It used to be, back in 1980, that hiking and camping gear was built to be “bombproof.” Bombproof gear was neither inexpensive nor light. 8-pound packs were the rule - they held 7 pound tents and 2 pound cooksets, and you paid $300 for the best of them (about $600 in today’s dollars.)

And you needed Boots to carry it all. Not little running shoes, but BOOTS - all leather, steel shanks, took months to break in - and they lasted years. $200 dollar boots (at the cheap end.)

Eventually, we realized that not everyone was going to Everest for the weekend, or the wilds of Alaska for 6 months, unsupported. We found out gear didn’t have to be bombproof, and didn’t have to result in a second mortgage. We started getting light, affordable gear - and found we could carry that lighter load with lighter, more affordable shoes, built more like those running shoes and less than Boots.

There was a trade off: nothing lasts forever - and that’s OK, especially in a time of rapid technological change. So, expectations changed - for example, doing half a dozen or a dozen long weekend trips per year in the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana area, I plan to replace my light nylon hikers about every 3-5 years. (My old Vasque Skywalkers, all leather, lasted 10 with no problem - and cost twice what the Oboz I bought last year cost.) Most thru-hiker accounts I read talk about getting 700 - 1,000 miles on a pair of boots, as I recall, instead of talking about how long a time they will last.