Rhino Laces – Guaranteed Unbreakable Boot Laces

It may not happen all that often, but a broken lace on your hiking boots or shoes can be a real problem especially if you don’t have some suitable cord to make a hasty repair. Enter Rhino Laces the 100% made in the USA, fire, abrasion, cut, and zombie proof laces that will never break – guaranteed.

Born Out of Necessity

Rhino Laces are the brainchild of Adam and Justin, two wild land firefighters who found themselves replacing their boot laces several times a year. Their line of work is tough on boots and laces and they wanted a pair of laces that could stand up to the rigors of their job. After considerable research and trying various alternatives like leather, paracord, runners laces, and even kevlar, they were unable to find anything suitable that was currently on the market. That’s when they set about making an unbreakable boot lace by themselves.

While flying on a helicopter, on the way to a wildfire, Justin saw something that he believed would change boot laces forever. Two weeks later they completed their first prototype. A flexible, tieable, unbreakable, cut and fireproof boot lace – Rhino Laces.

Kickstarter Project

They quickly realized that they were going to have to find a way to mass produce Rhino Laces, but in order to do that they needed machinery and funding. They turned to the Kickstarter community to help fund the project and make Rhino Laces a reality.

Rhino Laces are not currently available for purchase, but Adam and Justin were kind enough to custom make a prototype pair for me in red to test on my Ecco Biom Akka hiking boots. Side note: I’m told that these are the only pair of red Rhino Laces in the world right now – #woot

Rhino Lace Sizing

Due to the fact that these laces are cut proof and fitted with gun metal lace tips, you need to make sure that you get the right size laces to match your hiking boots or shoes. For this reason Rhino Laces come in a varying range of lengths at increments of 8 inches. Fortunately there are two easy ways to figure this out:

• Measure the length of your old boot laces
• Count the number of eyelets and add 4 inches for each eyelet. Example: My Ecco Biom boots each have 12 eyelets (six pairs) = 48 inches

Installing Rhino Laces

Okay, there’s really no rocket science to replacing a pair of boot laces, but Adam and Justin did add a clever little Center Stop marker that makes finding the exact middle of your laces quick and easy.

Once the Rhino Laces have been fitted the final step is to attach the lace locking mechanism. The Lace Lock  provides a quick and easy way of tightening the Rhino Laces without the need to tie knots. It makes tightening and loosening Rhino Laces fast and easy. Check out this short video showing how the lace locks work: Rhino Laces – Installing Lace Locks.

Conclusion

It’s hard to imagine something as simple as boot laces being reinvented or improved upon, other than through the introduction of new materials. I won’t know just how tough Rhino Laces really are until I’ve put them through their paces on my boots and I don’t really intend to do a destruction test (at this point) to find out.

It’s immediately apparent that Adam and Justin have produced a extremely high quality item with Rhino Laces. The finish is flawless and the hand crimped lace tips are perfect. The addition of the Center Stop is very clever and the lace lock mechanism is innovative. These feel like they’re built to last.

I’ll do my best to provide periodic updates on my use of Rhino Laces and their durability. If you are interested in getting your hands on a pair of Rhino Laces, check out their Kickstarter Project page and get in early on what I’m sure will be a sell out.

Full Rhino Laces Flickr Photoset

I would like to give a huge thanks to Adam and Justin for providing me with an exclusive red pair of custom made Rhino Laces to go with my Ecco Biom boots.

So, what do you think of Rhino Laces. Are they overkill or are they the last pair of laces you’ll ever need to buy for your boots?

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