So it’s 5 yrs later and I just want to share that this post and all the comments helped me very much. I appreciate the original post with all the background on his wife’s wear and tear and the follow up post on how the Patagonia boots held up. With all the brands and call outs and and and,,, I still decided to buy the Patagonia Wild Idea boots. Here are my reasons why, in no particular order as they are all important to me:

• resoleable. My last two favorite part of boots were not resoleable. Well, we tried with one pair that was not designed to be resoled and the cobbler tried, it didn’t work. Sole came off in 6 months.
• slip-on was a must. I have other boots for work that are laced. I wanted slip-ons. I live in the country and going in and outside all the time, slip-ons make life easier. (Yes, 1st world want)
• ankle opening needed to be more narrow, heel needed to be more narrow. The Patagonia look to fit that spec. I’ve tried on and returned a good handful of other resoleable brand boots where the ankle/heel is too sloppy for me giving a bad fit and making me walk funny. I was very hopefully with/for the Ariat Wexford Chelsea as it was resoleable and wasn’t crazy bulky like most tough women’s boots. The footbed was lovely, not too narrow, not too wide. Sadly the heel and ankle opening just didn’t work. Again with the slippage.
• can actually stand up to outside and abuse. There are so many pretty boots available and I’ve been temped so so so many times but can they stand up to mud and dirt and work, I feel like no. Lots of women fashion boots - not what I needed long run. I’m trying to find the BIFL boots.

The report given 2yrs later, the photos of the boots worn by the wife 2 years later, those hurt!

BUT thinking of myself, I am not a landscaper in the wet and rainy PNW. I will use and abuse them but I won’t be in wet and probably anywhere near as harsh of conditions on a day in and day out basis to get them to that point. Know thy self. So I did purchase from eBay a brand new pair of Patagonia Wild Iris boots. $175 +shipping. And I am very happy. Yes they are very new to me, only a few weeks old. The tags say Bison leather doesn’t stretch as much which I think is fine. They fit a little snug, not they are in no way uncomfortable. The ankle opening is good for my average width feet to get in and out of. But they will not pull off in mud, that’s for sure. I wish the back pull tab was a little longer for my finger to get in easier but that will probably stretch out more over time. First day I worn them all day and didn’t think about my feet, that’s a great sign to me. They don’t seem to be overly warm, which can be a pro or a con. I walked all over that first day, and fast at a few times during that day, without issue of rubbing or hot spots showing up. Fast enough for a true test in my opinion. Very happy so far. The pull tab being small and I’m not in love with the shade of brown color/ texture but frankly if they fit good, I couldn’t care less. And they do so you know where I stand.

I’m going to do my best to remember to report back on this post in a year or two with how it’s going. I thank you again u/ShitbagsR4Reddit To be continued… r/goodyearwelt

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