I’m so thankful for Costco because I’ve picked up lots of quality items over time on sale or clearance that would be WAY so much money if I bought them new now.

Thanks! This is what I need. I didn’t know they existed!

Gingher

I Didn’t even think of an military surplus store duh and There’s one pretty close to me so this is perfect. I’ll stop by there tomorrow and look for an Alice pack. Thank you so much !

I love my danners. i wear the mountain light ii in all four season, they are the most comfortable boots I have ever tried and haven’t really worn anything else since putting them on 3-4 years ago. The soles are soft so they will wear if you walk a lot on cement but you can always get them resoled.

I don’t have the Aeron, but my company bought a bunch of Herman miller chairs (about $500 apiece) in 2018 and a ton of them broke within a year. We had a warranty, but it made me really skeptical of the brand.

this will be a serious consideration as well I like that basket style a lot I think it would work well and it seems very reasonably priced for how reinforced and quality it is. Thank you!

Fjallraven, they will repair it for you for life

They make money because they severely overcharge for what the product is. And if 3%-5% of the customer base asks for a a replacement or another pair they’re still making money because of the huge markup.

I’ve got multiple pairs - they’re ok. They do have good customer service from all accounts.

You need to read more online as what you've posted so far shows a lack of research. One example: Timberland. Timberland makes over 100 different types of footwear for men. Some of them are terrific. Some of them are normal and are meant to be tossed after say a year. People often disparage brands such as this because they purchase the on sale $50 Timberland glued construction boots and expect the lifespan of the $250 Timberland PRO goodyear welt construction boots. Repeat this with other brands like Red Wing, Allen Edmonds, etc. There are many footwear ignorant people on the internet.

Here is your help and please listen with an open mind as I know stuffs:

1. You don't know your shoe size. You need to correct this or you will fail hard. https://www.newbalance.com/on/demandware.static/-/Library-Sites-NBUS-NBCA/default/dwc8bbcac1/pdf/Womens_Printable_Sizing_Tool.pdf is one method, but you should use a Brannock Device for best results. You will find out that you have, say, 10EE feet. EE is important as there is not such thing as "wide" as that varies from maker to maker with no solid size. And many quality shoemakers make 10EE boots which will be 100% better fitting than a nebulous "wide".
2. The hallmark of BIFL footwear is goodyear welt construction so you can have them resoled later. You must know this as part of the looking process. And know that not all makers make 100% quality footwear. For example: Timberland and Red Wing make super quality BIFL boots and they also have some normal boots which are not super quality. If you buy without knowing if they are goodyear welt construction....you may step in the bear trap.
3. Know your men's size. As part of item 1 above, perhaps measure with the men's Brannock and write this down. This expands the pond of purchase as, generally, there are more men's boots than women's....and respectfully, since you have large feet, this works greatly in your favor!
4. Lastly budget. $800 boots are a thing and we don't know your budget. For some $800 is a yawn figure, for others its a hard pass. So we can't recommend without this metric. Very generally BIFL boots start at $200ish and anything south of that should be looked at hard, unless there is a terrific sale.
5. Since you are in 'Merica, the easy button is to walk into a Red Wing store and get a real fitting from Al Bundy in the store via a Brannock Device and tell him your budget and you only want to see goodyear welted non-safety toe boots.

Yeah darn tough makes great socks…. Until you buy their athletic socks. They blow. They are also way too narrow for someone who has normal size feet. Why would you make socks in the same size be much more narrow? I told them explicitly that’s why I was going else where for athletic socks. They seem to wear faster too. I went with the Grip6 socks

They don’t seem to last, but they stand behind them. Not sure how they make money

Will have a look. Thanks!

Will have a look. Thank you!

Will have a look. Thank you!

Got a pair as a gift last Christmas, now almost all my athletic socks are bombas. Replaced 5 or 6 pair of darn tough socks that were anything but tough. Will avoid their athletic socks in the future and stick to their mid weight calf height.

Only had them for a year but I can’t detect any wear. Compared to new pairs, I can’t tell which is which.

If you're just wearing it for 30 min, I'd go Alice Pack, but try to swing by a military surplus store and try one out before pulling the trigger to see how it fits. The folks that run those are usually chill and probably won't care if you load it up before trying it on, but I'd ask first lol. If you can find one, the older army packs, with metal frames, are the way to go. They can be better adjusted to fit your body and are bomb proof, but I've seen the newer plastic frame ones be put through tons of abuse

I’ve had something similar. I got them as a gift and emailed them to get an exchange for a different color. They sent me a new set and told me to keep/gift/donate the other ones.

Another company w a similar experience is SimpleModern water bottles

You are confused as this is not an upkeep question. The question is which sharpening brand/type he should use/what types there are. I provided one answer. You should provide another answer vice grading my answer....OP needs help and I didn't ask for yours.

Brother have I got just the thing for you.

Gingher. You will know the quality when you first use them, and 20 years later you will still be happy with the money spent.

Could also be body oils, and sweat. My old chair only had cracks on the arm rests that I regularly grabbed. Rest of the chair was fine.

I have an osprey backpack and I’ve had it for about 12 years, still going strong and I’ve used it heavily. Plus they repair and sell replace components so you don’t have to buy a whole new one if a buckle breaks

Darn Tough, SmartWool, and LL Bean "wool socks" all also use a blend. It's unlikely you even have any 100% wool socks these days.

Merino Unbound are 100% merino wool and by far the nicest leggings I've ever owned. Also the most expensive. I bought two pairs and considered them an investment since I've moved to the northeast.