What’s a hiker to do when the going gets rugged and industrial?
Strap on a pair of Skechers…
RUGGED INDUSTRIAL HIKERS!
25 OCT 2018 – 04 APR 2019
Like I said in the obituary for the last pair, I happened to be near a Fred Meyer one day and decided to pop in and replace my previous pair of Rugged Industrial Hikers which were sufficiently dilapidated.
Out of the box these things are comfortable for a work boot with a safety toe. A nice plus!
… and at a price point of around $70 USD things can only get better! right?
27 NOV 2018
It was pouring today, so thought I’d mention that these things do not grip in the rain. I’m sliding all over the pavement.
No shit; on a steep enough grade I’d just be along for the ride if one of these 2 yard dumpsters decided to take off down a steep Seattle hill!
Just skidding on my boots pulled along by several hundred pounds of booze bottles and Amazon boxes.
Sometimes you just gotta go down with the dumpster.
04 DEC 2018
It’s been getting frosty in the mornings. My hands have been getting rather cold just using the company supplied blue atlas gloves, but thus far the RIH’s are keeping my feet warm and dry. We have yet to get hit with frozen precipitation.
11 DEC 2018
Officially taking on water today. Not much though, didn’t really notice until I took my boots off, but seems to be coming in right around where shoe and sole meet.
14 FEB 2019
Valentine’s day, and I’m SO not in love with these boots!
They have so many leaks at this point my feet get soaked in a light rain.
Why haven’t I replaced them by now?
Well, because I’m a cheapskate! … and my time as a garbage man is coming to an end in early April, so I’m gonna let the RIHs run for a little while longer.
Here in the Great Northwest, we’ve been getting hammered with record setting snow. It’s made collecting the garbage next to impossible, and is likely to see me lose my soggy feet to TRENCH FOOT because these rugged industrial hikers have held up like frail geriatric shufflers!
12 MAR 2019
One time I found a booklet on hospice care in the garbage. Inside there was a section that talked about how when people begin to pass away, they might begin to see people and places long past, and interact with a world not visible to anyone else in the room.
I thought “That’s fascinating; perhaps it’s like the soul separating from the physical body. Like briefly inhabiting two worlds simultaneously.”
Guess that must be where my right boot is at, because it’s sole began separating last week.
Really hoping that Gorilla Tape can tether the soul of my boot sole to the physical realm just a little longer!
Hold strong brave boot, soon your struggles will forever pass…
04 APR 2019
The day is finally here, the contract is over and I’m no longer a garbage man.
On the way to my car, I unceremoniously chucked my seriously compromised pair of Rugged Industrial Hikers in the trash compactor.
Honestly I’m feeling pretty cold about that, kinda wish I’d done something special for them like maybe filled ’em with flowers and set ’em ablaze, but its too late for that now, so I wrote a poem instead:
“They weren’t the best boots, but weren’t the worst. They weren’t the last, and weren’t the first. Many boots I have owned, some held up, but these got pwned.”
○●○●○●○●○●○RIP●RIH●○●○●○●○●○●
harrybiped 