Bushwalk Australia

Are these boots repairable or are they a write off ?

The boots are about 10 years old, only had intermittent use in recent years - I dug them out for a trip to Cradle Mountain but the soles basically separated from them after one good days walking - so I bought a new pair in Devonport to continue our walking in Tassie for a few weeks.

It looks like the glue holding the sole on has disintegrated completely. If it's possible and worthwhile I'd be happy to get them repaired for a reasonable cost, possibly with a Vibram or similar sole.

You can bet that the glue holding other parts of the boots have also aged, so you’ll be repairing one part while another part will fall off on the next walk. Have it repaired but I wouldn’t trust it for any distant walks.

The glue used to hold the soles on actually needs to be flexed to stay subtle and strong. Worse thing to do to any shoe is not wear them for a long time. It can take as little as two years without any use to cause this so not as much a matter of the age of the boot rather than the time not used. Sometimes the material in the sole will also disintegrate. I am with GPSGuided on this. Speak to a proper boot repairer if one still exists and they may have suggestions but also count the coin of repair to see if it is worth it.

In my opinion, Walkalong in Melbourne would be the most reputable boot repairer in Australia. I've sent many a pair of boots to them over the years. Particularly when working for K2 in Brisbane. I recently sent a pair of my own full grain leather (one piece) Scarpas for re-soling. You've got postage and a probable cost in the vicinity of $180. I had to seriously ponder over whether mine were worth it for what i might get out of them.
Those boots of yours. I would consider a write off. They are made to be more affordable. Swede or a combination of that and a synthetic with panelling and stitching will hardly keep the shape (or last) over time to properly allow a re-soling. Taking the current sole off will likely render the boot too damaged or shapeless to reasonably allow repair.
Think of it like you might a car. Do you really expect putting re-treads on the vehicle will be the same as putting new tyres on? That you might get the same life?

I agree that they are probably a write off, but the sole on those boots is separate to the rand, which is attached to the upper, and that connection still looks intact, so the shape of the boot is not going to change.

If I was trying to fix them, I’d use Aquaseal - clean everything really well, roughen the surfaces, wipe with a volatile solvent, and ensure good coverage of the surfaces with whichever of these glues you use. Hold the sole in place with plenty of tape whilst it dries. Aquaseal is flexible, and sticks extraordinarily well. Shoe Goo is another shoe glue, but IMHO, Aquaseal seems to be more robust.

At penultimate worst you’ve wasted $20 and some time. Ultimate worst is obviously failure on the trail, but you’d no doubt test them on shorter walks first if you were planning a repair.

A

End of Life.
Buy some lightweight joggers WHICH FIT. MUST be wide enough.

Cheers
Roger

Hi Steve. I highly recommend trying Sikaflex 11FC polyurethane. I used it on a pair of Scarpa boots that lost their soles (worst hiking investment I ever made) and got another couple of years out of them. Works very well, and comes in black.

Should have mentioned that you will want some turps and paper towels handy and some disposable gloves. Sticks like the proverbial to a blanket to anything it touches.

Hughmac wrote:Hi Steve. I highly recommend trying Sikaflex 11FC polyurethane. I used it on a pair of Scarpa boots that lost their soles (worst hiking investment I ever made) and got another couple of years out of them. Works very well, and comes in black.

Interesting application. With no experience of this product or range of products, is this designed as a sealant in the building industry? Or is it the adhesive model? I note that Bunnings no longer stock this product. If this works for boots, might consider its use for variously at home.

Shoe Goo will probably work just as well. I have used it for ski boot soles, very successfully.

Cheers
Roger

GPSGuided wrote:

Hughmac wrote:Hi Steve. I highly recommend trying Sikaflex 11FC polyurethane. I used it on a pair of Scarpa boots that lost their soles (worst hiking investment I ever made) and got another couple of years out of them. Works very well, and comes in black.

Interesting application. With no experience of this product or range of products, is this designed as a sealant in the building industry? Or is it the adhesive model? I note that Bunnings no longer stock this product. If this works for boots, might consider its use for variously at home.

It is an adhesive. The stuff is magic on just about anything. Sticks like crazy and seems to maintain its flexibility virtually indefinitely. As I say, you just don't want to get it on yourself.

Sellys make a three in one sealant adhesive and gap filler. Readily available, wonder if it may have the same properties as the aforementioned Sikaflex?
Phil

Thanks everyone - unfortunately they had to stay in Tassie due to luggage weight limits - I hate waste and would have had a go at repairing them for non-critical use.

But we still managed to get in loads of walking down there and will be heading back for more and to see the areas we missed.

When I walked the Tasmania Overland last November, there was a young lady staying in the same shelters. She had bought her (good quality) hiking boots second hand, so they had probably not been used for some time. The soles started to come off the first day.

I always carry ~1 metre of duct tape for emergencies, so we used that as a temporary fix. I advised her to go back, because she was only a few hours walk from the start so she could still bail out easily. However, we met a ranger who was quite relaxed about it and he gave her an entire roll of duct tape and he advised her to just walk on. It happens very often, he said.

The girl made it all the way to Cynthia Bay, but by then the outer soles had completely come off. She was from Brisbane and had never seen snow in her life. But on the Overland we had crazy snow, in places knee deep and occasionally even waist deep! I was quite proud of her how she toughened up during the walk and in the end she didn't even take the ferry at Lake St Claire but even walked the last section along the lake without outer soles!

Anyway, regarding the opening post: I would write them off. The mid sole has likely decayed too, so I doubt that it can be reliably repaired. It will really ruin your day (or worse) if ik comes off on the top of a mountain or something.

Write them off!
I sent a pair of zamberlan boots to walkalong in melbourne and... never again.
Within a couple of weeks the soles started coming off again. It was a very costly exercise and the customer service was nothing short of "interesting".