A couple of months ago I was invited to go hiking with some friends. When preparing, since I didn’t have some hiking boots, I saw my boots that I got in my military service. That was a great idea because they were already broken in and all of that stuff.
After around 3/4 of the almost 15km hike, I lost the sole on the first boot and a km after that the other side. Had to finish the hike on both without a sole.
Well, they were standing around for like 10 years so I am not surprised that they failed and that the whole stuff between sole and shoe Desintegrated but still.
They don’t make boots like they used too. My boots from back then (just over 20 years old now) are still in great shape, Bates made some rock solid boots back then (either that or all the polishing in basic made them invincible).
Most likely they were stored in a warm and humid place. Polyurethane foam can get something called hydrolysis, where moisture breaks down the polymers in the foam.
A couple of months ago I was invited to go hiking with some friends. When preparing, since I didn’t have some hiking boots, I saw my boots that I got in my military service. That was a great idea because they were already broken in and all of that stuff.
After around 3/4 of the almost 15km hike, I lost the sole on the first boot and a km after that the other side. Had to finish the hike on both without a sole.
Well, they were standing around for like 10 years so I am not surprised that they failed and that the whole stuff between sole and shoe Desintegrated but still.
10 years without being oiled, i guess. The leather would dessicate, maybe?
My soles have a cork layer that seems like it would crumble even if well treated.
The leather was fine. The part between the rubber sole and the leather shoe (I think it is called midsole?) just disintegrated.
The were stored in my shoe rack. I wouldn’t say that it is particularly humid there but it would be warm-ish (depending on the weather).
I wasn’t particularly shocked by this since they were simply lying around for that long. Maybe active use would have extended their life a bit more.
But maybe I can give them to someone that can add a new midsole so that they can be used again.
Sounds promising. My shoe guy charges $50CAD tor redoing the bottoms.
They don’t make boots like they used too. My boots from back then (just over 20 years old now) are still in great shape, Bates made some rock solid boots back then (either that or all the polishing in basic made them invincible).
Most likely they were stored in a warm and humid place. Polyurethane foam can get something called hydrolysis, where moisture breaks down the polymers in the foam.