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There are no BIFL shoes, and if there were, they certainly wouldn't be Solovair.

The closest you'll get to BIFL is looking over at r/goodyearwelt and finding some quality boots you like that can be resoled.

r/bonappletea that you?

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The thing is, Solovair are goodyear welted and offer resoles.

It sounds like you want the Solovairs. Just get the Solovairs.

I have 4 pairs of Redwings MIUSA and I don't think I will need another pair in my lifetime and certainly all can be resoled.

No no OP's looking for a pair of " Buys I'd Like to Fuck "

Oh shit! That makes sense to me now!

I recently got a pair of Solovairs, they seem well made, noticeably better made than Docs these days. Fair warning, they took a bit to break in.

I mean, I want them, but I also don't want to spend 200 bucks + shipping for a pair of shoes that wouldn't last me at least 10 - 20 years :/

I'm considering boots from blkbrd. But there are many resolable leather boots out there. Stridewise on youtube may be worth looking at to help your research.

Also check out Rose Anvil.

How long to break them in?

A month maybe tops. Just wear thick knitted socks for the first weeks and you’re good to go. I don’t think Red Wings take longer to break in than any other quality boot.

There are no bifl shoes. There are somewhat bifl uppers if you want all leather shoes - but you’ll still be replacing the soles and insoles as frequently as you’d replace them with any other shoe - and that is the majority of the cost over time. If you’re interested in the bifl uppers, go to the good year welt sub .

No footwear is going to last you that long. Especially without maintenance and resoling which will roughly cost the same as the price of the shoes each go around. $200 is relatively cheap for a pair of Goodyear welt shoes. But as others have pointed, r/goodyearwelt has a lot better options than solovair. You’ll get higher quality stitching, leathers, and craftsmanship that will go further in your 10-20 year wish, but again, maintenance is key to that.

I'll go and look around there

No shoe is BIFL, but I've been wearing my Solovairs pretty much daily for over 2.5 years now (which is a LONG time compared to any shoe I've ever owned) and they hold up great. They got at least double that of life in them. My Dr. Martens' sole was worn down at the heel after about half a year of daily wear.

They will last you longer than you want to wear them honestly. At some point it's just time to say goodbye to any shoe/boot because at the end of the day, you put your stinky feet in them on a daily basis.

What made the sense?

Red Wing Vintage boots

I have a 1 pair of boots. Safety toe in oiled leather. they are maybe 25 years old at this point.

red wing will still service them, as in patching holes in leather and lining oiling them and giving new laces.

the closest modern style is the Heritage Iron ranger.

No boot should be BIFL but these are DAMN close. These used to be daily wear when I worked construction, went to the summit of a few mountains, and several hundred miles of trail walking. These were my 3 season daily boots for about a decade with Sorrel for the winter.

The OIL leather lasts longer than the finished leather.

I have moved on to office jobs and metallic safety toes shoes are not good for server rooms. I have a pair of 9 year old Allen Edmonds leather,uppers and soles, shoes that I wore nearly exclusively to work for the first 6 years. I picked up a second pair about 3.5 years ago to have a sub out shoes so they last longer.

Shoe trees VASTLY extend the usable life of dress shoes.

I need new heels on my shoes every other year and it's about $20. I just had new soles heals and a restitching done for just under $50 and that was done twice now on the older shoes.

Uk gear pt 1000

Depends on how much you'll wear them. Solovair are nice but you pay a lot for uk labour and for the iconic style. They're not the best boot you can get out of 200$.

To ask for 10 years out of daily worn boots is a lot, but 20 years is twice as much!

Ultimately, that's less than the cost of two "higher end" pairs of sneakers. Those won't last a year of daily wear without at least getting the heel torn up. The Solovairs will last longer, especially with some upkeep. These kinds of boots aren't indestructible, but if e.g. the heel cover tears up a cobbler can cheaply sew on another one, or if the sole wears out it can be replaced...

BTW I think Solovair offers free or very affordable shipping.

If you want the most out of your money, check out Jim Green. They're better boots than the Docs/Solovairs for less money. They're definitely not as stylish though.

Someone mentioned Redwings. The heritage redwing boots are really nice - Redwing Moc Toes or the Iron Rangers... Proper boots, made as they used to be made before fast fashion.

I've researched Jim Green shoes like you told me, and the AR8 seems pretty good. How long can it last, given proper upkeep ? Can it be resoled ?

As for Redwings...they're sadly out of my budget :/

Yeah the AR8 is their top of the line model (besides the razorback). In comparison to the Solovairs, the AR8 is basically twice as thick - it is a fully leather lined boot, two layers of leather everywhere... Besides that, it has a third reinforcement leather layer around the heel, and an extra leather heel counter cover inside.

And stitchdown construction. This (and the fact that it's fully lined) means these boots are quite water resistant, and can be resoled multiple times.

They have the whole production process filmed here. You can see exactly how much work goes into making a pair.

Tbh from a functional perspective, I can't think of one thing that would be better with the Docs/Solovair style. The soles are much more durable on the jim greens, they use a proper steel shank, lots of space inside for insoles double lined... Solovairs are goodyear welted which isn't necessarily better or worse than stitchdown (the most expensive boots in the world like Whites or Nicks are usually stitchdown). Maybe the goodyear welt makes you a bit more isolated from the ground (more material between the outsole and insole), but they're less water resistant (stitchdown is very resistant, like a storm-welt). And if you use thick insoles, the jim greens are probably warmer.

Here's a cool resoling video. It's for the rezorback boots, but tbh while the upper part has a different design, the resoling process is entirely the same for all of their boots - they're all stitchdown construction...

How long do you think they'd last, for daily wear in a city, and hiking/airsoft every now and then ? How many resoles do you think they could sustain before not being repairable anymore ?

Obviously hard to say.... I think you can fully wear the soles out twice or three times, perhaps even more. Ma big difference if you e.g. clean them up every month or two months and apply some oil on them now and then.

And how long could a sole last, on average ?

I'm sorry if I post dumb questions..

Depends on the person. If you drag your feet it can wear out twice or three times as fast... Also, how much do you walk?

For me it lasts two to three years if I wear them a lot, but typically over 5 years. I put on work-issued shoes or clogs in the office, so I mainly wear them on my short commute or if I go on a trip. If you walk a lot, obviously it'll wear out way faster.

I walk pretty much every day, at least a kilometer or two. I don't drag my feet.