Don't Buy Timberlands!

Hi folks.

Most of you know that I favor work boots around this time of year. But I bet you don’t know about my longstanding loyalty to the Timberland brand. For more years than I care to count, I would dutifully troop over to Bob’s Stores, or recently to the Timberland Outlet in Kittery.

But about 5 years ago, I noticed a dramatic decline in quality. Timberland, after many years of advertising as ‘Made in the USA’, suddenly and without fanfare, shifted their production to China. Initially, I didn’t think that much of it, but my first pair of Chinese-made boots didn’t quite last me a year, where I used to get 2 or 3 seasons out of the American-Made boots.

My last two pairs have not lasted even one season, and in fact, my last pair has just quit after somewhat less than 6 months of wear. Every time, the sole has split clean through to the footbed, rendering the waterproofing completely useless, and giving me cold and wet feet in the process. So, here it is, January 2005, and I’m reduced to wearing either my big LL Bean storm boots, or my Gore-Tex Rockport dress shoes to slog through the mess to get to work every day.

But I’m not taking this sitting down. The first thing I did was check the internet for ‘boots made in the USA’, and it led me to this website: http://www.usstuff.com/shoes.htm You’ll note that Timberland is nowhere to be found, and in fact, most of the big brand name manufacturers are not on this list, either.

But what I did find was this company: http://www.redwingshoes.com/

This looked like a decent shoe, so I had to ask all my online groupies about it. As it turns out, these are highly recommended by the manufacturing industry for their quality and safety. One online friend gave it the following endorsement: My Red-Wing boots lasted damn near 5 years in a plant! My last pair of Red-Wing shoes are still in great shape after 3 years of plant work. So yeah, they're good!

So, needless to say, I’m in the market for a new pair of Red Wing boots. And if you’re really interested in keeping manufacturing jobs in the USA and supporting union shops, check out this website: http://www.shopunionmade.org/

So, give it some thought the next time you need a new pair of work boots, and if you can, remember to Buy Blue!! http://www.buyblue.org/