A few years back, on a winter trip to Yosemite, I arrived at a trailhead leading out of the valley to discover a pair of boots peeking out from beneath a rock nearby. Thinking it was odd, I investigated. They were ancient. Well, ancient in the sense that they were clearly decades old. Vasques. Sundowners, I believe. Full leather. They looked like somebody had taken an old, beloved baseball glove, and nailed them to a sole. Gorgeous leather, but worn thin. These boots had been on who knows how many treks.
There was a note.
“Sorry to leave these here, but this is the first trail I’d ever hiked in these boots, many years ago, and I couldn’t bear to just throw them out. I wanted to leave them as a kind of memorial.”
Looked like some flowers had been left in the boots, long since browned.
I thought about it, and realized I didn’t have any boots I cared about nearly that much. Nor did I own any leather boots that would last that long. The oldest boots in my arsenal were a pair of Asolos that lasted me about a decade until the Vibram soles wore down too slick to be of much use in Sierra granite. I wasn’t really sad to see ’em go, however. Sure, there was a little flash of nostalgia about when I bought them, but otherwise, they were left unceremoniously at my local Goodwill. I didn’t consider leaving a note.
I wish I did have a pair of boots like that, however. Trail runners are more comfortable, but there’s something about an old pair of boots. I have no problem sacrificing weight and cushion for a pair of boots that can tell a story. That I can show to my daughter in 30 years, to tell her how I wore them on her first ever backpacking trip. I have 30-year-old baseball gloves, after all. Why not boots?
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Photo: Alexander Schimmeck
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My oldest pair is similar to the ones that sparked this post. Vasque Sundowners purchased in 1996 before my study abroad semester in India, Nepal, and Bhutan. They are still in regular rotation even though some lugs on the (original!) soles have broken off and the (beautifully-patina’d) leather uppers have a few holes around the tongue.
My Vasque Sundowners circa 2000 are still going strong. I had an issue with some of the material in the sole disintegrating in 2009, sent them in to be Rocky Mountain Resole (www.rmresole.com), and they have been in great shape since that time.
Aww, Vasque Sundowners were my 1st real hiking boots. I’m on my third pair, but I have the original set from 2000. The soles have no traction left, so I wear them more as casual shoes than hiking boots. They feel like old slippers.
I have the pair I bought to walk the pennine way in 1990. The make in Loveson. The leather is now crasked and I don’t bother to treat it. I use them for weekly (pre-lockdown) conservation work which is rather rough, as I don’t care what happens to them. I glued the parting sole at one point.
I recently pulled on a pair of boots and discovered that the sole had sperated from the rest of the boot due to foam degradation. At first I was mad that they had failed on me, then I realized they were over a decade old and had survived being ridden hard and put away wet. I pretty much immediatly ordered the exact boot again.
Why not just get them reshod?
In 1982 I bought a pair of Insulated 8” TIMBERLAND leather hiking boots. They were to get me through Northeastern falls and winters. They were amazing. After college, while serving as a paratrooper, I dyed them black and wore them for winter duty and during that time they got their first resole job.
I kept those boots for a total of 30 years and 3 resoles. Finally the boot Leather itself wore out. By then, Timberland had become a hip hop brand and no longer made boots that strong. Follow the new cheese, I guess.
I was reluctant to say it but I had a pair of Timberland Euro Hikers that lasted decades too! I got them in high school in the late 90’s (probably right before the Hip Hop fashion flip) and wore them until the soles separated from the leather. So many college parties, AT hikes, muddy outdoor concerts- if those boots could talk!
I work wildland fire in the forest service, so boots actually have to hold up. Most of us wear stuff that is resoleable AND rebuildable. Some of the uppers on the boots of oldheads or second generation foresters have seen decades of use, if they’ve been well cared for. I wear White’s smokejumpers myself
I’m on trail runners these days. When they wear beyond the point of being comfortable hikers (2 years usually) they take on a new life as lawnmowing/house chore shoes. My current favorite of the worn bunch is a pair of Brooks Cascadia 7’s. They are at least 7 years old, my toes poke out multiple holes. The most breathable shoe I’ve ever worn.
I still have a pair of Kastinger 3/4 shank leather boots. Probably got them in late 70’s. Was using them in the Sierra to go North Lake to South Lake and ended up putting them in my pack and wearing some training flats I had been planning on using as camp shoes. That was in late 70’s also. Early ultralight methods.
The Kastingers are great boots. Just weigh 300 lbs each. But I could stand on an edge of the sole and kick steps with them. They are great when winter camping.
Had them resoled through local REI. They sent them up to guy in Seattle. Employees were really surprised to see a note in them from that guy. Said he never did that. Note said he had enjoyed working on nice real boots, but to get rid of the wool insole and get something modern.
Now I use Altra Timp2s. And carry 1/3 weight of what I used to.
I was in the military and I would wear boots five days a week for over 20 years. I have worn more than one pair of boots to the bitter end. I learned that there is nothing better on your feet than a pair of worn in boots. They are like a trust worthy good friend that will take you the extra mile. I now teach primitive skills to children and I volunteer with Search and Rescue and my chosen footwear is a well worn pair of all leather Danner boots. The leather does require my attention but like every great relationship we must work together to make it last.
They were a pair of cheap, black boots I picked up as a teen (16-ism maybe), while in Scouts, from someplace like Payless. I hiked in them long after high-school and through college. The insoles had worn through and I was using an old pair of socks cut to fit, as insoles. They were super comfy. At some point post-college, camping with some friends, I had slipped into a river close to our campsite. I had propped my boots up on the edge of the campfire to dry and one of my friends tossed a used paper plate into the fire. The resulting flare-up melted the bottom off one of the boots – that was the end of them. They were about 10 years old at the end.
the cream of the crop are danner mountain lights. they can be resoled, so in the long run they may be less costly than the throwaways…..up until recently majority of my hiking was with a pack burro, and adoption from the bureau of land management. an all leather boot is a plus for the interaction of foot and hoof! and last, but never least, they are made in the u.s.a.…..i’m nearing the end of the life of my current danner mtn lights, so need to think of a worthy retirement for ’em!
I bought my first pair of legit hiking boots in 1999, a beautiful pair of leather Zamberlans. I’ve put them to great use and they are now retired – their final journey was last summer, the year they turned 20, on the Tour du Mont Blanc. A grand finale for a fabulous pair of boots. I’ve definitely kept them though – I plan to use them as little planters just like the picture above!
My current I’ve had since 2014! And still wear all the time. They are my fav pair of shoes!
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Vasque sundowners. Bought them from an outfitter in Harpers Ferry in ‘98 or ‘99. They have worked hard for 20+ years on trails all across the country. They have been resoled and have had some work done on the thin leather around the tongue by cobbler in Seattle. They aren’t pretty, but they are still waterproof. I’ll be very sad when they call it quits.
Vasque sundowners, I got my pair in 1975 at an outfitter in lone pine. My wife and I were on a cross county trip in our VW camper. Before our trip We were living in Florida mostly with flip flops and a pair of Addis tennis shoes.
After hiking in the Grand Canyon we knew we needed boot for western hiking The lone pine out fitter Wes great
I had them resolved twice. Retired them only after my feet started growing. Tried the canvas model and they only lasted about 10 hikes. The originals were a 9 1/2 I’m now in 10 1/2
I’m on my 2nd set after Finding them again made in China These now live in Tennessee and are busy with trail maintenance
I found a back up pair. Made in Vietnam.
Best pair of boots I have ever had
I’m pretty sure mine were Wolverine’s from the late 1970’s which much like Danner Mountain Lights but with a rough leather, almost like a suede with metal lace ups and Goodyear welt…hiked with them around home (Paradise strong!) and my summer job at Yellowstone right after high school and many years after…just grew out of them.
A pair of Reichlike’s in 79′ for my first real backpacking trip near Creed. Resoled twice, some restiching, retrieved and restored from a house fire. Still wearable today, just not practical given their weight. Keep them around for nostalgic reasons, but perhaps a trail tribute might be a fitting future for 40 yr old boots.
Still have my Galibier Vercor boots – bought in early 1973 / broke them in for the 171 days on the AT – then did many miles (total of 3 re-soles) in: Wyoming – Big Horns/ winds/ Tetons and Snow Range… retired in 1985 and in personal museum storage!
Black US Army surplus Wolverine (Bates) all-leather 10″ ICW combat boots, made in USA, purchased new on Amazon in 2005. Those were my original motocross boots when I was too broke to afford nice things like Alpinestars and TCXes. (Well, actually I still am, but less so than then.) Yes, I actually used to race them and ride hard enduro in them. They’ve been on a few hikes but these days I mostly wear them to work. I have Merrells now (okay, go ahead and start flaming me) for hikes, but those damn ICWs just won’t die. They were resoled a couple months ago with proper old-skool solid Vibram lugs since the stock foam-rubber mids were degrading and the thin stock Vibrams were almost worn through. I figure I’ll probably get at least another 20 years out of them.
Still have Scarpa Manta? full leather boot I purchased in ’96 which ground my feet into hamburger. I’ve tried selling them, giving them away and everyone who puts these boots on have handed them back. They’ve been replaced with a pair of Limmers (off the shelf, not custom) which will go with me into the afterlife. Who knows what the trails will be like.
Well your multi choice box didn’t have an answer to fit mine. I had a pair of jungle boots that came back from Vietnam with me in 1968. Somehow they kept moving around with me for about 40 yrs when one day I looked at them on the floor of a closet they’d been in in our house at that time for over 15 yrs. They looked like shit when I brought them home in ’68 and they still looked like shit 40ish yrs and a lifetime later. It wasn’t like I was ever going to wear them and really didn’t need them as a reminder of how they became so abused so I threw them out that day.
In Iraq in 2008, I needed a replacement pair of tan desert boots, since my daily wear pair had taken on that distinctive “Iraqi” scent of open sewers. I didn’t have a way to replace them (no Amazon deliveries or PX’s), until a crusty old warrant officer helped me out by producing a pair of brand new Altima desert boots out of connex shipping container in the motor pool. No idea where he got them or why he only had one pair of boots that happened to be my exact size in that connex. I wore those boots for the last 6 months of that tour. They worked their way into one of the two or three pairs of boots in my daily wear rotation for the next 10 years. In 2012, I had the sole replaced by an honest-to-God cobbler in downtown Watertown NY, and then wore them (outside the wire) daily on a 9 month Afghanistan stint. I then moved into the rear-echelon life, and those Altimas came with me. Since my feet from then on rarely touched anything but government carpet, there was no need to rotate boots. They were worn daily into ultra-comfortable cubicle moccasins. Then in Oct 2019, the Army, in it’s infinite wisdom, changed the color of uniform boots from tan to a slightly darker shade of tan. Everyone had to go out and buy new boots, and those old moccasin-soft Altimas were jettisoned to the Valhalla of footwear, the Goodwill Thrift Store.
I got a pair of custom Limmers in ’89, the summer I worked in the AMC huts. They’ve been resoled three times and still going strong. I use them for trail work. As a tool, they loosen rocks and rotting stumps. I also got married in them. Twice. There’s no tougher or more comfortable boot.
Still have a 40plus year old pair of leather Swiss boots in fair condition; ankle padding on one boot recently broke. Vibram soles still good and Norwegian welt. Wore them on a mountain hike in Japan a week ago. Had a pair of Sundowners that lasted 25 years but the soles came off about four years ago and I decide to let them go. Looking for a new boot now but having size issues in Japan. Any suggestions for a medium weight boot? Sundowner not available here.