Vent: My $40 steel toe boots died in 5 months, my $90 used ones are going on 4 years

I bought a pair of brand name steel toe work boots from a big box store in Denver last spring. The sole separated from the upper right where the toe bends, and the stitching on the heel wore through by October. Then I grabbed a used pair of Red Wings from a pawn shop for $90 and they have held up through two Colorado winters plus daily warehouse duty. Anyone else find that the cheaper new stuff fails faster than resale quality gear, or did I just get unlucky twice?

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evan15115d ago

Honestly, have you checked the actual construction on those cheaper brands? A lot of them use glued soles and thin leather that just can't handle real work. But the old Red Wings are welted, so you can resole them forever, that's the whole difference right there. It's like the market figured out people will buy cheap junk twice instead of paying once for quality. Tbh, you didn't get unlucky, you just learned the same lesson a lot of us learn the hard way. That pawn shop find was a steal, man.