a decent pair of redwing boots will run $200-300 and last 18-24 months in a job walking daily before needing a resole ~150 that can be done 2-3 times. mine that I wear a couple times a week I got 18 years ago and have had to do a $50 re-heel of them is it. giving them 48 hrs to dry after wearing really extends the life of the leather
Also have some a few pair of Redwings Heritage boots. First real-leather shoes I bought were some Iron Rangers. I wore them as my main shoes for the first year I had them, nearly every day. Wore the absolute hell out of them. They still come out many times a year, and I treat them as work boots, so they get things dropped on them, I sit on the floor and crush them side-down for long stretches, et c. I also wore them up a couple mountain trails in the Appalachians maybe three years back, one a pretty damn long and high-elevation-change trail (do not do this, they are heavy as fuck compared to any modern hiking boot or, especially, shoe, it was a very bad idea) which beat them up plenty.
"Camp mocs", chukkas, and loafers have replaced them for everyday wear, for me, but that first pair of IRs still see some of my hardest-wearing days, probably 20-30 days a year.
Given the rate of wear for the ~2 years when I wore them very heavily, I'd say I could have gotten 5-8 years without babying them a bit (with a re-soling around year 4, probably). With my current usage pattern I expect they'll last about 20, with a re-soling at some point. If a person used shitty work boots for the really rough days to avoid abusing the expensive boots, and maybe kept some purpose-specific shoes for things like snow, heavy rainy weather (duck boots in both cases, perhaps), or hiking (god, just get a modern hiking shoe or boot, leather shoes are so heavy), 10 years of ~50%-of-days wear is very possible out of that boot style, I'd say. That may even be on the low side.
If you just bought cheap Walmart boots, you'd probably be spending $50 per pair, but need 2 pairs a year (maybe even more, but you're not putting a huge amount of wear and tear), call it $100/year. Over 18 years that's $1800!
In 2010, I lived in Houston and worked at an ice rink (which are opposite climates especially when walking on the ice -- so theoretically hard on any footware). I bought a pair of boots from Academy which cost $80. Those boots lasted until about 6 months ago when the center of the bottom of the rubber split.
Yes it's absolutely possible for well-built footwear to last a long time.
I’ve had that happen. I burn through heels, and need a resole every 3 or so, depending on use. Also a secret weapon is shoe trees. They keep away funk, and also seem to help the shoe last longer.
