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And if you let those old Wellies dry out properly and reglue them before putting them in the closet, they may actually work well the next time you take them out!
Unless, of course, your feet grow twixt now and then…

You do not want steel toes!

Too darned cold when doing wet work in Northern climes.

Now, if they have fiberglass protective toes, that is a different matter.

I thought you were making up “Swamp Master Galaxy” Wellington boots. 😉

“I’m bad at letting go of things.” Me, too (my linen closet is overflowing). I’d repair the boot lining,and keep them in the trunk of my car. Ah—sorry—the boot of my car. 😉

But one thing JavaMan never fusses about is my habit of salvaging the leather from old handbags. And I take his old wallets apart since that leather is very fine and thin—very handy. We always manage to use it up on various projects.

Letting go.
No.
I have three pairs of 5-11 boots, lining loose on one, zipper shot on the other, and one new pair.

Soles worn down, uppers waterproofed accidentally by stain, paint, and oily products.
I used to go through a pair a year before I retired, now they last a good 2 years or so.

Great boots though.

Letting go.
No.
I have three pairs of 5-11 boots, lining loose on one, zipper shot on the other, and one new pair.

Soles worn down, uppers waterproofed accidentally by stain, paint, and oily products.
I used to go through a pair a year before I retired, now they last a good 2 years or so.

Great boots though.

I think this is considered mandatory in any discussion of good boots.

The Sam Vimes “Boots” theory of socioeconomic unfairness

(often called simply the boots theory)

“The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. … 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 a 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.”

Sam Vimes always puzzled me about one thing. He was quite correct in his “boots” theory, of course. If you can afford to “buy once-cry once” that is the way to go. Indeed, at Sybil’s insistence, he had custom boots made for himself. However, he didn’t wear them. Instead, he wore his cheap boots with the soles worn very thin, so he knew where he was by the feel of the cobbles in the street, even in the dark, which as a copper was very useful.

The question is, why didn’t he take the comfortable, long wearing, but thick-soled custom boots back to the cordwainer and ask if he could put on thin soles so he could feel the street? I’m sure something like the thin but tough underarm skin of the Ephebian Yellow Dragon would last a decade as a boot sole, while providing the supple foot-feel he so cherished. An opportunity lost!!

Great boots though.

Did you retire from the sh**-kicking business, D.Y.? I have 511’s too, but only 2 pair, I wear them 3 days a week. It’s honest work.

There really is no substitute for muck boots when you need them.

@Pupster:

There really is no substitute for muck boots when you need them.

Yes, but there’s no absolute requirement that they be on your own feet. Here I can go down to the Home Depot parking lot in the morning and hire by the hour a guy named Raúl who has his own muck boots.

Heads up, Stoaty! LavenderGirl appears to have bagged the current DP with her Jonnie Irwin pick.