Bill, The L.L. bean shoes were strung with rawdide or a grey-green neoprene. Supposedly it doesn't sag when wet like rawhide. A traditional shoe repair kit consists of a few steel plates and screws in case you crack the frame, a length of webbing that would be threaded in to any web damage and reproofed with the various shellacs or laquers used to dope the whole affair. A spare length of lampwicking would quickly replace the traditional bindings.