Here's my experience with boots and shoes....
I have 7 pairs of work shoes.
1 pair of 1000 gram thinsulate hunting boots that I wear 5-6 times a year. They have a bob sole, so if I wore them a bunch, they would wear out fast. They are nice for -10 days.
For "normal" winter weather, I have 2 pair of Danner 200 gram thinsulate. I have had them for 3 winters and I just took them in to be resoled. I wear 1 pair M,W,friend and the other Tu and Th. That way they dry out on their own. Using a boot or shoe dryer is a sure way to ruin a pair of leather boots. On wet/sloppy days I have a pair of tingleys to wear over them. I also clean them monthly with Bick's #5 and then spray them with Bick's protectant. Looking over the danner website.
They are at the cobbler right now getting new soles. The uppers still like brand new. At this rate, I would expect to get at least 2 more standard resoles before they go to Danner for a more extensive rebuild. (See recrafting on the Danner website.)
I find that they work to about -10 to -15. If the high for the day is -10, I wear the hunting boots.
For Spring, I have 2 pairs.
1 pair is on the 2nd set of soles, the other is fairly new.
In the summer, I have an older pair of danners (7 or 8 years old) that are on their 3rd set of soles. I suspect that if the danners cannot be recrafted at the end of this summer that I will get another pair of Whites.
I have found that with resoling, it is cheaper to resole and get a pair of spendier shoes than it is to buy $75-100 throw-aways. I also found that chinese shoes would break down and offer little or no support after 6-8 weeks, long before the sole was completely wore out.
The downside with saying, "just get a pair of Danners" is that more and more danners are made in china. Even though they are still danners, my experience is that chinese shoes do not last (I tried chinese danners and they did not last.)
The other thing that I do not like about Danners is the rubber heel/arch support thing. They don't wear out and they are definately the hot, sweaty spot in the boot.
I tried to post this last night and there was a software upgrade, so it didn't 'take.' In the meantime, I've thought about the economics and whether it does make sense to do more expensive shoes. I figure, if I get 6 years and 2 soles, I am even, if they last longer, I'm ahead.
If you look at custom shoes (Whites fit the bill here), keep in mind that Gumlite soles are not a very long-lasting sole. My summer Danners came with them and they lasted one season. The sole that came with my Whites is very comfortable, but I have not had them long enough to say how long they will last. If I had to bet, I would bet that I get at least 2 seasons.
Around here, resoling is $35 (for those that are questioning my math.)
So, there is my 10 year experience.
TB