Field records, oldest gear first
The Log
Every entry here starts the same way: a piece of gear went into service on a known date, and we wrote down what happened to it after that. Seasons of use, the part that failed first, what the repair cost, and whether it was worth paying.
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What Buying Once Actually Costs Over Ten Years
Four items priced from purchase invoice to today, with every repair included. The arithmetic that made us stop comparing gear by what it costs at the counter.
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Stitchdown or Goodyear Welt: Which Boot Can Actually Be Rebuilt?
The two stitched constructions compared on what actually matters: how many rebuilds each will take, what each costs to reopen, and how to identify them in four seconds in a shop.
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What It Costs to Resole Boots, and When It Stops Being Worth It
What a resole costs, what you are actually paying for, and the point at which rebuilding a boot stops beating replacement. From nine seasons of invoices on one pair.
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Rewaxing a Field Coat: How Often, and Does It Extend Its Life?
How often waxed cotton needs redoing, where the wax actually goes, what it costs at home against a service, and why a rewaxed cotton coat outlived a newer laminate in our log.
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Rehandling a Knife: What It Costs and What You Get Back
What a rehandle costs, which knives can take one, what you get back for the money, and the point at which a new handle is money spent on the wrong knife.
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Which Knife Steels Are Worth Resharpening at Home?
Where the dividing line sits between steels you can maintain on a kitchen bench and steels that need a diamond plate or a professional, and why the line is not about price.
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How Many Times Can a Knife Be Sharpened Before It Is Worn Out?
What sharpening actually removes, measured rather than argued about, and how to work out how much life is left in a blade you have owned for years.
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Greases, Oils and Dressings: What Actually Keeps a Leather Boot Alive
What leather dressing actually does, the difference between grease, oil and wax, how often to apply it, and the one habit that destroys more boots than wear ever does.
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Anatomy of a Work Boot: The Parts That Decide Whether It Can Be Rebuilt
Every part of a work boot, what it does, whether it can be replaced, and how long it lasts. The reference behind every repair decision in the log.
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Pac Boots: Can an Insulated Winter Boot Be Rebuilt?
What a pac boot is, which part fails first, whether a cracked bottom can be replaced, and what ten winters of keeping one pair actually costs.
