For 18 years, Luke Mayfield, a former hotshot firefighter—part of the US’s elite crews sent deep on foot into wildfires—relied heavily on his handcrafted leather boots. He hiked a thousand miles per fire season in them, stood for 16 hours daily, and slept near them during weeks-long assignments in remote terrain inaccessible by vehicles.

Mayfield describes the boots as "the best boots for the job," despite their design having "barely changed in more than a century." These boots originate from White’s, a company established in 1853, predating the US Forest Service. White’s Smokejumper model, first worn in 1939 by Francis Lufkin, one of the first smokejumpers, is considered the gold standard.

Eric Kinney, White’s president and a bootmaker for 26 years, notes it takes 2,000 to 3,000 pairs before a craftsman masters hand-welting, a key bootmaking skill. Demand remains strong for White’s other boot styles, selling 10,000 to 15,000 pairs annually, but the premium handmade boots face financial pressure.

The boots can cost up to $800, a price increasingly difficult to justify as budgets tighten. In March 2025, Congress enacted the first major pay raise for wildland firefighters in decades and expanded hazard pay, but financial challenges persist.

Mayfield reflects on the boots’ enduring quality and importance, saying, "It’s crazy to me that that’s the case, considering it’s 2026."

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