Rusty Chotas

The Chota boots are amongst the most comfortable boots I have owned, but they were not constructed to endure my use. I have worn them in salt and fresh water, always rinsed them when I returned home and kept them as dry as possible. Still they slowly came apart, and as the inner soles and lining started coming off (right), I found the rusty remains of the "steel" inserted into the boot to make them better for hiking (left). Reinforcements like these are great, but they have to be stainless to take the constant soaking that wading boots naturally will meet.