"Worth the Cash or To the Trash"—Danner Boots Edition!!

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This is what they used to look like

So it’s been about eight months.  Carey and I are starting to settle into our day to day routine and Radar loves doing her hourly perimeter checks.  After this time we are truly starting to get a good feel for how all the items we spent our hard earned dollars on would fare once they got continued heavy use to include making it through most of the winter.  Now it’s time to let the world know, did we make wise purchases on the gear that we would come to depend on or have we whiffed completely.  Maybe a little of both.  Let’s find out, are these items “Worth the Cash or To the Trash”!!

Our first contestant on “Worth the Cash or To the Trash” is my pair of Danner Boots.  I chose to go with the Danner East Ridge 8 inch boot for a few different reasons.

First and foremost, Danner boots are made in the USA.  We are absolutely one of “those” households that will not only pay a bit more but also go out of their way to buy USA made goods as much as possible.  As a side note, Danner’s pricing is in line with other quality boot manufacturers.

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This is what they look like now

My other main reason for choosing these boots is that they have Vibram Soles.  I won’t say much about Vibram soles as I don’t want to make this too long but click this link http://www.muckboots.com/blog/so-whats-so-awesome-about-vibram-soles/ and you will get the answer to the question “What’s so special about Vibram Soles?’.

OK, so now onto my experience with these boots.  Other than my Slippers, more on those a different time, the Danners are my only footwear.  These are my hiking boots, my driving boots, my grocery getting boots, my snow shoveling boots etc….I do everything in these boots and have done so for 8 months now.

Summer and Winter are two entirely different experiences when it comes to ground conditions at Sahalee.  During the Summer it goes from dry hard packed terrain with little cacti strewn about like confetti at a New England Patriots Ticker Tape Parade.  On these days I would return back to the yurt, start taking my boots off and stick myself with cactus.  Prickly Pear all over the boots, but none of it made it through the leather lower portion or the padded ankle portion.  A boot that can walk right through Prickly Pear is a great thing to have.  The other true benefit that I found during the Summer Season was the ability for my feet to stay cool inside the Danners.  I think we can all agree that a day of sweaty feet in work boots is not very pleasant.  So we know the Danners are great in Summer–good sturdy boots, keep your feet cool, great Vibram soles produce great traction and they are just comfortable to walk in but what about Winter?

While Winter doesn’t produce the prickly pear cactus like Summer does, it does present some unique challenges that need to be considered when buying a pair of boots.  The first challenge, and my only complaint, is just the snow and cold.  While they are insulated and waterproof, it’s just not the same as putting a good pair of moon boots or Sorrells on when it’s down in the single digits.  Multiple layers of socks are always nice, but then the boot just doesn’t fit right.  Another real life challenge for these boots was the acquisition of 5 cords of firewood prior to and during Winter.  While I never got the opportunity to see how they would handle a chainsaw, they did handle the work very well.  These boots do not have a steel toe, and that is all right by me.  They have a very tough leather toe that has had many meetings with multiple saw rounds and many a split log, other than a sore toe once they withstood the beating.

In our game of “Worth the Cash or To the Trash” Carey and I can both safely say that the Danner East Ridge boot is “WORTH THE CASH”!!!!!!

Interested in checking out these boots for yourself?  Click on one of the Danner Hyperlinks to go to Amazon see for yourself!

3 months and 21 years

It’s hard to believe that we’ve been at Sahalee full-time for just 90 days. It seems so natural, like we’ve been here our whole lives. Our 16 years in Florida now seem very much like a sweet tropical dream- Just a little blip on our personal time travel continuum.

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Sandoval County Fair

Here are some pics and video of the big happenings around town last weekend during the much-anticipated county fair. ENJOY!!

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Flyin' sideways

Amid all the hustle and bustle of paid work and projects on the property, we were pleased to entertain two very good longtime friends Joe and Karin last weekend- Our first official visitors to Sahalee!!

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Waste management (or lack thereof)

Most of you who know me know that I am a compulsive recycler. I describe it as an addiction because I literally can’t stop myself from picking up recyclables whatever and wherever they are in hopes I’ll be able to reclaim what little value they have left in the post-use waste stream (along with helping to make the planet a little more picturesque and critter-friendly).

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Fire and Water

Wood-burning stove, check.

Water supply tank, check.

Still working to bring our basic off-grid utilities into service a month after arrival, so here’s an update on how the pieces are coming together.

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Going to town

Many people make trips to ‘town’ to fulfill their basic needs, including entertainment. For us, this trip is not an option. It is a necessity.

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The little things

After nearly four full weeks of living off-grid, we’re starting to recognize the daily rhythm and truly appreciate our beautifully rustic surroundings. We’re challenging ourselves to stay home for as many days we can, and so far have made it five before needing to go to town for one reason or another. Going thirty days will be a true feat we’re looking forward to accomplishing!!

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Confessions

We’ve done a real good job of highlighting all our successes so far, but I did want to reveal a few of the not-so-joyous frustrations we’ve encountered over the past few weeks to give everyone a true picture of what’s been going on around here.

I confess…

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Under cover

Coming into ‘monsoon season‘ here, we wanted to make sure the yurt was trimmed out appropriately with a stylish and functional rain awning. Ben and I examined a few different places to harvest precious rainwater with this tarp and barrel rigging, but we ultimately decided to kill two birds with one stone, as they say, by creating the front door rain cover AND a catchment all in one.

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