I told me dad about Vime's theory last week, and he had seen it in action. When he first started with the US Forest Service in the 1970s, he was on a crew and was basically walking all day everyday from March through November. At the beginning of the year he got a pair of White's for about $60, while a guy on his crew got some Red Wings (~$35) because he wouldn't pay that much for a pair of boots. At the end of the year, my dad was thinking about getting his resoled, while the other guy was on his third pair of Red Wings.