Shoe Goo

 Here is the damage from my weekend in the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge two weekends ago.  The sole of my shoe about 85% removed from the boot.  The good news is the sole had no cracks and plenty of tread left on them and the bad news is my leather and some of the stitching on my boots is starting to wear and come undone.

 About a year ago when I started having this issue with my boots I purchased this tube of "Shoe Goo" for about seven bucks at REI.  Whenever I would find a place where the old glue turned to dust I would replace it with a dab of this Shoe Goo.  Two weeks ago the right sole came nearly plum off and had it duct taped for the final day of the camping trip which held for the time being.

 Last weekend my son and I participated in an orienteering event and I did not want to wear tennis shoes so I glued the old boots back up one final time and let me tell you guys something, these boots probably have another five years left in them after that.  This Shoe Goo is amazing stuff.  It sticks to practically anything (I did get some on the kitchen island I was working on but thanks to lots of laquir it came off with a paper towel and water).  The hard part about Shoe Goo is that there is no way to use it clean and neat.  You pretty much are playing with a hand grenade and globing it on everything you want to be stuck together is the best way.  This stuff also is a water sealant so any where you get this stuff on your uppers it becomes water resistant. 

 The worst area to try to look neat or pretty is the toe.  I have not found a way to glue and have it set correct.  The placement of heavy objects is not working but, the end result is the same a complete glue job.  Now with this fix I can still use these boots while searching the world for a replacement pair.

One main thing about shoes and boots, especially for us diabetics that have to buy the top shelf brands so we have ten toes when we get old is to wear them correctly.  Now, I mean to wear them where they were meant to be worn such as my hiking boots.  I do what I can to only wear them on the trail and not walking around the city on concrete.  Concrete wears the sole out on a pair of boots about 5 to 10 years before the rest of the boot wears out.  You don't want to have worn out lugs on your boots while hiking.  This goes for your running shoes as well.  Don't wear those stinky things around town if they are still in the proper life cycle, only wear them running.  If you plan on lolly gagging around town, wear some street shoes that have a good flat sole or your last pair of running shoes that have passed on to another realm.  I am not a podiatrist but have visited common sense-ville at least once in my life and know that having the correct shoe in the correct environment is what we should all do.  Basketball should be played in basketball shoes and tennis is to be played in tennis shoes, so if you enjoy those things get a dedicated pair of shoes for them and don't wear them around town destroying them.  Get walking shoes for walking and mow the lawn in anything else but a pair of flip-flops.