How long did your soles/heels last until you had them replaced?

[goldwings]

This is my first post in a while here, since I've been hands full.

That said, earlier this year, I had the heels and soles for two of my Jean Gaborit thigh boots replaced - and this was after having them and worn them to some extent (max once a week) for 10+ and 8+ years respectively.

One pair had about 2.5cm or thereabouts and the other had a slightly higher western heel, about 4 cm.

Spent over 550 USD for the replacements, and worth every cent of that and giving these two pairs at least 10 more years of life.
 

[Shyheels]

Jean Gaborit make lovely boots - I have a couple pair and love them. They are truly lifetime purchases 

[Jkrenzer]

Since i almost exclusively wear stilettos only heel tips and frequently. 

Sounds like you got your money's worth and the boots owe you nothing.

[mlroseplant]

I have replaced quite a number of heels and a few soles in my day. Here is what I have found: Like Krenzer said, stilettos wear out very quickly--I typically get 6-8 miles out of a stiletto tip on concrete. Mind you, I'm talking about a hard rubber replacement, Vibram or some such thing. The plastic tips that often come with new shoes from the factory wear out even more quickly than that. I've ground down a pair of stock tips in less than a mile on one occasion. That was very disappointing. To be clear, and to compare apples to apples, what I'm calling a "stiletto" is a shoe where the bottom of the heel, the part that touches the ground and gets worn out, is no more than 9.5 mm (appoximately 3/8") across in width. Often, it's even thinner than that. Most of my stilettos are 8 mm (5/16") thickness, or very close. My thinnest heels are about 6 mm (1/4"). Those have never been worn for anything but incidental outings (for example, walking from the car to the church or grocery store) and I STILL had to replace the heels after a couple of years.

For this reason, I quit wearing stilettos to actually walk in several years ago, much as I do enjoy it. Running errands--going to the grocery store, the post office, the barbershop, church--sure, I'll still wear stilettos. Going for a purposeful walk just to go for a walk, I've switched to slightly thicker heels mainly. If you go to a slightly thicker heel, at least 16 mm (5/8") across, you get several times the life on the heel tips. I don't keep as careful records as I used to when I first started heeling, and I do a lot more "incidental" heeling these days, in which case the miles don't get recorded, but it seems like I get anywhere from 30-50 miles (48-95 km) out of a good Vibram heel before it needs to be replaced.

As far as soles, I've only ever had to replace the crappy thin leather coverings that often come on women's "mid-level" shoes. Why you would ever slap a thin piece of leather on the bottom of a platform shoe is beyond me, but they do it, and they inevitably wear out quickly, or get trashed if you're caught in a rainstorm. Same if you have to ever walk in snow. Dumb, dumb, dumb. I used to be all about leather bottoms, not anymore. They're fragile, and they're a pain in the butt. The leather on men's dress shoes or finer cowboy boots is completely different. It's actually got some thickness and stoutness to it. I've only ever worn through a men's leather sole once, and it took me 10 years to do it. I've never worn through a man-made sole in any of my high heels, though I've tried pretty hard.

As with anything, your mileage may vary. I weigh less than 65 kg, but tend to walk pretty aggressively. All of the numbers I have presented are merely anecdotal, but they are based on my actual personal experience, and I have recorded every repair I have made in the last 8 years.  I hope you enjoy your boots for another 10 years!

[Cali]

Any body using a 3-d printer to make new tips?

Edited June 14, 2020 by Cali

[Jkrenzer]

8 hours ago, Cali said:

Any body using a 3-d printer to make new tips?

Wouldn't work, you need a steel shank pin, and a durable rubberized plastic. Neither are achievable with a 3d printer. Even an all metal printer won't yield good results. There is no grain structure to the metal. Would shear off at the interface of the pin and the actual heel tip.

[p1ng74]

I've only ever had to replace soles/heels on 3 different pairs of cowboy boots that I wore very regularly.  I think the factory soles/heels used in off the shelf boots don't last very long, as the ones on my custom boots seem to be holding up a lot better.  The replacement soles/heels also seem to be holding up better too.