Mended, not replaced – Moccasin Boots

Mended, not replaced – Moccasin Boots

Moccasin Boots 2015

I’ve had these elk moccasin boots since 2015.

Fifteen years is a long time for any piece of footwear — especially one that’s actually been used. In that time, these boots have been repaired many times.

The crepe rubber soles have been replaced more than once.
Stitching has been redone where it gave way.
Seams have been strengthened. Wear has been answered, not ignored.

None of this was done because the boots were failing.
It was done because they were worth keeping.

Wear Is Not Failure

We live in a time that treats wear as a verdict.

A sole thins.
A stitch breaks.
A hole appears — and the object is declared finished.

But wear is not failure.
Wear is evidence of life.

These boots show their years openly. I haven’t hidden that. I’ve worked with it.

Miles, Memory, and Movement

I raced sled dogs in these boots — including professional races.

My dog lead Luna pulled in them.

She passed away in February 2024. She was special in a way that doesn’t need explanation to anyone who has shared their life with a truly exceptional dog.

When I lace these boots, I don’t do it to remember her.
I do it because the memory is already there.

It’s in the stretched leather.
In the repaired seams.
In the soles that have met winter ground again and again.

The Patch Inside the Toe

Recently, a small hole appeared inside the toe where my big toe presses against the leather.

In the modern world, that hole would be the end of the story.

Instead, I cut a leather patch.
Rounded the edges.
Worked it into place by hand, deep inside the toe box.

It wasn’t easy. My hand barely fit. The repair required patience and attention.

That difficulty mattered.

Repair as a Way of Living

Over the years, repairing these boots has become part of how I move through the world.

Replace soles.
Redo stitching.
Patch what thins.

Each repair puts distance between me and endless consumerism. Each one keeps alive skills that have quietly disappeared in just one or two generations.

Not because repair stopped working — but because it stopped being practiced.

What Repair Preserves

Repair preserves more than materials.

It preserves:

• Attention

• Patience

• Relationship with the things that carry us

These boots aren’t preserved by setting them aside.
They’re preserved by being used.

Mended, Not Replaced

The patch inside the toe is small.
The meaning is not.

The soles will wear again.
The stitching will loosen again.
And when it does, I’ll answer it.

Because peace doesn’t come from having new things.
It comes from knowing how to tend what you already have — and choosing to keep walking.