Install fresh, strong laces before your trip. If a lace breaks on the trail, knot it and carry on. If the whole thing shrivels and dies, rig up a lace out of a length of that nylon cord you're carrying.
When you get home from each trip, clean your boots and treat them with a conditioner. Be careful: leather boots need oil- or wax-based conditioners; composite boots (fabric plus leather) need silicon-based conditioners.
Store in a cool, dry place with crumpled up newspapers inside to absorb any moisture. Before going out on the next trip, treat them again with conditioner and perhaps coat the seams with seam-sealant to protect the stitches from mud and rain.
Never dry your boots by a fire, stove or heater. Excessive heat cracks leather, destroys cement, and generally shortens the life of boots. Let them dry gradually in warm, dry air.
The subject of boots inevitably leads to the subject of blisters. No matter how perfect the fit of the shoe or how expert the wearer, blisters can strike anyone, anytime. New boots, an extra-long day of hiking, a continuous downhill stretch, wet or dirty socks, an inadvertent abrasion on the heel or toe -- the causes of blisters are endless.
To be prepared, carry enough Moleskin (the trade name of a lightly-padded adhesive plaster) to service everyone on the trip. One pack of several strips per person is generous. To cut Moleskin to the desired shapes, a scissors far surpasses a knife. Some people prefer their Moleskin doughnut-shaped, with the blister in the center. Others use Band-Aids, or gauze and tape.
A recent innovation on the blister-busting front is Second Skin. by Spenco, a protective coating which helps after you get a blister. It's a thick, cellophane-like product applied to the sensitive skin after the blister has popped. It keeps the sore spot from being chafed any further, and it can be used alone or underneath adhesive tape or Moleskin.
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