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Resole Shoes

Fifty150

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,113
Location
The Barbary Coast
When you're young, you just don't listen. My Dad told me, "don't buy cheap shoes". But he never told me why. It took me a lifetime to learn that lesson.

Decades ago, I found some cold weather shoes that I really liked. Lug sole pattern for traction. Every step was cushioned. And it had that furry stuff on the inside. My feet were completely warm. They were from a brand name outdoors clothing and supply store. I liked the first pair so much, that I bought a second pair.

They were good. I wore them in the woods. I wore them while pier fishing. I wore them on ski trips. I went out for walks during the winter. They lasted for decades. The soles still had plenty of tread.

Until today. We got our first real rain of the season. I took the shoes out of storage. The glue finally died.

A half a lifetime ago, I didn't know anything about shoe construction, or what to look for when buying shoes. Like every other kid, I shopped for brand names. And most of the time, it was advertising driven fashion.

Cheap leather glued onto a synthetic lasting board. A single rib steel shank riveted on. A little bit of felt padding. A rubber sole glued to the bottom.

This is not worth sending to a shoe repair shop, or even glueing back together myself. A good shoe guy could Blake-stitch a midsole onto the bottom, then add a Vibram outsole. But after decades of use, I decided to cut my losses short. No way was I going to spend $150 - $200 on $50 shoes. I have two pairs of these. For that kind of money (which I don't have), I could buy a new pair of good shoes.




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Fifty150

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,113
Location
The Barbary Coast
Another shoe to never buy again. The shanks were plastic. One sole got extra padding, while the other sole did not. The riveted shoelace eyelets were already popping out. The most durable part of the whole shoe was the shoelace. I saved that. But this was not going to be a rebuild. Not even a glue job. It went in the garbage.

But it was very warm, with the fake furry lining, and every step was soft and bouncy. Extremely comfortable out of the box. The soles had plenty of tread left. I really enjoyed wearing them while they lasted.





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Bugguy

Practically Family
Messages
570
Location
Nashville, TN
I like this thread. Over the years I've thought that learning shoe repair would be an essential skill for when the SHTF. It could be a skill set that could be bartered. I mean as a former hospital administrator, what can I bring to the table that has value to a community?
 

Doctor Damage

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,320
Location
Ontario
Decades ago, I found some cold weather shoes that I really liked. Lug sole pattern for traction. Every step was cushioned. And it had that furry stuff on the inside. My feet were completely warm. They were from a brand name outdoors clothing and supply store. I liked the first pair so much, that I bought a second pair.

They were good. I wore them in the woods. I wore them while pier fishing. I wore them on ski trips. I went out for walks during the winter. They lasted for decades. The soles still had plenty of tread.

Until today. We got our first real rain of the season. I took the shoes out of storage. The glue finally died.
I had a pair of insulated work boots that I had to buy for a crappy temp job (household hazardous waste collection!) but they were solid and I wore them for years afterward as my winter boots. They were clunky and kinda dangerous for driving my standard tranny car. Like you, one day I pulled them out of the closet and the rubber soles had started disintegrating into little pieces, almost exactly like how the side window of a car will shatter into tiny fragments. Weird, never saw anything like that before. I junked them since there was no point keeping them or trying to re-sole them.
 

Fifty150

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,113
Location
The Barbary Coast
Some shoes are constructed to be disposable. It has nothing to do with price. Even expensive shoes are made with glue. It's hard for the average person to know what they are buying.

Even more disappointing is the cost of shoe repair, costing more than a new pair of shoes.

Some may want to spend a lot of money on a pair of shoes, then spend more on repairs.

I am limited by budget. I just don't have the money to buy the best shoes.
 

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