The mythical Lava Dome

Recently I have gotten on the quality kick. Far too much of commercial gear lasts only in proportion to the estimated profit margin of the product. In other words, the Built-In obsolescence of fashionable shoddiness works to a company's advantage.

More than their debatable labor practices, I dislike Nike for playing the BIO game. About 25 or so years ago, Nike came out with a legendary pair of rock scrambling (aka approach) shoes. Called the Lava Dome, you can find people that still refer to the shoes with nostalgia.

oh yeah, and every old skool guy I ever head out into the mountains with comments that they look just like some mythical Nike approach shoe from back in the day that were so indestructible that Nike stopped makin' 'em cause the market was too small for a shoe that people only needed one pair ever of.

I remember these shoes well; I happened to like the shoes so much that I quickly bought a second pair (they didn't cost that much). I seem to recall imagining that Nike would not always sell Lava Domes, and sure enough they disappeared from the market in a few years. I know that many people bought Lava Domes even though they had no intention of doing any serious climbing, as they performed perfectly well for normal walking and biking.

Well, I still own the two pair. Light in weight but composed of indestructible hard rubber soles, leather, and tightly stitched uppers, the shoes do not wear out.

I dare any company to go bankrupt by plagiarizing the design. I doubt we will get any takers; Nike learned their lesson and has since made a fortune.