Boots

I like a good pair of cowboy boots. I bought a pair of Justins boots about a year ago from Tractor Supply. Normally a $130 pair of boots, they were on clearance for $70. I guess no one liked orange uppers. But, hell, the uppers are always covered by pants legs, unless you are one of those urban-cowboy, fashion-ista types. And a good pair of Justins for under $100 is hard to come by. I pulled the trigger and bought 'em.

Thing is, in boots, you can get leather soles or bonded soles these days. I grew up on a small-town farm, where you tried to get all the usefulness you could out of EVERYTHING. You can't replace bonded soles. The sole of the boot is literally bonded to the rest through vulcanization,  the same process that your car tires go through to bond the rubber to the steel belts in the tires. It's durable, but once you wear out the rubber sole, you can't get them re-soled.

Leather soles can be replaced by a good cobbler,  for less than $30.

It's time to get my boots re-soled. Many people, after wearing a hole in a boot would throw them away, and look for a new pair. Truth is, you can re-sole a good quality boot about 4 times before they wear out. So, in effect, you get 5 times the service, for little money.

Call me old fashioned, but I'm going to be stopping by my local cobbler next week.