When many say “those boots can’t be re-soled,” cobbler Dave Page says, “bring it on”. At his shop in Seattle Dave has been resoling hiking boots since 1969, and even though the complexity of hiking boots has increased dramatically in the past 40 years, he has no intention of stopping anytime soon. In an “age of disposable footwear,” it’s good to see someone like Dave bringing new life to boots with many miles left to give. It fits our fix don’t replace consumption philosophy nicely.
Vasque took an interesting look at Dave Page and his quest to give new life to perfectly good boots – including many pairs of repaired Sundowners. The timing couldn’t be better to think about classic hiking boots with the recently released Sundowner GTX hitting the trail this month. The 2015 Sundowners use the same stitch pattern, sole construction and design as the originals Vasque sold 30 years ago making them a modern day equals. Or that’s the hope, and if there’s any trouble it’s good to know that there’s someone like Dave Page out there at the ready to bring them back to life.
Very cool. I still have my Vasque’s from 1978. They are stiff as a board and heavy as heck but they are bomb proof.
Would love to be like Dave: doing something with my hands and being very good at it.
Thanks for posting the video.
When I worked for the National Park Service in college, I was issued a pair of Vasque Sundowners (made in Italy) and I still have them. Terrific boots. That’s all. Nice post, MW.
New Vasque Sundowners can be had for $120 from Campmor so it’s a bit of a stretch to resole an old pair for $50-75.
The original Sundowners were immediate staples on the Appalachian Trail (as well as on college campuses) in the 1970s-80s for a good reason: tough, dependable, comfortable, and affordable. One of the best value-for-dollar items ever, IMO.
Dave does seriously good work, and at very reasonable prices. I think he charged me $30 for breathing a second life into my smelly climbing shoes.
The new ones are inferior to the old ones, THAT’s why you resole the old ones.