Monday, July 06, 2009

Frye vs Car

As some of you may recall, I have a pair of western boots - Frye Harness Boots, to be exact. Anyway, I've had these boots for about 2 years, and after almost daily wear, through winter, spring, summer, and fall; I wore out the soles and had them resoled this past spring.

On Saturday, my sister had her engagement party, and to save some space in the drivew, my brother-in-law-to-be parked in the garage. On top of my boots. So, after being run over and parked on for 8 hours, they looked pretty FUBAR'ed. There were tire tread marks embossed in the leather, and the hard square toe cap was crushed flat. Figured I'd take a shot at DIY repair. I jammed my car keys into the boot and popped the toes back out, hammered the flattened parts straight again, and stuck a shoe tree in overnight. All-in-all, other than looking a little scuffed up at the toes, they're no worse for wear.

The leather uppers are virtually unharmed apart for a few scuff marks and some extra wrinkles. The left toe is a bit more rounded than the right toe, but I think I can fix that with a piece of wood and a mallet.

Anyway, if you're looking for a solid boot that'll last a long time and a lot of wear, I'd definitely recommend Frye.

-d

5 comments:

Simon said...

If I ever started my own village, you'd be right up there amongst people I'd draft as founding members.

Cammie said...

yea frye boots! though i think i've only worn mine like...3 times. its quite the effort taking them off.

Dust said...

It gets easier as the leather stretches and softens. It takes maybe a week or two of daily wear.

-d

Steph said...

Wow i would have just bought new boots...

Dust said...

Well, I paid about $300 for the boots and had them resoled for $140(normally only $70, but I had them modify the heel so I could feel special). Future resoling will only cost about $70. The idea was to buy one pair that could last at least 5 years, so I gotta stick to the plan. The projected average annual cost for my boots will be $109 over 5 years, $70 over 10 years.

-d