Wow, that's some story. Glad you didn't get in an accident. I had problems with Payless shoes, too
To be fair, they did sit in my closet for ten years...
What kinds of boots do you wear in Winter?
- Thread starter Ruthanne
- Start date
To be fair, they did sit in my closet for ten years...
I have boots that old and they never came apart like that..
hollydolly
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- Location
- London England
why didn't you just throw them in the trash the same day ?Boot Story:
About 20 years or so ago, I bought a pair of Rugged Outback hiking boots at Payless.
I thought... "Gee whiz... those would be great to wear come fall and winter when the weather turns cool".
It was still summer, so I brought them home and put them up in the top of my closet.
Where they sat, undisturbed and unworn for the next 10 years.
One day, ten years later around 2010, during the "cool" months, I got the bright idea to drag them out and wear them to work at the part-time weekend hospital courier job I was working at the time.
On my way into work, I got off the interstate at my exit and as I approached the stop sign at the end of the exit ramp, I took my left foot off the accelerator and moved it to the brake as I pushed the clutch pedal to take my transmission out of gear, but something didn't feel right. The brake pedal's path was being obstructed by something. I tried to look down and see, but it was early morning and still dark outside.
I grabbed the emergency brake and pulled, which brought me to a stop just in time. Then I pulled my foot up into the light where I could see that the sole of my hiking boot had come almost completely detached from the boot, save for one strong thread stitched on the tip of the toe.
It was the thick rubber sole that was between the brake pedal and the floor blocking me from braking.
Apparently, while they sat in my closet for a decade, the glue holding the soles on had deteriorated.
Since I was just around the corner from the hospital parking garage, I proceeded with caution and got there in one piece.
But I still had the problem of having to work all day with a messed up shoe.
Looking through my emergency road kit, I find the greatest fix-it tool known to man.....
Good ol' duct tape!!!!
I wrapped some around the boot, stuck my foot in and, though not in particularly grand sartorial style, was able to hobble my way through my six hour shift.
But.... (to make a long story even longer), like a dumbass I wrapped the tape a bit tighter than I needed to, so when I say I hobbled, I mean it.
My foot was KILLING ME all day!!!!
Epilogue: I got home and tossed the boots, left one still wrapped in duct tape, back in the closet where they remained for a couple more years until one day when I got motivated and attempted to reattach the soles which had now BOTH come loose. I tried a couple of different kinds of cement, but it didn't hold. Then I found a product called Boot Goop or something like that, which seems to be holding them together. That was a few years ago, but I've still never really worn them some twenty years after buying them.
Still got 'em though.
One of these days....
The end. (whew!!!!)
Because the glue issue aside, they were/are still perfectly good hiking boots.
To this day, they still look almost brand new.
I'll wear them yet by God!!!!
I'll get my $25.00 worth out of them if it's the last thing I do!!!!!
(besides - I'm committed to recycle/reuse so I don't just chuck things in the trash)
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I have boots that old and they never came apart like that..
I know Payless sells some substandard footwear, but I think if I'd begun wearing them right away, I'd have gotten a decent amount of wear out of them before they fell apart.
But then there's also the issue of the heat and humidity down here in the summer, that really affects certain substances.
Probably sped up the aging process by making the glue turn brittle and dry then crack.
And I rarely used my a/c during those years.
jujube
SF VIP
Boot Story:
Looking through my emergency road kit, I find the greatest fix-it tool known to man.....
Good ol' duct tape!!!!
The end. (whew!!!!)
Ah, duct tape. It's like The Force...…...it has a Dark Side and a Light Side and it holds the Universe together.
Coming back from India a couple of years ago with a broken foot, I had taken my shoe off during the long flight and absolutely could not get it back on the swollen foot. I was faced with the prospect of making my way through the Atlanta airport and taking yet another flight shoeless. Luckily two flight attendants took mercy on me, slashed my shoe in several places and rebuilt a larger shoe with the aid of a lot of duct tape. It looked like I had some kind of cyborg foot and it was quite the object of interest at any check point (I think they wondered if I was trying to smuggle something) but it got me home.
Butterfly
SF VIP
- Location
- Albuquerque, New Mexico USA
Don't need boots here in NM, either.
mike4lorie
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- Location
- Brockville, Ontario, Canada
Since breaking my leg badly a few years back, and not a lot of feeling in the foot, nor does it bend properly anymore... Have to pretend I am 16 again, cuz I run around in running shoes...