I’ve always cut down my old Xtratuffs to make slip-on (sort of) ankle boots when the time came for a new pair of Xtratuffs. But I found myself without an old pair worth cutting down, so started looking for a set of ready made rubber ankle boots. Xtratuff makes their regular boots in size 15, but not their ankle boots (that I could find). I found a pair of another brand on Amazon in size 15, so decided to give them a try.
The internet has been a godsend for people like me. Once your feet get past size 14 (and really, past size 12 in many instances), you’re not gonna find your size in local store (even if the shoe company makes them in that size). Western Auto in Juneau and Log Cabin in Craig, though, are always worth a look for Xtrafuffs, since they do stock large sizes for fishermen.
The pair I ordered on Amazon did not show up on time. Then, the shipping information went incognito when I tried to track them enroute. I waited long past the time Amazon said I could get a refund. Finally, I gave up, and asked for a refund. And of course, then the boots showed up.
I tried them on and was happy enough with the fit. I told Amazon I’d got the boots and wanted to pay. Amazon replied that I could not now pay since I got a full refund already. They did not, however, say I had to return the boots, but said keep them! I took a screenshot of that for future reference, and started wearing them as my go-to shoe because spring time was here and the snow was gone.
The boots had some nice straps on the heel to pull them on. I’ve added these to my cut off Xtratuffs in the past, using parachute cord for the strap, but those straps always eventually tore through the hole I burned through to tie on the cord. These web straps were dandy for the first few times I used them. Then one side pulled out. Then the other.
With years of failed pull-on strap attempts under my belt, I thought I’d try a rivet repair this time. I held the free end of a rivet mandrel in some locking pliers, heated up the end of the mandrel with the torch, then used it to burn holes through the boot rubber and through the web strap. I pushed a rivet from the inside of the boot to the outside so the flat part of the rivet would be against my ankle, then threaded the boot strap on the outside of the boot, over the mandrel head.
After trial and error, I learned I needed a washer on the inside of the boot, so the rivet wouldn’t pull through, and on the outside, so the strap wouldn’t pull off.
I worked the rivet gun to crank the rivet on. There was a a piece of mandrel poking out the inside of the rivet, and I used the bench grinder to remove it.
Done.
Trick.
