From our Friend Eric Kessler, photo from Grand Gulch in Southern Utah.
Old things are worth keeping. They are more than things; they hold our stories and history. We live in a society that values fashion, and youth. We click “buy” and receive our latest impulse overnight. I cherish things I have acquired over time that have lasted, have been part of my adventures and experiences, and have history forged through surviving the demands of expeditioning. My Limmer's are manifestations of these values I have crafted my life around.
I stopped into the Limmer shop in 1981 to get my feet measured for a pair of their boots. I was told I would receive a postcard when my order was up for building. Six months later I received my notice I was next on the schedule. I was a college student at the time and didn’t have the $150 to cover the cost. In a prototype act of Go Fund Me, my friends chipped in or gave me loans to cover my shortfall, and I was able to get my boots. They are still with me and have come to represent the wisdom of my elders and the value of purchasing quality gear.
I first heard about Limmer's through Willi Unsoeld and Phil Costello, two early instructors at Hurricane Island Outward Bound School. They had entered my life as legends, Willi an early childhood mountaineering hero and later professor of mine at The Evergreen State College, and Phil as my first outdoor education mentor and director at Project USE, an adaptive Outward Bound program based in NJ. They both wore Limmer's and I observed their comfort and durability in the field. I determined that I would get my own and put an end to endless mole- skinned heals and worn out boots every few years. I never looked back.
Limmer boots exemplify a craft that is passed down through generations. They hold knowledge and tradition. You don’t learn how to make a pair of Limmer's on YouTube. You apprentice and work up through materials and steps that must come together to end up with a custom fitted pair of boots. The history, skills, and quality are learned through time and mentors. Mastery takes patience and commitment. The same commitment to workmanship is true of both the custom and stock boots. Each time I put my Limmer's on I think of the process that led them to being mine, and I feel respect and gratitude.
When my boots were delivered to me, I had already set off on my bicycle from Olympia to Santa Cruz to attend a quarter long Sierra Institute. The program was a field-based natural history course offered through UC Santa Cruz. I literally picked up my new boots from a California friend’s home and put them on as I backpacked for the next 10 weeks. I never got a single blister and though it was a very wet spring with lots of lingering snowpack, my feet stayed bone dry. I wore my Limmer's every day and was thankful I had them. They accompanied my expeditionary dirt bag life for decades, and survived conditions and abuse that would have blown out lesser footwear.
I know the price of Limmer's has gone up since I bought mine, but they are lifetime investment and end up being way less expensive when you consider their lifespan in decades not years. I am happy to support the skilled boot makers at Limmer. I want to be part of an economy that is based on tradition, quality, and durability. Thank you Limmer's for taking me to the most remote and beautiful places on this planet, year after year.
