Turns out Ive been neglecting my boot care

I wore these boots while I worked for past 6 months. My day job is installing garage doors on new construction sites. Lots of mud, stucco, drywall, cement, and saw dust everywhere. I also wore them after work, when I was gutting and rehabbing the kitchen in my house.

To break these in I just wore them at work. No issues at all. I did wash them once a month with saddle soap, and then condition them with VSC. It turned this rough out into a dark brown waxed flesh. They darkened, and certainly got more supple.

I’m a 10.5 on a brannock, and I’m a 10 in these. I do have toes that want to spread out. And this last lets them wiggle a little.

This is my third pair of this particular boot. The other two eventually fell apart at the toe. I kneel on concrete a lot, and that eventually destroys the welt at the toe. I’ve been getting around 18 months out of these. But this time I actually took care of them. I brushed the dirt off. I washed them. I even conditioned them. And then instead of the welt disintegrating, the outsole started peeling of the welt. I got some shoe glue and glued the sole back on. Good as new! Happened on both toes. Now they look just as good as they did when they were brand new. And I have no doubt they will last longer. It turns out it wasn’t that the work I was doing just destroyed my boots. It was the lack of care.

Durability and traction are about what you’d expect from a big rubber sole. A couple months back I stepped on a nail, and instead of going through my foot it came out at an angle. I like to think the honey rubber was protecting me. I put a picture of that as the action picture when it happens.

These are some solid ass work boots. They don’t hurt my feet. I can kneel in them. They look like work boots should. They are expensive but not out of reach. They’ve held up well, and this contest taught me I had been sorely neglecting my boot care routine.