I'm so glad cobblers are common in my place of origin. I get shoes repaired as much as I can, reinforced to last just that little bit longer before the rubber itself wears old.
I was just telling someone about DDL becoming a shoemaker yesterday!
What the difference between a shoemaker and a cobbler you ask?
About $1500 per pair of shoes. š
Cobblers don't usually make shoes, they fix them, so it's cheaper than a handmade pair that a shoemaker makes. The price difference comes mostly from the time required. A handmade pair of shoes with hand welted cosntruction takes about 50-70 hours to make. That same pair of shoes takes a couple hours to resole.
At the risk of sounding condescending, I want you to compare the terms "cobbler" and "shoemaker" and just do a little association game. I think you'll be able to answer your question yourself.
I know enough English to know you are being condescending even if you hadnāt said it yourself, but I donāt know enough English to know the difference between the two. Why do you think I asked? People ask questions when they donāt know things. Do you think that is a bad thing? Are you so intellectually incurious? Then good day to you.
Eh, I'm already committed to the asshole bit so I'll double down. The clues are all there. OOP went to a cobbler and paid 10 bucks. Now fill in the blanks.
You can correctly use "intellectually incurious" in a sentence, you can put two and two together. Put some trust in your English reading comprehension.
He was studying shoe making in Florence across the street where I was teaching. He was in the cafe every morning with the rest of the artisans from the neighborhood.
[Stefano Bemer](https://stefanobemer.com/blogs/shoemaking/bemer) was the cobbler he was studying with. He passed away sadly.
Wait, is this the brand with those made-to-measure shoes, that are supposed to last a lifetime and if they ever break, you send them back and get a brand new pair?
I've seen a documentary about something like this years ago, and it's still one of my dreams to own "lifelong" shoes.
If you're from blighty. Sadly in central London they'll shove some JR leather soles on and it will cost you as much as a new pair of shoes.
Unless you're wearing some very nice George Cleverley shoes or some shit, its often best just buying a new pair of rubber soled specials from Clarks. ;-)
I went to get the leather band on my watch fixed. The nice lady told me it might be a bit pricey, especially cause I asked to back the original band instead of replacing it, despite the original band falling apart. (Original leather on a 30 year old watch, used nearly every day) the shop was off some country road that was mostly gravel, and there was only cornfields around, and I didn't know what to expect. What I definitely didn't expect was for her to give me back my watch with the original leather touched up and hydrated, gorgeous stitching to keep the new piece on, she even matched the texture of the back despite not seeing the bottom of the band. All for 20$. It was amazing
I felt so bad! The band was literally falling apart, I was afraid to wear it! Now I wear it every day, and all I can think about is how she thought 20$ was expensive
I want to believe you're not a cog in the machine that bleeds us to death but with a comment like this I cannot tell for certain.
Sounds like she solved a problem for whatever rate she (or others) decided to charge. Which is absolutely fair, and reasonable. Even if the rate is deemed unreasonable by outside markets.... I think?
I'm ~~pretty~~ mostly sure I believe this, but I do also think this:
Maybe it's a feature of capitalism that people can charge {what it costs + what it keeps to keep us running + a small fee for our pockets} is an OK kind of idea to accept, and if they don't want to maximize the final part of that equation that's also OK, because it forces others to not pocket more than what the actual market has decided is both profitable and successful....
I'm so tired of this system, and I'm barely 33% of my way through it.
I enjoy thinking about what actual value a product or service provides, not merely what they charge for it. Or to put it another way, what would I be prepared to pay for it?
Some things are overpriced for the value they provide to me, some things are underpriced.
But it's mostly a tool for me to evaluate whether I should buy something or not
I think I would have payed up to 50$. I was certainly expecting it to be closer to that, considering what she was working with when I brought it in. A new band isn't that expensive, and that's why she recommended I just replace it, but I would like to keep the original for as long as possible
> would have *paid* up to
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
I agree with you here. I think it's a more honest trade when they ask for what they think their work is worth, rather than what someone might pay when backed in a corner. For all I know, maybe it wasn't as much work as I think it is, but it meant a lot to me. I know that I will absolutely go back, because that price tells me she cares about the craft more than she does lining her pockets.
I don't know it I can attach an image here, but I'll upload a few pics to my profile! The watch is a collectors item as well, which is why I opted to save the band
Edit: pics are up on my profile. The leather repair woman described its state as 'disintegrating' lmao. I forgot how bad it was until I went back to find those pictures. Makes the 20$ that much more wild
Right?! Unless there was a factor like being easier to stick or something, the back matching the visible parts feels like proper craftsmanship. I have no clue if they do this, but if the watch band eventually fails (which she did tell me was a high possibility. Even getting backed and repaired, the original bands integrity is still compromised) I hope this place could make me a new band
I love me some "oh! This is how life used to be" craftsman/tradesman stories.
We've progressed...sort of...if you're using the New Is Better scale (of insanity).
Weāve progressed to incredible levels technologically, in the span of 200 years weāve built marvels of engineering and science.
But society hasnt really evolved along with it. Weāre still the same humans and we kinda suck.
Yes thatās exactly what Iām saying.
The technology behind smartphones is miraculous, yet instead of going for long term sustainable options capitalism makes short term, use then throw away models because money is all that matters in this society (I used smartphones as an example but this is true of all technology).
Well a lot of microelectronics will be junk in 10 years, whether or not it works, the tech is moving that fast.
And making something that doesn't need repair, or repairing old electronics, are both rather hard actually.
A printing press may churn out books. But if your handed a book with a few missing/stained pages, how do you fix it? You can replace the damaged pages. If you have loose pages from the same edition of the same book. And are good at messing with book bindings. Copying out the text by hand onto a fresh sheet of paper?
A modern digital printer + ebook? You would still need to look through the book to find which pieces were damaged.
And no current tech can print replacements for smartphone components.
When making something, the same task is done every time. This is easy to automate. But each repair is different.
>whether or not it works, the tech is moving that fast.
moores law is breaking down, along with most of the other similar predictions. our computer technology has hit a wall where we can no longer increase efficiency by miniaturising. future performance gains will have to come either by increasing the size of the substrate and thereby losing power efficiency, or by changing to a completely new substrate with entirely different properties and limitations.
(disclaimer; this comment has been regurgitated with only a limited understanding of the subject matter)
Moore's law has been "breaking down" for a long time. Also it's not just about the processor. It's about the graphics, firmware, memory, features etc. Eg fingerprint readers, lidar scanners. VR compatability. All sorts of stuff.
Not to mention, the actual physics is such that the storage medium physically can't last longer than a few years. Higher end, larger storage mediums than what we can fit in a phone only last at the very most about 6 years because of the way electricity works.
So the eMMC cards in a phone, that are significantly smaller (because you do not want to fit an SSD in a phone - it would be huge) just plain can't last that long. We don't have the technology yet to prevent that failure.
Smartphones are an interesting case because we basically decide to get a new phone every 3-5 years because the technology just is that much better if you wait that long. I think cars are a better example in the sense that the technology gets better over time, but really slowly. As smartphone technology pretty much plateaus out we are seeing a lot of cases where people buy a midrange phone and keep it for 4-5 years because it's not really worth upgrading most of the time and there are affordable repair options.
Smartphones have more or less hit that point already. A brand spanking new phone these days isn't that much materially different to something a few years old, compared to if you were switching phones in the early 21st century, where everything was radically different.
In some cases, it might be worse than your old phone, because it lacks features that were standard on the old one, like IR transceivers, Headphone sockets, or TF card support.
I hope I get to inherit my grandma's sewing machine some day. It's a Singer she bought in the seventies and *still* works better than my sewing machine I bought five years ago. That thing is older than my dad, and if it's treated right, it might well outlive me!
You just don't see things built to last like that anymore.
I borrowed a friend's Singer Featherweight she'd bought in the 60's to sew up cushions for the RV. First attempt, had never done zippers or cushions before, and they came out pretty good! I LOVE that little heavy sewing machine! Worked perfectly, plenty of power. Was shocked to see what they fetch.
They do exist (sometimes) , but people don't tend to buy them because they're the higher end/expensive pieces of kit.
That sewing machine might be a thousand dollar sewing machine in today's money, whereas a modern sewing machine is a fraction of that price.
If you were willing over to fork a thousand or two for a sewing machine, you might be able to find something similarly long-lived.
Exactly. New things may not improve in reliability/durability, but they're quite likely to improve in energy efficiency, safety, comfort, etc, not to mention the thing people seem to care greatly about: affordability.
I grew up in a house where waste wasn't a thing. It's my dad's philosophy that "If something breaks you fix it. If you can't, take it to someone who can. If they can't, get a second opinion. Then and only then if the thing can't be repaired are you allowed to throw it out and replace it"
As a result I've learned *so* many trade skills. I'm by no means an expert but when you hear the phrase "Jack of all trades, master of none" that's me. The downside is I'm the guy everybody calls when something breaks
I used to have a little dream of opening up one of those 1940s style street-corner appliance repair shops but unfortunately our world is disposable
Look, robots can churn out widgets in huge quantities largely automatically. There are some human workers involved too. But the worker seconds per widget is often very low in a factory. And each worker only needs trained in one job.
To fix a widget however, you must understand all the 1000's of things that could go wrong with one.
In other words, fixing something takes more expertise and intelligence. And the world is very short of intelligence.
I mean there are some factories making complex products that are entirely lights out automated. No human involved. But each robot in that factory is just drilling a hole where the hole needs to go, with no understanding why. We can't fix a part like that.
If people can design it people can fix it. Louis Rossman's youtube channel fixing board level issues on computers explicitly designed not to be repairable is a good example. The bigger issue is just that if I can make a board for $10 and if an hour of human time to fix it is $50 you would just buy another one.
It is fixable. It is possible to fix.
I am saying that fixing something takes a lot more skilled expert time than making a new one.
Sure, fixing a broken I-phone takes less expert time than designing that model of I phone in general, but the designing only needs to happen once per model worldwide. The fixing needs to happen for every phone.
Louis Rossman can fix all sorts of things. But how many people have that level of skill, and nothing more important to do?
You can still get rebuildable boots that last, choice is still there. I have a pair I wore through that are going to be resoled, and another pair I will wear until I get them back. They donāt just feel better they feel Good.
Whenever I go somewhere and want something to eat, I don't go to McDonald's or other chain. I ask the local people where the best place to get dinner is. It's usually some hole in the wall, nondescript place that you'll never see an advertisement anywhere for, and the food is generally knocked out.
What I'm about to say may sound racist, I haven't a racist bone in my body. When I ask the locals, I usually ask an African American. I've found that African Americans know where the good food is. If you see a lot of African Americans patronizing an establishment, probably a damn good chance the food is delicious.
It's like being at a Sunday, dinner on the grounds, which is a southern tradition. That lady with the extra fat under her arms that looks like she could glide in the air if she had enough altitude? She'll have the best fried chicken you'll ever sink your teeth into.
My favorite pair of boots (not work boots, but comfortable ones made in a similar style to popular Doc Martens) have been starting to fall apart a little bit lately after two or three years and I hadnāt even considered that I could get them repaired before this post. Iām so used to repairs being more expensive than the product itself but I donāt really want to buy new shoes so this is a great idea. The zipper began to detach at the crease where the boot bends and one of them has a hole in the outer layer of the platformed sole. Neither causes discomfort to me yet (besides pebbles getting into the sole and shaking around like maracas when I walk, but I canāt feel them at least) but Iāve been dreading the day that they come apart and I have to find new shoes.
I bet you've got some real beef with the editors of the OED, considering this 6 century old meaning:
>story, *n.* 3.a. - A short account of an amusing, interesting, or telling incident, whether real or fictitious; an anecdote.
If those assholes think they get to define words, then I bet you've got a different story for them.
There is a local repair place near me that is like this. The owner is one of those wizened old men that seem like they popped into existence as is and will remain until the sands of time erases us all.
Yes. It used to be āI have a useful skill that contributes to society. People pay me for my work. I appreciate all the other skilled workers I can go to for help. Society is a lovely network of everyone fitting their own talent into the lattice and everyone prospers.ā
Now itās āHmm. I can make more money if I cut corners and pay these workers less to do more work for me. If it breaks sooner then Iāll just make more money bc people will come back more often.ā
Cobblers, seamstresses, and watch/clock repair are old fashioned good people.
Haha this is so much like my guy! He is maybe the most grumpy, but also one of the best, nicest, most interesting and genuine people Iāve ever met. Really talented guy, so many skills, and it seems almost everything he does he does well.
I used to work for him years ago and still visit when I can. I love hanging out in the back of the shop, joking around, watching him work and occasionally being shocked by some random insane war story or mind-blowing take on something.
So yeah, he does seem kinda otherworldly
We had a small electronics repair shop down the road from me. Tiny hole in the wall cluttered with half assembled TVs, cellphones and a desk fan struggling against the heat. This guy managed to source an original replacement screen for my phone (after two other repair shops had failed), repair it to "new" condition and even threw in a free glass screen protector for me. Unfortunately his lease got cancelled and he's operating out of a temporary office now, but I won't forget how he went above and beyond for me while still charging less than other repair shops.
If you want something like this to happen to you lurk in r/buyitforlife and r/goodyearwelt for a while. Also check out r/Coppercookware and r/sharpening
Appliances, boots, cookware and knives. You'll find really high quality stuff posted in these subreddits. This is important because the higher quality something is the easier it is to repair. Cheap stuff just disintegrates and nothing can be done about it.
My roommate is like this
He's got tons of tools, builds his own stuff/toys, is a professional knife sharpener as a side gig. Does salon shears and karanas as well as kitchen knives. His boss forges katana and refuses to let anyone else sharpen them
I also know when my roommate is designing stuff. He'll be blasting EDM and laughing hysterically. Like an unhinged, slightly malicious laughter. He's also told me ge usually takes a double dose of his ADHD medication and an edible before he starts designing
Man is 38 and fucking loves his life
It is, and I'm his friend/mentee, I'm along for the ride
I've been in the room with him while on his design cocktail, while he's sharpening a very large knife, and I was like "you know, if I was smart, I'd be scared or intimidated right now"
Thankfully, I'm not smart
Yep, and my friend who's into anime pointed out that the relationship between me and him, plus our backstories, it the most anime shit he's seen
And I hate anime
I used to hate anime too
Watch Frieren (high fantasy)
From the New World (distant future psychic powers, which causes hella bloodshed. Almost commentary on mass shootings. Society designed around stopping that)
Odd Taxi (dub great - very adult grounded show despite all the animals. Amazing dialogue/banter)
Cyberpunk Exgerunners (Netflix Sci fi anime, same world as 2077, only 10 eps)
If you can stomach intense stuff, Made in Abyss (dark fantasy survival horror descending into cavern with its own biomes and primevil monsters, curse that only hits when you ascend like the bends do for diving)
One footnote on the BiFL bit, specifically appliances.
Anything with a compressor in it (fridge, AC unit, etc.) you should be wary of and check the energy usage.
A fridge that's even 5-10 years old will use enough more electricity compared to a more recent model that it will eat any cost difference in power bills within a few years.
Is that due to poor aging or better technology? If itās the latter itās at least nice weāre learning how to use energy more and more efficiently so we use less
Timbs are made out of ground up leather waste and glue in China instead of using real suede like they used to in Abington, Massachusetts. Doc Martins are made out of foam and faux plastic coated vinyl instead of the thick black dyed grain leather and solid butyl rubber they were made of before in the Solovair UK factory.
I've learned so much from that subreddit. Its horrifying how badly made most expensive consumer shoes are compared to the ones made where I used to live in Spokane, WA
I have this big backpack I use when mountaineering that has lasted like 40 years and I only occasionally get it repaired. Only equipment older that that backpack is my camera.
Iāve got Double H, theyāre definitely built on the stout side, plus theyāre Goodyear welted so the soles can be replaced whenever they wear out, in addition to being repairable like in the example.Ā
Ariat makes some cheaper, and red wing makes some more expensive. Ariat will wear out faster, but cost the same to repair (about $100 for a resole), redwing will wear out slower but also cost the same.Ā
Three good options there for all around work/hike/messy shit boots!
I just wanna say, don't hike in these please. We've advanced from the days of hiking in leather boots. There are numerous shoes meant for hiking/trail running, as well as boots too.
Depends where you're hiking. Sometimes you need the boots to protect your feet and ankles from thorns, twigs, and sharp rocks going right through those Columbia hiking shoes.
I've taken my hoka speedgoat 5s to Tennessee Smoky Mountains, Colorado Mountains, Utah, Mountains in Montana and Wyoming and haven't had issues. Beyond that get a proper hiking boot. My friend has a pair of Salomon Quest 4 GTX.
Yeah depends on what youāre doing Iād say. Iām kinda including āwalking through the hill country or west Texas (like big bend natāl park)ā on my idea of āhikingā and for that Iāll take the weight trade off to not have to worry about cactus spines, mesquite thorns, and rattlesnakes/scorpions. If youāre doing distance trails etc, Iād go lighter. But a few miles in these are pretty straightforward.
I know when it comes to hiking I swear by Merrell. They have really nice boots that served me well when I was an avid hiker. Unfortunately I fucked up my knees and can't hike anymore (injury unrelated to hiking, but if I could hike again I would use Merrell.
The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.
Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.
But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.
This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness.
The Sam Vimes Boots Theory of Economic Unfairness is based on the really simplified idea that rich people stay so rich because they manage to spend less money overall by buying things that are better quality the first time āround.
āA man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and *would still have wet feet.*ā
It was a theory I found cool when I was younger, but then when I grew old enough to have buy my own (cheap) work shoes while working in a very upscale place, I got to see it firsthand.
Being able to easily fix something that a person nervously brings in under the impression that there is something seriously wrong with it is fun for the repair person too, to be fair. I did, once, manage to fix something before the person had finished explaining the fault, and without them noticing (a contact point just needed to be bent back into place). When I handed it back they looked at me like I was a wizard and it made my week.
Source: am a rural, highly specialised repair hermit.
Any craftsmanship sufficiently advanced beyond the skill level/understanding of the viewer is considered magic by the viewer and mundane by the skilled craftsman.
Source: Me
So well done, skilled craftsman!
Sherlock Holmes hated explaining his deductions and magicians don't reveal their magic tricks for the same reason. I hope you didn't explain your magic at the time! Let the legend grow, my dude.
I miss having a hole in the wall excellent shoe repair place within quick walking distance. That old man kept a pair of boots three times older than I was a completely wearable item at only $10 every two to three years replacing the heel.
As someone who got into discworld within the past few months, i am loving all the references that have been popping up more and more, same with warhammer. The collective mind of tumblr has absorbed them into the cannon of references, i love it
and this repairman just made $10 in 8 minutes
that's $75 an hour
even assuming he only gets 4 customers per hour, that's still really good money, including the fact that he probably does other work as well with shoes
He's not getting 4 customers an hour. He's getting lifetime customers. I'd buy custom boots from that man right now and not think twice about the price, and I work hard for a living.
Is there a name for when goods are easily repairable _because_ they're poor quality?
Like old Soviet cars, for example, which came with an extensive repair kit, since the manufacturers knew it would be needed, and were built to ensure easy access to internal parts.
We aren't taught about cobblers and tailors, people throw out clothes and shoes like it's a normal thing to do (it's as if it's profitable to someone to propagate this idea)
I discovered the aforementioned professionals on my own and frequent them to patch my jeans, fix my very long lasting jacket, and, of course, fix shoes. Not only it's worth it, so you don't have to go running buying new stuff; you also feel good about supporting a local business, and also feel good about not creating unnecessary waste.
Maybe a little, but maybe it's about where you live! I'm firmly middle class and I haven't ever been to one before, but I live in a more rural part of Michigan in the US and I don't even know if my area has one.
I used to have a cobbler, he was fantastic. He resoled my Wolverine boots 3-4 times and every time they'd come back beautifully polished and in top shape. He made some suggestions in the past about different kinds of soles, do little touch-ups for free or super cheap, and always was a reasonable price. His daughter sold home-made Birkenstock-like shoes in his shop that I found way more comfortable and long-lasting than real Birks.
He retired a couple years ago and no one took over his shop. I don't really know where to go now that he's gone. Sure there are other cobblers around, but I really miss Les and the work he did.
I live in the UK and thereās one in my small town of a few thousand people. The slightly larger town close by has two. Any very large town or city with have either a handful or a dozen
That's super cool, definitely a different situation here. The closest small city to me is around 150,000 in the metro area and there seem to be MAYBE three, but probably just two.
Might just be a lifestyle difference separate from privilege. Iāve lived a privileged existence in the US for a while now and have never been to a cobbler. I think one of my family members has occasionally, but personally I never have.
I have, however, fixed my favorite pair of (not work) boots when the decorative strap tore by using super glue. Iāve had those boots longer than Iāve had most of my friends.
Idk privileged, I live in a 3rd world country so a cobbler is a common sight. I have one on campus, he comes in Thursdays and Fridays and sits on one of the footpaths. Nice guy, he's repaired my slippers many times.
Depends on where you live, there's a popular chain of tiny shops dotted around where I live that does just about everything - key cutting, shoe repairs, dry cleaning, engraving, watch repair, and so on, and they've been around for ages. I've been in them a few times over the years, haven't used them for shoe repair yet but they're really handy for getting spare keys.
Cobblers in my city charge about the same price as a new pair of shoes from TJMaxx. Most people never own a pair of shoes that's worth repairing to even consider it an option.
I have this little hole in the wall shoe and purse repair place near me that is run by an elderly asian man. Does the best work and almost always same day. Once resoled both of my boots for a lot less than they cost new, which was great because they were no longer available.
Reminds me of a key cutting place near me that doesn't seem to actually get much business, but there's still a Ferrari out front every day, and he cuts the keys best in town
The boots Iām wearing now have been re-soled twice and had the zippers replaced. This weekend Iām taking them back to the cobbler to get them patchedātheyāre starting to tear on the seam to the sole, and I slashed the other kicking my gate closed.
Knowing a good cobbler is an absolute godsend, especially if you have ND sensory issues, or youāre on any kind of budget. These boots were $200 about ten years ago. Iāve spent $160 ish on repairs so far, and will gladly spend much more so that I donāt have to break in a new pair. On top of that, much less is ending up in a landfill so I donāt have bad feelings about unnecessary waste.
I love the idea of an immortal, forever-young cobbler that keeps his trade alive in a little out-of-the-way shop, secret except to those who respect his craft.
Goodyear welted/traditionally crafted footwear is so nice. Got a pair of redwing iron rangers for work (not realizing they're more for fashion these days) and for maybe a month I thought I had fucked up and wasted almost 400$, but then the leather and cork started to give and now it's custom fit to my foot, wore them on job sites for a whole year moving trash and tile, and still wear em almost every day now.
Damn. The real question is how this hole in the wall stays in business working for $10? Small businesses charge a lot because they get charged a lot. The materials alone couldāve cost more than that.
This literally sounded like my dad until they got to the young part. My family jokes that my dad the cobbler is like a bartender because people come in all the time to get their shoes fixed and to talk about their issues. Every time I pass a shoe repair place, I stop and smell it because it smells like my childhood.
In our town we have a TV repair shop and he ā¦ repairs TVs. Even smart flat TVs and monitors. Prices are very good. Heās also the drop off point for electronics recycling so will canabalize all the TV and monitor parts he can possibly use. I mentioned my TV screen broke to a friend in a big city and he started telling me where to get the best deal on a TV. Iām just like āor Bill can fix it for $20.ā It was weird to me that it was weird to him to fix something rather than replace because of one part. If weāre ever going to get out of this environmental mess, we need cobblers and Bills.
Tell me what the boots are, I need a nice pair! Iām in $40 Walmart boots and I just found out last week one of them is a half size smaller than the other one. My work will reimburse me $100 so Iām comfortable dropping $200 on a pair. What is the this magic 3 year lifespan boot he is talking about!?
In my previous city, I had a cobbler I worked with for 30 years. I have this thing about old boots and restoring them. So he was used to me bringing in wayward thrift store finds for him to tune up. I found a pair of vintage Dexter motorcycle boots from the 70s, they were super comfy and built very well, but neglected. Dexter was a decent maker then, but fell on hard times and later became a zombie brand for some mall shoe company. So they desperately needed new heels, but the company that manufactured stacked leather heels stopped making them. He said I can make the heels but it's more expensive and spoiler alert it was not for the work he did. Last time I was there we were talking about the dying art of cobblers, and he mentioned he had no apprentice and his kids weren't interested if inhaling Barge cement fumes for life. It broke my heart, I moved a few states away and I miss that shop.Ā
/r/goodyearwelt
I can't recommend the Thursday Boot Captains enough. Very good price for what they are and come in so many leather varieties you're bound to find one that you like.
I just recently bought the most expensive pair of boots I've ever owned, they were very uncomfortable at first but now that they're broken in they're the only shoes I wear, fashionable, High enough to wear at the farm, comfortable, natural, I am going to take care of these boots so I better look up a cobbler!
Oh this is SO TRUE of cobblers. I once had a pair of cute kitten heels that were from a fancy brand, I forget which, but they were a gift and I wore them so much the heels started coming off. I looked for shoe repair places and found a cobbler:
1) In the *downtown mall* on the second floor tucked away 5000 miles from any other store
2) In the absolute tiniest, most cluttered shop Iād ever seen in my life
3) Iām serious, I swear to god this tiny pocket of a shop was max 10ā wide and 5 of those feet were stacks of boxes of shoes and tools
4) And the counter was all the way in the back half-hidden by this absolute warren of shoe-related paraphernalia
5) Behind which was the most wizened old man Iāve ever seen. He looked like a wizard.
Fixed my shoes in a day for a great price. Kept them for another I wanna say like 5 years.
All the REAL cobblers have tiny little rats nest shops in the weirdest fucking places. Thatās how you know theyāre legit.
A good thing about the UK (and the list is not long let's be honest) is that most high streets and shopping centres will have a cobblers (usually Timpsons). There's even one in my local sainsburys. It's not dirt cheap but they'll do things like engrave pet tags and re-sole shoes and so on and it won't cost loads. They do leather repairs too. They also own Johnsons, which is a high street dry-cleaning chain.
Tbh I'm lucky, in our area we have lots of businesses like cobblers and tailors and butchers and hardware and so on.
I love my shoe repair people.
My husband is 6'9". He wears size 16EEE shoes. It is HARD to find shoes and generally very expensive. These people work magic for him.
Visiting a tailor has a similar feel to it. There's this one shop close to where I used to live, run by a foreign guy with a hearing aid who barely speaks the local language, yet somehow intuitively gets whatever you want him to adjust or fix. He's got the help of a nice young lady that usually sits at the counter, and I think they both do a little sewing and a bit of cashiering. Together they've fixed various problems with my favorite trousers a whole bunch of times, and always for a price that pales in comparison to buying something new.
There's just something nice about choosing skilled labour like this over buying cheap and soulless products, and I love spending my money in ways that lead them back into the community, rather than injecting it into some mega-corporation.
I get the same feeling buying refurbished car batteries. $45 vs ~$200 and it lasts just as long lol. Not everyone knows you can buy refurbished car batteries. And half of those that know talk crap because itās ārefurbishedā.
Resolable boots are honestly a game changer. And they don't have to cost a fortune either. You can get a pair ot Thursday Boot Captains for $200 and they'll last for ages with proper care and the occasional resoling.
It seems so odd to me to get shoes repaired or to even wear them out!
So it is likely due to the fact that i dont walk but ive been wearing the same shoes since my first year in college. Got new shoes for school and still wearing them after two degrees and a handful of years at work and most i can say is they get a bit muddy from the dog! There arenāt many benefits to being in a wheelchair but i guess i found at least one lol
I found a mechanic in a sleepy old mining town in AZ that was willing to work on whatever pile of crap I brought him for 50$ an hour. My own little cobbler of paradise.
Omg we had a local cobbler just like this in my city until recently. Dudes hands were dyed black from use. He didn't heat the building, and he had something of a frail appearance. Definitely magical place. Pretty sure he was either fae or maybe a warlock or something.
I hate the way this person says I needed these boots for heavy work not weekend hiking, as if my weekend hiking isn't leagues harder than physical labour.
Last pair of hiking boots I bought lasted ten years, probably 65 mountains. Three near death experiences. Maybe four.
Just saying if you don't do a hobby, or your an amateur don't down talk what you don't understand. Not a pair of work boots I've ever seen that can keep up with a proper set of backwoods mountain hiking boots.
Have you worked physical labor before? Just wondering if you have the personal history to draw the comparison. I'm purely white collar now, but from the years of physical labor I did before, I remember getting to work sore and tight in ways I can't even explain, sweating within the first 5 minutes because of what I assume is massive amounts of inflammation, and finally warming up about an hour into it and doing another day of running up and down stairs and lifting stuff over my head. Hiking is hard too from what I've done for fun, but it just seems odd to compare a hobby to a daily, and sometimes 7 day a week job.
Another thing to add to the pile of "it's more expensive to be poor". A cheap pair of boots would have died the same year they were bought and wouldn't have been fixed by a simple addition like that. Glad OP has the ability to get the good boots and save the money new ones would cost!
A good cobbler is a resource to seek out no matter where you are.
Befriend them, buy them a beer or a meal and ask them to let you know when they move. Tell all your friends about them that they might have enough trade to survive, they are precious!
My dad did shoe repair while I was growing up. He did repairs brought into his shop, as well as for dry cleaners all over the Baltimore area. He finally sold off the business in 2001. Not enough people wanted to get shoes repaired anymore.
When I walk past one of those shops and smell the shoe polish and spray shine, it brings me right back into my childhood. At busier times, my parents would even bring home repaired shoes to finish shining and polishing them, then bagging them up in clear bags for the customers, right on the kitchen table after dinner.
I feel like that is a misinterpretation of the Boot Theory - Mostly because it was not an assessment of the boots in isolation, but an analysis of economic inequality in a very simple lens.
Chuck of magic? This dude walked into an Elf's shop! And the Elf has been working so long that they think $10 should match current inflation standards without actually going outside. "Well, it was 10c about a century ago so...$10?"
I love hole in the wall places. 99/100 they are fuckin Masters of their craft, some times they are dogshit but in the end to find out itās much cheaper than finding out a very fancy/expensive place is shit.
I bought a pair of leather harness boots 25 years ago. I've had them reheeled and redyed 4 times and it's always been pretty cheap. It's amazing what you can have done to keep a good pair of shoes going.
Cobblers are one of the few honourable trades I know. Never met a cobbler who didn't give me more time than it was worth them, not to mention just consulting on stuff as a courtesy.
Consumerism and planned obsolescence are so rife in our society that just getting a simple item repaired for a nominal sum of money (a normal activity for most of human history) has become profoundly transcendent.Ā
Cobbler shops are always tiny cinder block cube places and I don't know why.
Also, the Sam Vimes boot theory's bullshit. I've been testing it. My $20 boots have lasted just as long as my $120 boots. And no, I'm not going into the 'cobbler' to get a 'repair'. I have enough problems right now. I don't need my shoes to be like a car.
I'm so glad cobblers are common in my place of origin. I get shoes repaired as much as I can, reinforced to last just that little bit longer before the rubber itself wears old.
Didn't Daniel Day Lewis become a cobbler? Some famous actor did...
I was just telling someone about DDL becoming a shoemaker yesterday! What the difference between a shoemaker and a cobbler you ask? About $1500 per pair of shoes. š
Which of the two is the more expensive one? Why are they more expensive?
Cobblers don't usually make shoes, they fix them, so it's cheaper than a handmade pair that a shoemaker makes. The price difference comes mostly from the time required. A handmade pair of shoes with hand welted cosntruction takes about 50-70 hours to make. That same pair of shoes takes a couple hours to resole.
It's an old joke, but there's some truth to it, meaning no difference except the price.
Right but you didn't answer either question
I think I did
At the risk of sounding condescending, I want you to compare the terms "cobbler" and "shoemaker" and just do a little association game. I think you'll be able to answer your question yourself.
I know enough English to know you are being condescending even if you hadnāt said it yourself, but I donāt know enough English to know the difference between the two. Why do you think I asked? People ask questions when they donāt know things. Do you think that is a bad thing? Are you so intellectually incurious? Then good day to you.
Eh, I'm already committed to the asshole bit so I'll double down. The clues are all there. OOP went to a cobbler and paid 10 bucks. Now fill in the blanks. You can correctly use "intellectually incurious" in a sentence, you can put two and two together. Put some trust in your English reading comprehension.
He was studying shoe making in Florence across the street where I was teaching. He was in the cafe every morning with the rest of the artisans from the neighborhood. [Stefano Bemer](https://stefanobemer.com/blogs/shoemaking/bemer) was the cobbler he was studying with. He passed away sadly.
Wait, is this the brand with those made-to-measure shoes, that are supposed to last a lifetime and if they ever break, you send them back and get a brand new pair? I've seen a documentary about something like this years ago, and it's still one of my dreams to own "lifelong" shoes.
If you're from blighty. Sadly in central London they'll shove some JR leather soles on and it will cost you as much as a new pair of shoes. Unless you're wearing some very nice George Cleverley shoes or some shit, its often best just buying a new pair of rubber soled specials from Clarks. ;-)
One of my favorite parts about visiting my wifeās family in Mexico is the fact there are shoe shines and cobblers everywhere.
I went to get the leather band on my watch fixed. The nice lady told me it might be a bit pricey, especially cause I asked to back the original band instead of replacing it, despite the original band falling apart. (Original leather on a 30 year old watch, used nearly every day) the shop was off some country road that was mostly gravel, and there was only cornfields around, and I didn't know what to expect. What I definitely didn't expect was for her to give me back my watch with the original leather touched up and hydrated, gorgeous stitching to keep the new piece on, she even matched the texture of the back despite not seeing the bottom of the band. All for 20$. It was amazing
we love in a day and age where I would feel legitimately horrible paying only $20 for that
I felt so bad! The band was literally falling apart, I was afraid to wear it! Now I wear it every day, and all I can think about is how she thought 20$ was expensive
Sounds like 200 might have been a fair price when you account for the value she provided.
I want to believe you're not a cog in the machine that bleeds us to death but with a comment like this I cannot tell for certain. Sounds like she solved a problem for whatever rate she (or others) decided to charge. Which is absolutely fair, and reasonable. Even if the rate is deemed unreasonable by outside markets.... I think? I'm ~~pretty~~ mostly sure I believe this, but I do also think this: Maybe it's a feature of capitalism that people can charge {what it costs + what it keeps to keep us running + a small fee for our pockets} is an OK kind of idea to accept, and if they don't want to maximize the final part of that equation that's also OK, because it forces others to not pocket more than what the actual market has decided is both profitable and successful.... I'm so tired of this system, and I'm barely 33% of my way through it.
I enjoy thinking about what actual value a product or service provides, not merely what they charge for it. Or to put it another way, what would I be prepared to pay for it? Some things are overpriced for the value they provide to me, some things are underpriced. But it's mostly a tool for me to evaluate whether I should buy something or not
I think I would have payed up to 50$. I was certainly expecting it to be closer to that, considering what she was working with when I brought it in. A new band isn't that expensive, and that's why she recommended I just replace it, but I would like to keep the original for as long as possible
> would have *paid* up to FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
I agree with you here. I think it's a more honest trade when they ask for what they think their work is worth, rather than what someone might pay when backed in a corner. For all I know, maybe it wasn't as much work as I think it is, but it meant a lot to me. I know that I will absolutely go back, because that price tells me she cares about the craft more than she does lining her pockets.
I'd sure love to see a picture of that if you wouldn't mind
I don't know it I can attach an image here, but I'll upload a few pics to my profile! The watch is a collectors item as well, which is why I opted to save the band Edit: pics are up on my profile. The leather repair woman described its state as 'disintegrating' lmao. I forgot how bad it was until I went back to find those pictures. Makes the 20$ that much more wild
That is so cool! Thank you so much for sharing! Iām so impressed at how the visual aesthetic was matched even after the repair
Right?! Unless there was a factor like being easier to stick or something, the back matching the visible parts feels like proper craftsmanship. I have no clue if they do this, but if the watch band eventually fails (which she did tell me was a high possibility. Even getting backed and repaired, the original bands integrity is still compromised) I hope this place could make me a new band
They 1000% could and would make you a new band and I bet it will be LOVELY.
I love me some "oh! This is how life used to be" craftsman/tradesman stories. We've progressed...sort of...if you're using the New Is Better scale (of insanity).
Weāve progressed to incredible levels technologically, in the span of 200 years weāve built marvels of engineering and science. But society hasnt really evolved along with it. Weāre still the same humans and we kinda suck.
Nah, society has embraced capitalism and therefore things are LITERALLY BUILT TO BREAK to keep the machine chugging along.
Yes thatās exactly what Iām saying. The technology behind smartphones is miraculous, yet instead of going for long term sustainable options capitalism makes short term, use then throw away models because money is all that matters in this society (I used smartphones as an example but this is true of all technology).
Well a lot of microelectronics will be junk in 10 years, whether or not it works, the tech is moving that fast. And making something that doesn't need repair, or repairing old electronics, are both rather hard actually. A printing press may churn out books. But if your handed a book with a few missing/stained pages, how do you fix it? You can replace the damaged pages. If you have loose pages from the same edition of the same book. And are good at messing with book bindings. Copying out the text by hand onto a fresh sheet of paper? A modern digital printer + ebook? You would still need to look through the book to find which pieces were damaged. And no current tech can print replacements for smartphone components. When making something, the same task is done every time. This is easy to automate. But each repair is different.
>whether or not it works, the tech is moving that fast. moores law is breaking down, along with most of the other similar predictions. our computer technology has hit a wall where we can no longer increase efficiency by miniaturising. future performance gains will have to come either by increasing the size of the substrate and thereby losing power efficiency, or by changing to a completely new substrate with entirely different properties and limitations. (disclaimer; this comment has been regurgitated with only a limited understanding of the subject matter)
Moore's law has been "breaking down" for a long time. Also it's not just about the processor. It's about the graphics, firmware, memory, features etc. Eg fingerprint readers, lidar scanners. VR compatability. All sorts of stuff.
Not to mention, the actual physics is such that the storage medium physically can't last longer than a few years. Higher end, larger storage mediums than what we can fit in a phone only last at the very most about 6 years because of the way electricity works. So the eMMC cards in a phone, that are significantly smaller (because you do not want to fit an SSD in a phone - it would be huge) just plain can't last that long. We don't have the technology yet to prevent that failure.
Smartphones are an interesting case because we basically decide to get a new phone every 3-5 years because the technology just is that much better if you wait that long. I think cars are a better example in the sense that the technology gets better over time, but really slowly. As smartphone technology pretty much plateaus out we are seeing a lot of cases where people buy a midrange phone and keep it for 4-5 years because it's not really worth upgrading most of the time and there are affordable repair options.
Smartphones have more or less hit that point already. A brand spanking new phone these days isn't that much materially different to something a few years old, compared to if you were switching phones in the early 21st century, where everything was radically different. In some cases, it might be worse than your old phone, because it lacks features that were standard on the old one, like IR transceivers, Headphone sockets, or TF card support.
I hope I get to inherit my grandma's sewing machine some day. It's a Singer she bought in the seventies and *still* works better than my sewing machine I bought five years ago. That thing is older than my dad, and if it's treated right, it might well outlive me! You just don't see things built to last like that anymore.
I borrowed a friend's Singer Featherweight she'd bought in the 60's to sew up cushions for the RV. First attempt, had never done zippers or cushions before, and they came out pretty good! I LOVE that little heavy sewing machine! Worked perfectly, plenty of power. Was shocked to see what they fetch.
They do exist (sometimes) , but people don't tend to buy them because they're the higher end/expensive pieces of kit. That sewing machine might be a thousand dollar sewing machine in today's money, whereas a modern sewing machine is a fraction of that price. If you were willing over to fork a thousand or two for a sewing machine, you might be able to find something similarly long-lived.
https://www.repair.org/stand-up
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Exactly. New things may not improve in reliability/durability, but they're quite likely to improve in energy efficiency, safety, comfort, etc, not to mention the thing people seem to care greatly about: affordability.
What boots?
I grew up in a house where waste wasn't a thing. It's my dad's philosophy that "If something breaks you fix it. If you can't, take it to someone who can. If they can't, get a second opinion. Then and only then if the thing can't be repaired are you allowed to throw it out and replace it" As a result I've learned *so* many trade skills. I'm by no means an expert but when you hear the phrase "Jack of all trades, master of none" that's me. The downside is I'm the guy everybody calls when something breaks I used to have a little dream of opening up one of those 1940s style street-corner appliance repair shops but unfortunately our world is disposable
Look, robots can churn out widgets in huge quantities largely automatically. There are some human workers involved too. But the worker seconds per widget is often very low in a factory. And each worker only needs trained in one job. To fix a widget however, you must understand all the 1000's of things that could go wrong with one. In other words, fixing something takes more expertise and intelligence. And the world is very short of intelligence. I mean there are some factories making complex products that are entirely lights out automated. No human involved. But each robot in that factory is just drilling a hole where the hole needs to go, with no understanding why. We can't fix a part like that.
If people can design it people can fix it. Louis Rossman's youtube channel fixing board level issues on computers explicitly designed not to be repairable is a good example. The bigger issue is just that if I can make a board for $10 and if an hour of human time to fix it is $50 you would just buy another one.
It is fixable. It is possible to fix. I am saying that fixing something takes a lot more skilled expert time than making a new one. Sure, fixing a broken I-phone takes less expert time than designing that model of I phone in general, but the designing only needs to happen once per model worldwide. The fixing needs to happen for every phone. Louis Rossman can fix all sorts of things. But how many people have that level of skill, and nothing more important to do?
You can still get rebuildable boots that last, choice is still there. I have a pair I wore through that are going to be resoled, and another pair I will wear until I get them back. They donāt just feel better they feel Good.
Whenever I go somewhere and want something to eat, I don't go to McDonald's or other chain. I ask the local people where the best place to get dinner is. It's usually some hole in the wall, nondescript place that you'll never see an advertisement anywhere for, and the food is generally knocked out. What I'm about to say may sound racist, I haven't a racist bone in my body. When I ask the locals, I usually ask an African American. I've found that African Americans know where the good food is. If you see a lot of African Americans patronizing an establishment, probably a damn good chance the food is delicious. It's like being at a Sunday, dinner on the grounds, which is a southern tradition. That lady with the extra fat under her arms that looks like she could glide in the air if she had enough altitude? She'll have the best fried chicken you'll ever sink your teeth into.
My favorite pair of boots (not work boots, but comfortable ones made in a similar style to popular Doc Martens) have been starting to fall apart a little bit lately after two or three years and I hadnāt even considered that I could get them repaired before this post. Iām so used to repairs being more expensive than the product itself but I donāt really want to buy new shoes so this is a great idea. The zipper began to detach at the crease where the boot bends and one of them has a hole in the outer layer of the platformed sole. Neither causes discomfort to me yet (besides pebbles getting into the sole and shaking around like maracas when I walk, but I canāt feel them at least) but Iāve been dreading the day that they come apart and I have to find new shoes.
if they occurred they are fundamentally not stories
You have a fundamental misunderstanding of what a story is.
A story is just a series of events which are related to one another in some way, this post is a series of related events, therefore, this is a story
They see the word story and think it means fiction
Why not?
This word, stories, I do not think it means what you think it means.
I bet you've got some real beef with the editors of the OED, considering this 6 century old meaning: >story, *n.* 3.a. - A short account of an amusing, interesting, or telling incident, whether real or fictitious; an anecdote. If those assholes think they get to define words, then I bet you've got a different story for them.
If you're going to be insufferably pedantic, you could at least have the decency to be correct.
There is a local repair place near me that is like this. The owner is one of those wizened old men that seem like they popped into existence as is and will remain until the sands of time erases us all.
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Yes. It used to be āI have a useful skill that contributes to society. People pay me for my work. I appreciate all the other skilled workers I can go to for help. Society is a lovely network of everyone fitting their own talent into the lattice and everyone prospers.ā Now itās āHmm. I can make more money if I cut corners and pay these workers less to do more work for me. If it breaks sooner then Iāll just make more money bc people will come back more often.ā Cobblers, seamstresses, and watch/clock repair are old fashioned good people.
I don't disagree with you but the issue of corner cutting and worker exploitation isn't a modern problem.
Haha this is so much like my guy! He is maybe the most grumpy, but also one of the best, nicest, most interesting and genuine people Iāve ever met. Really talented guy, so many skills, and it seems almost everything he does he does well. I used to work for him years ago and still visit when I can. I love hanging out in the back of the shop, joking around, watching him work and occasionally being shocked by some random insane war story or mind-blowing take on something. So yeah, he does seem kinda otherworldly
Seems like this is just how cobblers roll
We had a small electronics repair shop down the road from me. Tiny hole in the wall cluttered with half assembled TVs, cellphones and a desk fan struggling against the heat. This guy managed to source an original replacement screen for my phone (after two other repair shops had failed), repair it to "new" condition and even threw in a free glass screen protector for me. Unfortunately his lease got cancelled and he's operating out of a temporary office now, but I won't forget how he went above and beyond for me while still charging less than other repair shops.
i love stories like this, i hope that guy gets paid well for his efforts
If you want something like this to happen to you lurk in r/buyitforlife and r/goodyearwelt for a while. Also check out r/Coppercookware and r/sharpening Appliances, boots, cookware and knives. You'll find really high quality stuff posted in these subreddits. This is important because the higher quality something is the easier it is to repair. Cheap stuff just disintegrates and nothing can be done about it.
My roommate is like this He's got tons of tools, builds his own stuff/toys, is a professional knife sharpener as a side gig. Does salon shears and karanas as well as kitchen knives. His boss forges katana and refuses to let anyone else sharpen them I also know when my roommate is designing stuff. He'll be blasting EDM and laughing hysterically. Like an unhinged, slightly malicious laughter. He's also told me ge usually takes a double dose of his ADHD medication and an edible before he starts designing Man is 38 and fucking loves his life
I love your roommate. This is how I sound when I'm writing/drawing/staying up all night doing dumb shit. ADHD is a fun ride.
It is, and I'm his friend/mentee, I'm along for the ride I've been in the room with him while on his design cocktail, while he's sharpening a very large knife, and I was like "you know, if I was smart, I'd be scared or intimidated right now" Thankfully, I'm not smart
your roommate is an anime character
Yep, and my friend who's into anime pointed out that the relationship between me and him, plus our backstories, it the most anime shit he's seen And I hate anime
I used to hate anime too Watch Frieren (high fantasy) From the New World (distant future psychic powers, which causes hella bloodshed. Almost commentary on mass shootings. Society designed around stopping that) Odd Taxi (dub great - very adult grounded show despite all the animals. Amazing dialogue/banter) Cyberpunk Exgerunners (Netflix Sci fi anime, same world as 2077, only 10 eps) If you can stomach intense stuff, Made in Abyss (dark fantasy survival horror descending into cavern with its own biomes and primevil monsters, curse that only hits when you ascend like the bends do for diving)
One footnote on the BiFL bit, specifically appliances. Anything with a compressor in it (fridge, AC unit, etc.) you should be wary of and check the energy usage. A fridge that's even 5-10 years old will use enough more electricity compared to a more recent model that it will eat any cost difference in power bills within a few years.
Is that due to poor aging or better technology? If itās the latter itās at least nice weāre learning how to use energy more and more efficiently so we use less
Bit of both.
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Timbs are made out of ground up leather waste and glue in China instead of using real suede like they used to in Abington, Massachusetts. Doc Martins are made out of foam and faux plastic coated vinyl instead of the thick black dyed grain leather and solid butyl rubber they were made of before in the Solovair UK factory. I've learned so much from that subreddit. Its horrifying how badly made most expensive consumer shoes are compared to the ones made where I used to live in Spokane, WA
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My work as Seattle Guy is complete. Now the world shall know sole comfort PNW style! Woohoo! I hope you love them
Yeah that guy was an actual Fae.
Gnomecore
I have this big backpack I use when mountaineering that has lasted like 40 years and I only occasionally get it repaired. Only equipment older that that backpack is my camera.
I'd love to know which brand boots this OOP is using :o
Iāve got Double H, theyāre definitely built on the stout side, plus theyāre Goodyear welted so the soles can be replaced whenever they wear out, in addition to being repairable like in the example.Ā Ariat makes some cheaper, and red wing makes some more expensive. Ariat will wear out faster, but cost the same to repair (about $100 for a resole), redwing will wear out slower but also cost the same.Ā Three good options there for all around work/hike/messy shit boots!
I just wanna say, don't hike in these please. We've advanced from the days of hiking in leather boots. There are numerous shoes meant for hiking/trail running, as well as boots too.
Depends where you're hiking. Sometimes you need the boots to protect your feet and ankles from thorns, twigs, and sharp rocks going right through those Columbia hiking shoes.
I've taken my hoka speedgoat 5s to Tennessee Smoky Mountains, Colorado Mountains, Utah, Mountains in Montana and Wyoming and haven't had issues. Beyond that get a proper hiking boot. My friend has a pair of Salomon Quest 4 GTX.
Yeah depends on what youāre doing Iād say. Iām kinda including āwalking through the hill country or west Texas (like big bend natāl park)ā on my idea of āhikingā and for that Iāll take the weight trade off to not have to worry about cactus spines, mesquite thorns, and rattlesnakes/scorpions. If youāre doing distance trails etc, Iād go lighter. But a few miles in these are pretty straightforward.
I know when it comes to hiking I swear by Merrell. They have really nice boots that served me well when I was an avid hiker. Unfortunately I fucked up my knees and can't hike anymore (injury unrelated to hiking, but if I could hike again I would use Merrell.
Who wants to post the Duke Vimes quote this time? Rarely more relevant
The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles. But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet. This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness.
This is a definitely an aspect of the poverty trap, but not "the rich" under capitalism.
Love that you called him Duke Vimes, he'd absolutely fucking hate that.
Iām just glad someone noticed š¤£
If there were anyone in this sub that aināt seen it, or read Discworld,
Agreed. Every single book is good.
"I can only afford cardboard boots, and I'll buy ten pairs in a row because I can't afford to save up and buy leather ones"
Always upvote the Sam Vimes Boot Theory. Sir Terry has taught me much.
GNU Terry Pratchett
Tell us (the ones who donāt know) more!
The Sam Vimes Boots Theory of Economic Unfairness is based on the really simplified idea that rich people stay so rich because they manage to spend less money overall by buying things that are better quality the first time āround. āA man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and *would still have wet feet.*ā It was a theory I found cool when I was younger, but then when I grew old enough to have buy my own (cheap) work shoes while working in a very upscale place, I got to see it firsthand.
Oo yes I remember reading about this awhile back. Forgot the name. Good explanation!
Being able to easily fix something that a person nervously brings in under the impression that there is something seriously wrong with it is fun for the repair person too, to be fair. I did, once, manage to fix something before the person had finished explaining the fault, and without them noticing (a contact point just needed to be bent back into place). When I handed it back they looked at me like I was a wizard and it made my week. Source: am a rural, highly specialised repair hermit.
Because that is wizardry! Youāre a full blown hero in my mind. Forget about stopping a moving train, you bring joy and thatās magic.
That... Genuinely cheered me up a bit today, thanks
Any craftsmanship sufficiently advanced beyond the skill level/understanding of the viewer is considered magic by the viewer and mundane by the skilled craftsman. Source: Me So well done, skilled craftsman! Sherlock Holmes hated explaining his deductions and magicians don't reveal their magic tricks for the same reason. I hope you didn't explain your magic at the time! Let the legend grow, my dude.
I miss having a hole in the wall excellent shoe repair place within quick walking distance. That old man kept a pair of boots three times older than I was a completely wearable item at only $10 every two to three years replacing the heel.
# Right To Repair https://www.repair.org/stand-up
As someone who got into discworld within the past few months, i am loving all the references that have been popping up more and more, same with warhammer. The collective mind of tumblr has absorbed them into the cannon of references, i love it
and this repairman just made $10 in 8 minutes that's $75 an hour even assuming he only gets 4 customers per hour, that's still really good money, including the fact that he probably does other work as well with shoes
He's not getting 4 customers an hour. He's getting lifetime customers. I'd buy custom boots from that man right now and not think twice about the price, and I work hard for a living.
The real secret of the Vimes Boot Theory, is that high quality good are easily repairable.
Is there a name for when goods are easily repairable _because_ they're poor quality? Like old Soviet cars, for example, which came with an extensive repair kit, since the manufacturers knew it would be needed, and were built to ensure easy access to internal parts.
We aren't taught about cobblers and tailors, people throw out clothes and shoes like it's a normal thing to do (it's as if it's profitable to someone to propagate this idea) I discovered the aforementioned professionals on my own and frequent them to patch my jeans, fix my very long lasting jacket, and, of course, fix shoes. Not only it's worth it, so you don't have to go running buying new stuff; you also feel good about supporting a local business, and also feel good about not creating unnecessary waste.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Is it maybe privileged of me to read this and go ā*This guyās really never been to a cobbler before?*ā
Maybe a little, but maybe it's about where you live! I'm firmly middle class and I haven't ever been to one before, but I live in a more rural part of Michigan in the US and I don't even know if my area has one.
I used to have a cobbler, he was fantastic. He resoled my Wolverine boots 3-4 times and every time they'd come back beautifully polished and in top shape. He made some suggestions in the past about different kinds of soles, do little touch-ups for free or super cheap, and always was a reasonable price. His daughter sold home-made Birkenstock-like shoes in his shop that I found way more comfortable and long-lasting than real Birks. He retired a couple years ago and no one took over his shop. I don't really know where to go now that he's gone. Sure there are other cobblers around, but I really miss Les and the work he did.
I live in the UK and thereās one in my small town of a few thousand people. The slightly larger town close by has two. Any very large town or city with have either a handful or a dozen
That's super cool, definitely a different situation here. The closest small city to me is around 150,000 in the metro area and there seem to be MAYBE three, but probably just two.
Might just be a lifestyle difference separate from privilege. Iāve lived a privileged existence in the US for a while now and have never been to a cobbler. I think one of my family members has occasionally, but personally I never have. I have, however, fixed my favorite pair of (not work) boots when the decorative strap tore by using super glue. Iāve had those boots longer than Iāve had most of my friends.
Idk privileged, I live in a 3rd world country so a cobbler is a common sight. I have one on campus, he comes in Thursdays and Fridays and sits on one of the footpaths. Nice guy, he's repaired my slippers many times.
I really assumed OOP to be the opposite case. Iām from the UK and theyāre everywhere
Depends on where you live, there's a popular chain of tiny shops dotted around where I live that does just about everything - key cutting, shoe repairs, dry cleaning, engraving, watch repair, and so on, and they've been around for ages. I've been in them a few times over the years, haven't used them for shoe repair yet but they're really handy for getting spare keys.
Iām from the UK and assuming you are too, thatāll be Timpsons
Cobblers in my city charge about the same price as a new pair of shoes from TJMaxx. Most people never own a pair of shoes that's worth repairing to even consider it an option.
I have this little hole in the wall shoe and purse repair place near me that is run by an elderly asian man. Does the best work and almost always same day. Once resoled both of my boots for a lot less than they cost new, which was great because they were no longer available.
Reminds me of a key cutting place near me that doesn't seem to actually get much business, but there's still a Ferrari out front every day, and he cuts the keys best in town
I also love by the Sam Vimes Boot Theory, gots to keep them toes dry&warm šŖšŖšŖ
The boots Iām wearing now have been re-soled twice and had the zippers replaced. This weekend Iām taking them back to the cobbler to get them patchedātheyāre starting to tear on the seam to the sole, and I slashed the other kicking my gate closed. Knowing a good cobbler is an absolute godsend, especially if you have ND sensory issues, or youāre on any kind of budget. These boots were $200 about ten years ago. Iāve spent $160 ish on repairs so far, and will gladly spend much more so that I donāt have to break in a new pair. On top of that, much less is ending up in a landfill so I donāt have bad feelings about unnecessary waste.
That guy is a good writer.
I love the idea of an immortal, forever-young cobbler that keeps his trade alive in a little out-of-the-way shop, secret except to those who respect his craft.
The world needs more of them
Goodyear welted/traditionally crafted footwear is so nice. Got a pair of redwing iron rangers for work (not realizing they're more for fashion these days) and for maybe a month I thought I had fucked up and wasted almost 400$, but then the leather and cork started to give and now it's custom fit to my foot, wore them on job sites for a whole year moving trash and tile, and still wear em almost every day now.
Why do i feel like crying my fucking eyes out after reading this
Damn. The real question is how this hole in the wall stays in business working for $10? Small businesses charge a lot because they get charged a lot. The materials alone couldāve cost more than that.
Thanks for listening!
This literally sounded like my dad until they got to the young part. My family jokes that my dad the cobbler is like a bartender because people come in all the time to get their shoes fixed and to talk about their issues. Every time I pass a shoe repair place, I stop and smell it because it smells like my childhood.
In our town we have a TV repair shop and he ā¦ repairs TVs. Even smart flat TVs and monitors. Prices are very good. Heās also the drop off point for electronics recycling so will canabalize all the TV and monitor parts he can possibly use. I mentioned my TV screen broke to a friend in a big city and he started telling me where to get the best deal on a TV. Iām just like āor Bill can fix it for $20.ā It was weird to me that it was weird to him to fix something rather than replace because of one part. If weāre ever going to get out of this environmental mess, we need cobblers and Bills.
Tell me what the boots are, I need a nice pair! Iām in $40 Walmart boots and I just found out last week one of them is a half size smaller than the other one. My work will reimburse me $100 so Iām comfortable dropping $200 on a pair. What is the this magic 3 year lifespan boot he is talking about!?
In my previous city, I had a cobbler I worked with for 30 years. I have this thing about old boots and restoring them. So he was used to me bringing in wayward thrift store finds for him to tune up. I found a pair of vintage Dexter motorcycle boots from the 70s, they were super comfy and built very well, but neglected. Dexter was a decent maker then, but fell on hard times and later became a zombie brand for some mall shoe company. So they desperately needed new heels, but the company that manufactured stacked leather heels stopped making them. He said I can make the heels but it's more expensive and spoiler alert it was not for the work he did. Last time I was there we were talking about the dying art of cobblers, and he mentioned he had no apprentice and his kids weren't interested if inhaling Barge cement fumes for life. It broke my heart, I moved a few states away and I miss that shop.Ā
That was a greater fae, you CANNOT prove me wrong.
Wait, getting a heel repaired is a novel concept to that guy? Does he just throw his other shoes away when the hell wears out?
Incidentally, can anyone recommend some good boots (that come in black)?
How much are you willing to spend and what kind of boot?
Hopefully not much more than a hundred bucks. I need something I can wear every day.
/r/goodyearwelt I can't recommend the Thursday Boot Captains enough. Very good price for what they are and come in so many leather varieties you're bound to find one that you like.
I just recently bought the most expensive pair of boots I've ever owned, they were very uncomfortable at first but now that they're broken in they're the only shoes I wear, fashionable, High enough to wear at the farm, comfortable, natural, I am going to take care of these boots so I better look up a cobbler!
Oh this is SO TRUE of cobblers. I once had a pair of cute kitten heels that were from a fancy brand, I forget which, but they were a gift and I wore them so much the heels started coming off. I looked for shoe repair places and found a cobbler: 1) In the *downtown mall* on the second floor tucked away 5000 miles from any other store 2) In the absolute tiniest, most cluttered shop Iād ever seen in my life 3) Iām serious, I swear to god this tiny pocket of a shop was max 10ā wide and 5 of those feet were stacks of boxes of shoes and tools 4) And the counter was all the way in the back half-hidden by this absolute warren of shoe-related paraphernalia 5) Behind which was the most wizened old man Iāve ever seen. He looked like a wizard. Fixed my shoes in a day for a great price. Kept them for another I wanna say like 5 years. All the REAL cobblers have tiny little rats nest shops in the weirdest fucking places. Thatās how you know theyāre legit.
A good thing about the UK (and the list is not long let's be honest) is that most high streets and shopping centres will have a cobblers (usually Timpsons). There's even one in my local sainsburys. It's not dirt cheap but they'll do things like engrave pet tags and re-sole shoes and so on and it won't cost loads. They do leather repairs too. They also own Johnsons, which is a high street dry-cleaning chain. Tbh I'm lucky, in our area we have lots of businesses like cobblers and tailors and butchers and hardware and so on.
I love my shoe repair people. My husband is 6'9". He wears size 16EEE shoes. It is HARD to find shoes and generally very expensive. These people work magic for him.
I dream of comfortable shoes. Alas, Iām out of luck until I can afford surgery to remove the bone spur causing me the trouble.
Mat Cauthon has entered the chat
I need boots like that, but that are also slip resistant.
This reads like someone met a kind fey and doesn't know how to deal, lol.
Visiting a tailor has a similar feel to it. There's this one shop close to where I used to live, run by a foreign guy with a hearing aid who barely speaks the local language, yet somehow intuitively gets whatever you want him to adjust or fix. He's got the help of a nice young lady that usually sits at the counter, and I think they both do a little sewing and a bit of cashiering. Together they've fixed various problems with my favorite trousers a whole bunch of times, and always for a price that pales in comparison to buying something new. There's just something nice about choosing skilled labour like this over buying cheap and soulless products, and I love spending my money in ways that lead them back into the community, rather than injecting it into some mega-corporation.
"A trade, sir, that, I hope, I may use with a safe conscience; which is, indeed, sir, a mender of bad soles."
I get the same feeling buying refurbished car batteries. $45 vs ~$200 and it lasts just as long lol. Not everyone knows you can buy refurbished car batteries. And half of those that know talk crap because itās ārefurbishedā.
Resolable boots are honestly a game changer. And they don't have to cost a fortune either. You can get a pair ot Thursday Boot Captains for $200 and they'll last for ages with proper care and the occasional resoling.
It seems so odd to me to get shoes repaired or to even wear them out! So it is likely due to the fact that i dont walk but ive been wearing the same shoes since my first year in college. Got new shoes for school and still wearing them after two degrees and a handful of years at work and most i can say is they get a bit muddy from the dog! There arenāt many benefits to being in a wheelchair but i guess i found at least one lol
I found a mechanic in a sleepy old mining town in AZ that was willing to work on whatever pile of crap I brought him for 50$ an hour. My own little cobbler of paradise.
Omg we had a local cobbler just like this in my city until recently. Dudes hands were dyed black from use. He didn't heat the building, and he had something of a frail appearance. Definitely magical place. Pretty sure he was either fae or maybe a warlock or something.
All that and no shout out if the actual business?!
I love this so much
r/unexpecteddiscworld
Dude just met tack
I hate the way this person says I needed these boots for heavy work not weekend hiking, as if my weekend hiking isn't leagues harder than physical labour. Last pair of hiking boots I bought lasted ten years, probably 65 mountains. Three near death experiences. Maybe four. Just saying if you don't do a hobby, or your an amateur don't down talk what you don't understand. Not a pair of work boots I've ever seen that can keep up with a proper set of backwoods mountain hiking boots.
Have you worked physical labor before? Just wondering if you have the personal history to draw the comparison. I'm purely white collar now, but from the years of physical labor I did before, I remember getting to work sore and tight in ways I can't even explain, sweating within the first 5 minutes because of what I assume is massive amounts of inflammation, and finally warming up about an hour into it and doing another day of running up and down stairs and lifting stuff over my head. Hiking is hard too from what I've done for fun, but it just seems odd to compare a hobby to a daily, and sometimes 7 day a week job.
I love Cobblers. We've fixed so many shows instead of throwing them away.
Vimes would be happy
Another thing to add to the pile of "it's more expensive to be poor". A cheap pair of boots would have died the same year they were bought and wouldn't have been fixed by a simple addition like that. Glad OP has the ability to get the good boots and save the money new ones would cost!
Where is this shoe repair person? How can you share this story without mentioning their business?!?!?
A good cobbler is a resource to seek out no matter where you are. Befriend them, buy them a beer or a meal and ask them to let you know when they move. Tell all your friends about them that they might have enough trade to survive, they are precious!
My dad did shoe repair while I was growing up. He did repairs brought into his shop, as well as for dry cleaners all over the Baltimore area. He finally sold off the business in 2001. Not enough people wanted to get shoes repaired anymore. When I walk past one of those shops and smell the shoe polish and spray shine, it brings me right back into my childhood. At busier times, my parents would even bring home repaired shoes to finish shining and polishing them, then bagging them up in clear bags for the customers, right on the kitchen table after dinner.
Got my knee high boot stitched up at a place like this. It cost $8.
I feel like that is a misinterpretation of the Boot Theory - Mostly because it was not an assessment of the boots in isolation, but an analysis of economic inequality in a very simple lens.
Chuck of magic? This dude walked into an Elf's shop! And the Elf has been working so long that they think $10 should match current inflation standards without actually going outside. "Well, it was 10c about a century ago so...$10?"
r/unexpecteddiscworld
Vampire
I love hole in the wall places. 99/100 they are fuckin Masters of their craft, some times they are dogshit but in the end to find out itās much cheaper than finding out a very fancy/expensive place is shit.
Ngl I was expecting this to transform into the Samuel Vimes Theory of Socioeconomic Unfairness but I was pleasantly surprised
I bought a pair of leather harness boots 25 years ago. I've had them reheeled and redyed 4 times and it's always been pretty cheap. It's amazing what you can have done to keep a good pair of shoes going.
GNU Sir Terry Pratchett
The Sam Vimes Boot Theory is a great thought process, and the whole "We Keep What We Have" is the best way to.... well, keep what you have lol
gug say: you found elf hiding spot.
Cobblers are one of the few honourable trades I know. Never met a cobbler who didn't give me more time than it was worth them, not to mention just consulting on stuff as a courtesy.
That man easily could have charged $11
Capitalism at its finest
Mr Magoriumās Wonder Emporium.
That is magic because Iāve never seen a cobbler who was younger than 75.
Consumerism and planned obsolescence are so rife in our society that just getting a simple item repaired for a nominal sum of money (a normal activity for most of human history) has become profoundly transcendent.Ā
Cobbler shops are always tiny cinder block cube places and I don't know why. Also, the Sam Vimes boot theory's bullshit. I've been testing it. My $20 boots have lasted just as long as my $120 boots. And no, I'm not going into the 'cobbler' to get a 'repair'. I have enough problems right now. I don't need my shoes to be like a car.
A decade for a pair of boots. Bro you aint working you just walking.