That which Rolls

I’m shopping for new hiking boots because my boots crapped out last summer and Brian hasn’t had a decent fitting pair of boots in a very long time. I’m looking at keen boots for Brian because his mom bought him a pair of keen boots last year that actually fit him right and are comfortable.

In the ADK magazine I always used to see an ad for custom made hiking boots and last year I started thinking… “hell, I have a decent job now. I can buy things. I don’t have to live on ramen and spam anymore. Why not custom made hiking boots?” Well the reason is, as it turns out, as wealthy as I might feel at times, I don’t feel wealthy enough to spend $600 or more on a pair of shoes, even if they are the most comfortable shoes ever.

Ok… maybe if there was a 100% guarantee that my feet would be wrapped in pure joy that would last until I am 90 years old I would consider thinking about spending that much. In the end I still probably wouldn’t be able to bring myself to spend it.

So anyway… in reading all that stuff about custom boots and boot making, I learned that each shoe company makes their shoes on a particular foot model. I believe it was called a stay… a shoe stay. So if your feet are happy in Keen boots, keep looking for keens. If your feet are happy in converse, stick with converse (I don’t think they make hiking boots though.) I have read the same thing about bras.
So I searched for keens on the web. I looked around a couple of websites and ended up at Altrec.

They actually have videos to watch for each of the possible shoes you might select. I don’t know if it’s a good idea or a bad idea. It seems kind of excessive to shoot a video for each model of shoes that you carry but… I watched two videos. One I wasn’t even that interested in. I don’t know if it made me want to buy them more or less… I just kept thinking about the time and server space necessary to pull that off.

Shoe video:http://www.altrec.com/shop/detail/26602/

I guess I wonder if this is a successful marketing technique or a tremendous amount of effort for low returns. Of course… I’m blogging about it so maybe it’s successful.

Wait, I see myself getting involved in some circular logic. I suppose that’s better than getting involved in a land war in asia.