Soldes

[pachapapa]

Tomorrow wednesday is the first day of the summer sales in france.

 

[mint]

Thank you, Pacha, I have a lot of walking gear to get. 

How long do the soldes last?

[LEO]

[quote user="sweet 17"]

Thank you, Pacha, I have a lot of walking gear to get. 

How long do the soldes last?

[/quote]

soldes in walking boots usually last a heel of a long while!

[CBC65]

5 weeks, I think.

CBC

[Dog]

[quote user="sweet 17"]

Thank you, Pacha, I have a lot of walking gear to get. 

How long do the soldes last?

[/quote]

I took back my walking boots last week as they never last more than 6 months.

I have bought expensive ones and cheap ones and end of taking them back or having to repair them.

The laces on my new ones broke after three days and I went into Intersport to buy some more - 3.95 Euros for a pair of laces!

While there I noticed the price of walking boots had doubled or more - no doubt so they can drop for the sales.

[cooperlola]

Blimey, Dog, what do you do with them? 

I've had three pairs of Scarpa boots (2, 3 and 4 season) for nearly fifteen years (they are the only make I've ever found which are narrow enough for me) and all I've ever done is get the soles replaced and the laces from time to time.   They've done hundreds (probably thousands if I think about it) of faithful miles with me (although not for two years now, I'll admit!)  They're leather, by the way - not good at these fabric boots myself.

EDIT : My appologies Dog.  I realise on reflection that of course you can only wear fabric boots which I admit don't last so well.

[bubbles]

At the risk of being boring, the answer to the original question is - until 2nd August

[pachapapa]

Reported at 08:45 to Chez Leclerc to help with opening of doors.

Then a quick whip round the town for this & that; only thing mildly interesting was a good deal on Pinnacle Video Creator/ Pinnacle Studio Pack.

Made mistake of seeking technical advice from the "spotty yoof" on duty; the "spotty yoof" informed me after careful perusal of box that there was no way it could be used to digitise VHS cassettes.

I drew his attention to the stuff written in english on the face of the box, drawing his attention to " Transfer your home videos straight from tape to DVD".

I thought that his english studies at the Baccalaureat would have stood him in good stead but his attempts at translation into his mother's french just served to confirm that there was no chance of a magical change from analog to digital.[:D]

[DerekJ]

[quote user="bubbles"]At the risk of being boring, the answer to the original question is - until 2nd August[/quote]

Merci,  we have a washing machine to buy.

[Salty Sam]

[quote user="sweet 17"]

Thank you, Pacha, I have a lot of walking gear to get. 

How long do the soldes last?

[/quote]

Sweet17, look out for Meindle boots with a grey coloured midsole - and give them a miss !

I bought 2 pair in the sales - one pair for immediate use, the second pair as a spare. The 'spare' pair weren't required for some 12 months and when withdrawn from storage, I was surprised to see the midsole started breaking up within a short period of use.

On returning the boots to Meindle, I was informed the composite sole was designed to maintain its flexibility through use. 12 months of storage even in ideal conditions would cause the sole to fail as it had not been flexed.

Now I've heard some good excuses but this took the biscuit, especially as Meindle offered to replace the midsole at a cost which exceeded the boot price !

[mint]

Thanks for that, SS.  I bought some "mid" boots by Merrell which I think will be OK.

I did think Meindl was a very good name and, in fact, I recommended them to someone else on this Forum![:-))]

It's not as though they're cheapo boots and it's good to be warned!

[Salty Sam]

[quote user="sweet 17"]

Thanks for that, SS.  I bought some "mid" boots by Merrell which I think will be OK.

I did think Meindl was a very good name and, in fact, I recommended them to someone else on this Forum![:-))]

It's not as though they're cheapo boots and it's good to be warned!

[/quote]

My previous Meindl boots lasted me for years, never experienced any problems or wet feet.

As you say, they're not cheap but I can only assume the problem was known to the manufacturer and they were offloading their stocks at bargain prices.

Hope your Merrell's are a good buy.

[mint]

You know, I don't think they make boots like they used to do!  I know, that makes me sound really old!

I had a pair of Zamberlans that I walked thousands of miles in and I could have had them resoled but I thought I'd had my money's worth.

Then I bought a pair of Scarpa (again not cheap) and they lasted barely a year before the soles started coming away.

Nowadays, when I research the internet, I see words like one- or two-season boots.  Do they mean they are only meant to last a couple of seasons at most?

I don't really like the synthetic material boots but the leather ones are now frequently £150 and upwards.  So, my are now Cordura and Gortex or whatever.  I think the synthetics make your feet hot.

Leather takes more looking after; I always used to dry mine very carefully and then use a proprietary brand of bootcare stuff like NikWax.

I'd gladly pay £150 for good boots but I was reading up on Lowa boots (which are leather) and the reviews are not what you'd call glowing.[+o(] 

[Chancer]

When I travelled in 2004/2005 I set off with a supposedly good pair of walking boots but they lasted less than 6 months as the soles wore very quickly and it became too dangerous on mountain tracks, traversing landslips etc.

In New Zealand I found a pair of Hi-Tec hiking boots in leather (suedy but not suede) with a breathable waterproof membrane but not goretex.

5 years on and I am still wearing them on a daily basis, what I like about them are that they are so light (Hi-Tec are known for this) yet durable, I found another identical pair in Makro for 20 quid and keep them for best.

Something that I have learned to my cost is never to use boot polish or anything similar on leather boots that have a goretex or similar liner as you will have hot sweaty feet thereafter.

For extreme travelling/trekking, I would probably once again use open mesh synthetic boots as they are much quicker to dry once swamped, I have a pair of French army goretex boot liners which I can put on when fording streams or marshy terrain.

Try out the Hitec boots and dont forget the Teva Terra F1 sandals

[DerekJ]

I've had my Zamberlans for at least ten years. They've had a reasonable amount of usage and are still very comfortable, water resistant and the soles are far from worn out and nice and grippy.