There’s something about the idea of very persistent objects that is attractive, and good shoes are absolutely a great embodiment of that idea.
After several years of buying cheap shoes I’ve decided to invest in quality footwear once again. Not just quality footwear, but very old-school quality footwear. Red Wing still offers boots made the way they were in the 1920’s, out of more or less the same materials. They’re tough in every sense of the word, and that toughness and ability to age gracefully is what makes them attractive to me.
They make several models, and I decided on the rather plain Blacksmith. Plain toe, simple oiled leather. I won’t dive into the details of construction except to say it’s focused on durability rather than short break in time. Breaking in boots like this is known to be unpleasant for many folks.
They said “take it easy”, I said “hold my beer. And this beer, and this beer as well.” I wore them for a few hours just sitting at my desk, and they felt good so I decided to go for a walk. A one and a half mile walk to be precise. I ended up walking back barefoot with 3 new blisters on my feet. Fortunately I stopped before any of them broke or became bloody. Boots: 1, Steve 0.
The next morning I knew the smart money was on letting my feet heal and wearing my other shoes, so I put on blister pads and the boots, this time accepted there would be very limited walking. Went out to lunch, a few stores, and then drove my oldest daughter back to college and then came home. Honestly they felt pretty good when I took them off, but I knew they were still not good for a full day of travel style use.
I’m having what would seem to be a very easy time of it – day 5 and no further injury. I have not oiled the boots (they’re oiled in the tanning process) nor have I resorted to tricks like soaking them in water to soften them. I’ve used those tricks with other boots and shoes but for some reason I’m feeling very stubborn with these and I’m determined to break them in the hard way – just wearing them.
SWDuncan 