PMI IDSIG
PMI IDSIG
Few items of clothing are as much a part of Americana as the classic cowboy boot, even historians say it has its roots in Spain. Like the six shooter, the cowboy boot is a symbol of the Old Wild West days of our country’s youth.
Cowboys as the name suggests, were most often involved in tending and herding cattle, when they were legally employed that is. So it is only fitting that cowboy boots were, for the most part, made from cow leather. Today, of course, you can find cowboy boots made from any number of animal skin. Alligator, snake, eel, and even ostrich skins are used, but many of these materials are used by fashion conscious would-be cowboys. Out on the range, you’ll mostly find good old fashioned cow leather boots.
Good boots were a necessity, back in the day. They were designed to slide into and out of the stirrup easily to allow quick mounting and safe dismounting. The high tops reached halfway to the knee to protect the lower leg while riding through tall brush or sawgrass that would otherwise leave the shin raw and bleeding.
Good cowboy boots have always been a fairly expensive item, though. In the wildest days of the Old West, you might see victims of a gunfight buried without their boots which had been quickly pilfered after his demise. Even today, good cowboy boots can cost a pretty penny.
Even worse than the cost of new boots, though, is the breaking in period. Breaking in a new pair of tough leather cowboy boots can take weeks, weeks full of blister and skin rubbed raw by chafing. Those experienced with this painful process often turn to shoe repair companies to renew old boots instead of buying new ones. Not only will this save them money, but it eliminates the breaking in process entirely. Companies that handle western boot repair can resole them and rebuild the entire upper part of the boot restoring them to like new condition. Often, they’ll handle everything by mail order. While it may be hard to find a good cobbler out on the range, chances are there’s regular mail service. Boot repair takes two to three weeks between the time they are mailed out and the time they arrive back in the mailbox says online shoe repair specialist NuShoe.com.
While two to three weeks without your favorite boos might seem like a long time, it sure beats going through the trouble of breaking in a new pair which can take longer than that. Cowboy boots used to be worn so much that they would be difficult to take off and often required a boot jack or an assistant to pull them off at the end of the ride. Now that’s a good fit.