You raise a good point, which makes this even harder to do right. What is the "life" of a particular product? Sure I could buy a pair of hiking boots that would last me for my literal lifetime, except that I'm already 50, and I "hike" a short public trail about once a year.
My dad, however, always carries a pocket knife (for fishing purposes), and I've seen them get so much wear, the inside of the blade starts getting worn away from being sharpened so often. What's a "lifetime" for someone who sharpens a knife every other week? That's going to wear out even a "BIFL" pocket knife much sooner than "life" would lead you to believe.
There needs to be a way to incorporate the duty cycle of the thing being reviewed, and length of time owned, but then you're just back to the problem of people gaming a review system, and the commercial internet has ruined everything.
https://nicksboots.com/ or something similar — if you get footwear that's handmade and custom, it can last you for 20-30 years which is enough to warrant the BIFL tag in my book.
But pretty much anything off-the-shelf I would have to see some extraordinary evidence.
You can certainly buy shoes that will last for decades, if you're diligent with maintenance.
BUT, you're still going to need (probably) multiple resoles, patching, and what not.
Take a look at the shoes Prince Charles is wearing - they're bespoke shoes from the 50s.
But you need to ask yourself - at what point do you just scrap them, and buy a new pair?
Some people love the vintage "relic" look - but every resole and patching is going to cost you money. Purchasing a pair of $1000 shoes, and then spending $1000-$2000 on maintenance the next 50 years will make sense for some, but not for others.
I personally, would much rather just buy a new pair of $500-$1000 shoes every 10-15 years, and discard the old ones when they start to look too shabby.
I live my guitars old and reliced, but shoes ? No thanks. When / if my shoes need patching, I'm throwing them.
Older Dr Martens were said to be virtually indestructible (at least according to some older friends of mine).
Dr Martens also had, at some point, sold a "for life" line that came with an extensive guarantee:
> The guarantee covers the failure of any component, such as upper leather, stitched seams, eyelets, soles, welts, linings and reinforcements which has been subjected to normal wear and tear from non-industrial abuse and not unreasonably abused. The guarantee will be active from the day on which the original owner activates their guarantee, to the end of that person's natural life.
