Leather conditioner is not that expensive. I'm done here.

The Redwings I wear for work are $325 + tax. I'm not going to spend $325 after 4-5 years when I can spend $125 on a re-sole. So again, you're vastly exaggerating costs, and you're wrong there, at least in that specific case.

I don't think that's as unreasonable as you make it out to be. Resole through Redwings and it's $125. You can also resole through your local cobbler with a heavy duty sole for around the same price I bet. That's $550~ for 10 years of use including the price of the shoes, 2 resoles, and leather conditioner.

No shoe is going to be BIFL, but that option is just as good.

Read again. I never said they were BIFL. My argument is that they can last a decade when we'll taken care of.

Your comment itself is pretty dumb. Plenty of Redwings can last 10+ years with inexpensive monthly maintenance.

My last Redwings I wore for 4 years 300 days a year if not more before I had the sole replaced and they were worn in an extreme and dirty environment and I treated them like shit with no care. I'd wager they can last 10 years when treated properly.