After graduating from high school, instead of forging ahead along the traditional path of higher education, I decided to enroll in the National Outdoor Leadership School for a semester spent entirely in the bush of New Zealand. For this, I needed a pair of sturdy hiking boots.
In an attempt to save some cash, my father proposed an alternative to our local gear shop: his old hiking boots that had been stashed in various bins and closets for 20 or so years. As he’d be the one ponying up for a new pair, I didn’t have a choice other than to concede and agree to at least look over the boots and slip my feet into them.
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When he finally did succeed in obtaining the boots from the maw of our basement, it quickly became clear that they would not serve me on my trip. For one, they didn’t fit. But more importantly, the leather had cracked and dried like over-dehydrated beef jerky; the stiff mass of rubber and leather less yielding than our dog’s rawhide bones — he took one sniff and retreated, and we made our way to the gear shop.
My dad’s boots — I no longer remember the brand — were the type that could feasibly have lasted a lifetime, had they been adequately cared for. Even after years of his use, the lugs maintained their ridges and the welt held fast. It was the leather upper, left to years of neglect, which made the boots un-walkable.
Cleaning and maintaining leather hiking boots is a simple chore that, if carried out regularly, will make a sturdy pair of boots last for years. We recommend using Nikwax products to do this because they don’t require heat activation and are easy on the materials, so we reached out to the company for tips on how to best handle the job. Below, Heidi Allen, VP of Marketing, demystifies the process, and the same boots that I bought before traveling to New Zealand get a much-needed cleanse, nearly 10 years later.
