Got my boots back from Red Wing. Sent them for a re-sole, general clean up, and conditioning. Here’s some before and afters. An amazing job and worth every penny. Ready to last another decade of hard wear.

@patrickrhone love that they do this!

@patrickrhone I have a pair in need of new soles, but no one is doing that here. Shipping them over and paying for the work would cost almost as much as a new pair.

@patrickrhone Gorgeous! Being able to maintain things like leather goods that just get better and better the more we use them is—ahem—what we believe in. ❤️

@patrickrhone There's a company that does this? The world is a better place than I knew.

@scientifics These are model 9111. Way before they started giving them fancy names. (i.e. I’m not sure which current ones that model number equates to).

@JMaxB One of the many reasons I love Red Wings. They will outlive me and they can be resolved and repaired because they are made to be.

Also, I live in Minnesota so it is also buying local for me.

@danj Agreed one of the reasons I buy/wear them.

@maique Any shoe repair or cobbler should be able to do such work on properly made shoes. I just happen to live 2 hours drive from Red Wing so it was easy enough to send them in here.

@toddgrotenhuis Me too.

@patrickrhone Nice boots! We have a great shop in Raleigh, the Man Mur Shoe Repair. I’m there once a year getting my Frye oxfords redone with full leather outsoles.

@scientifics Yep. These are them.

@patrickrhone This was my revelation, too: stop paying $70 for dress shoes I have to replace every year; spend 5x as much and keep them 10-20x as long!

@patrickrhone I bought a pair of red wings...six year ago? I’ve had them resoled twice since then (by local cobblers). They are easily one of the best purchases I ever made. When I’m back home, I’ll make a before/after collage.

@patrickrhone You’re lucky! I remember having a lot of those professionals around when I was a kid and growing up, but they seem to have vanished in the meantime and been replaced by throw-away culture. No one fixes anything anymore. Last year we needed one for a simpler task, looked everywhere, found one and he said he was missing a “machine” that could do that. We left thinking he just couldn’t be bothered to do it.

@patrickrhone Side note: mine have saved my foot on a motorcycle crash I’ve had. I had a car swerve into me and hit my foot pretty bad (the gear selector did a 180) and both my foot and the boot survived with only minor damage to the boot. I can hardly tell it went through it.

@patrickrhone great to see that you can buy (and get repaired) these boots in the UK as well. Will investigate further - I hate throwing away old comfy shoes because they’re completely worn out!

@RossA That’s the other thing, because the footbed is leather these have formed to my feet and are therefore unbelievably comfortable. I can wear them all day without hardly noticing them.

@maique Wow! Now that’s a testament to their quality.

@ChrisJWilson I’d love to see it.

@patrickrhone They are the best boots I’ve had. I’ve been wearing Blundstones since I can remember, but decided to try these on a whim. After about a month with them, they felt like a second skin, as comfortable as boots can be.

And they look great the older they get. Much nicer than new 😊

This was a while ago, when I was shooting something else at the studio. Now the sole is almost gone.

@maique Wow. Looks almost like an illustration. Great shot!

Hope you are able to find a way to repair them.

Question (if you don’t mind my asking); where in the world are you located?

I ask because I know folks that work at Red Wing and perhaps they can suggest something.

@patrickrhone Thanks! The light was set up, so it was a quick and easy shot 😊

I’m in Portugal. I already contacted them, thanks. There was no representative in the country, my best bet is sending them over to the UK. I’ll get around to doing that, but that’s an expensive project at the moment. Things have been pretty slooooow in the travel photo business 😂😂😂

Can attest @patrickrhone, these are my favorite boots. Some Fluevogs (also re-craftable) are a tight second.