"A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.
"But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet."
—Terry Pratchett, Men At Arms (The Play)
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I have been wearing cheap boots for a long time. They don't hold up. Cheap, thin leather (if it is even real leather) wears through. Glued seams tear apart and can't really be repaired. When I get side zip styles, the zipper dies. When I get lace-up boots with hooks and eyelets, the eyes tear out and the cheap hooks shred the laces. I think the next step in improving my day-to-day quality of life is buying a good pair of boots I can rely on for years.
Here in the Pacific Northwest, there is still an industry of hand-made footwear for loggers, firefighters, electricians, railroad workers, and other folks who rely on good boots. Spokane is home to White's, Nicks, and JK, just to name a few. There are generally more boot than I need, and more cost than I can afford. I know there are a lot of other makers out there, including brands that have been around for a century or more. A lot of these have been bought up by multinational corporations, though, and quality can suffer.
How do I know whether my hard-earned money is going to a good brand and getting me a good boot? Enter the subject of today's post. The Youtube channel Rose Anvil has been tearing apart footwear for a few years now, and the host uses his experience as a leatherworker and wildlands firefighter to seriously examine footwear.
I appreciate the clear visuals of cutting the boots in half for a cross-section look at construction. He seems honest in his reviews, admitting his biases and disclosing when boots or shoes are donated from a manufacturer.
Some of his videos are a bit gimmicky, and the titles and thumbnails can be a bit click-baity, but there is actual content. If substance backs up the hype, I'm not too offended. Even the weird videos appear to demonstrate serious analysis with real information I can apply to my boot search, although these are definitely off my list of potential purchases:
All told, this channel is giving me enough information to focus my footwear search as an informed consumer. Good gear matters, and good boots are the foundation for working, hiking, or wilderness survival. If you're in the same situation I am, or just curious about how things are made and want to see shoes cut in half with a band saw, take a look!
Wesley Treat
Techmoan
