecco. Excellent!!
- sokoloff 9y ago
  What good are boots that you can't wear in the rain and you have to polish more than 50 times per year? Even if polishing only takes 12 minutes, you'll spend more than 10 hours per year just on maintaining that one pair of shoes/boots. I just want my feet covered; I don't want another hobby...
  - toomanybeersies 9y ago
    Personally, I've found that polishing my boots is a really enjoyable task, it's quite cathartic to sit there for a few minutes with dubbin and a brush and clean your boots up. It's funny, because I used to hate polishing my school shoes as a kid. I only polish my boots around once a month, so it's a couple of hours a year. I spend more time sewing up clothes and sewing on replacement buttons, which I've also discovered now that I'm an adult is a cathartic activity. There's something nice about trying to distance yourself from the throwaway disposable consumer culture we have now, and actually fixing things. I guess I've become a hipster.
    - rhcom2 9y ago
      I don't want to put words in your mouth or anything but I find a lot of enjoyment out of "menial" tasks as well and attribute it to practicing mindfulness without realizing it. I recently had to sort huge boxes of legos for a hacker space. It sounded miserable but it really was relaxing just letting the mind blank out.
- chadgeidel 9y ago
  I should take better care of mine. I've never polished them and they look pretty shabby. Any tips for polishing? I've got the gear, just never used it. I know, I know - Youtube is that way. :-)
throwanem 9y ago
Dress shoes need a lot more love. The uppers should last at least a couple decades if well cared for, but soles that thin won't.

toomanybeersies 9y ago

In my experience, that theory doesn't necessarily hold up in my experience. I've had <$100 boots last longer than proper Made in England Dr Martens. I guess that is a consequence of fashion becoming the primary driver of cost, rather than actual quality.