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It wasn’t so much failure as being seduced into buying another pair of off-the-shelf boots. Maybe this time... I’ve been forced to wear shoes that don’t fit all of my adult life. The problem is, my toes are straight. The width of my foot across the tips of the toes is the same as the width at the ball of my foot. Shoes, however, are widest at the ball and then begin to narrow toward the toes. Cowboy boots are the worst, but no shoe I’ve found allows toes to point the directions they would point if they’d never been progressively crushed and tortured into the shapes of modern shoes. The last comfortable boots I owned were Herman Survivors, but they were not waterproof. The raised welt around the toes trapped water and the stitching provided drains into the boots. Even so, I wore them and repaired them for nearly 20 years until there wasn’t enough left to stitch together. San Antonio Shoe Company that makes shoes with sufficient toe room, but it doesn’t make boots. If it ever does add boots to its line, I’ll buy a lot of stock in it. I was wondering how many more weeks my big toes would be without feeling after a recent hike when it occurred to me that I can afford to have a pair of boots made every decade or so, custom boots that would fit my feet, if no one else’s. I began e-mailing boot companies whose ads in hunting and hiking magazines listed Internet addresses. I e-mailed large retailers asking if they could recommend custom bootmakers from among their suppliers. The nearest custom bootmaker on my resulting list is in Spokane and the farthest is in New Hampshire. I started close to home. I went to Spokane and explained I wanted a pair of waterproof hiking boots built to fit my feet. They listened, measured, and offered various of their styles to base my boots on. They said they could build up the lasts to straighten the toe box on the big toe side, but all of my toes want wiggle room. I drew a picture of what I wanted the footprint to look like. I wanted lasts built for my feet and boots made from them. They wouldn’t do that. Maybe what they wanted to do would work. I said I’d have to think about it. I didn’t mind paying a big wad of money, but only if I’d be perfectly satisfied with the result. Then I asked what method of waterproofing did they use, waterproof linings or what? They don’t make waterproof boots! They said theirs are almost waterproof, though, if you put enough grease in the leather. My present boots are “almost” waterproof. I use bread sacks for liners in wet weather. I told the fitter I wasn’t inclined to spend several hundred dollars on boots and still have to wear bread sacks. When I got home from my wasted day, Barb mentioned that her brother had just bought a pair of hiking boots he was delighted with. I called him. The next day, I drove to Seattle and went to the Red Wing store on 65th. The Italian boots were well made, waterproof, and almost comfortable, but the widest ones weren’t wide enough for my toes. I looked at a display of Irish Setter boots. The toebox appeared to be almost wide enough and straight enough to accommodate my toes without pain. I put on my usual two pairs of socks and tried the boots on. Too tight in my size, but a half a size larger felt as if it would work. I didn’t want to end up in New Hampshire trying to find someone who would build boots exactly the way I wanted them. Buying the Irish Setters was a gamble, and I’ve been wrong before, but I bought them anyway. I could have probably bought the same boots closer to home, but I was already tired of looking, hunting season is near, and they were on sale. Maybe this time... |