Staff Favorites: Frye 8R Engineer boots

So I'm standing there the other day in the CW garage when a guy whose initials are TK walks up to me and says, "How you liking those boots? I love mine so much I'm on my third pair!" The boots I was wearing that day were okay boots, if you don't mind prying apart an acre of Velcro every time you take them off, but they're not really my favorites. And the guy who asked me how I like them is only in his early 40s.

I don't remember when I got my favorite pair of boots—this pair of Frye Engineer 8Rs, but I would be surprised if I haven't had them almost 20 years—'92 seems about right (I think I got them to ride in to Sturgis for a Cycle magazine story). Pretty sure they predate my offspring, who will be off to college in the fall (knock wood). During that time, many boots have come and gone through the closet (and many skeletons), but I still have these and I still wear them at least two or three times a week (though I wore them almost daily for years). I've worn them on cruisers, they work fine on sportbikes on the street (and would be okay on the track, except people would laugh even more), I've had to trudge 10 miles in them when a BMW R1100GS slid from under me into Animas Creek in Colorado, I've hiked other times in them on purpose not quite so far with nary a blister, and well, yeah, I've had the things 20 years. Sometimes I still sneak them into the occasional photo shoot when nobody's looking.

Ten or 15 years ago, when the outer edges along with some of the stitching out there got bevelled away from cornering, I thought the boots might come apart and I’d need new ones or maybe a resole, but that never happened, and the things still maintain complete structural integrity. They’re super-comfortable now, but as far as I can remember they never needed much break-in anyway. Maybe what I like best is the complete lack of Velcro; once you adjust the two buckles (per boot) one time, these slip right on and off your feet but somehow still feel firmly in place—and thank God for that since many of the miles I’ve put on them lately have been through TSA-controlled airports.

In high school, the best thing I took was typing. In the Army, maybe the best thing was boot care: I smear a little brown Kiwi polish on these now and then with a cloth, wait a while and buff it off with a horsehair brush I borrowed from a guy in 1983. After that, they’re perfectly acceptable to wear to any sort of occasion requiring a blazer and nice brown shoes: They’ve outlasted one wife and a couple of girlfriends, none of whom ever said “change your shoes,” which is unprecedented among my wardrobe items.

Frye says it was founded in 1863 and is the oldest continuously operating footwear brand in America, and while it now makes some of its wares elsewhere in the world, the Engineers are made in the USA with Frye’s proprietary soft yet tough Crazy Horse leather, Neoprene oil-resistant soles, stylish Wellington vamps and nickel hardware—just like my 20-year-old ones. If I had it to do over again, I’d go with the 12-inch version just so my pants wouldn’t get stuck on my boot tops sometimes. But it’s looking like I’m not going to get to do it over again in this lifetime. I think these are the best footwear I’ve ever owned. Sniff.

**The Frye Company

160 Great Neck Road

Great Neck, NY 10021

800/826-FRYE (3793)

www.thefryecompany.com

Price… $208**