Wear depends on what you do. I got two seasons of wear--12 months out of my Whites, before they needed rebuilding. But I was out marking and cruising timber and put a lot of miles on them with the occasional bout of firefighting. We figured about 10 miles a day on rocky ground. Now, as we grow older, we hope to get higher paying work, which usually means more headwork and less footwork. My old kuliens lasted 4 years before requiring major work. They had a longer season of wear over here, but less mileage. The trees are closer together--less walking required. The Wescos have lasted 2 seasons and the one boot is what I call blown out, deformed and is painful on steep slopes. I didn't take them on fires, they were caulks. Back in the tree marking days, I wore holes in the heels of a pair of Danners in 2 months. Steep ground does that.
The same goes for caulk wear. Are you going to be on rocky ground? Walking on roads? Working on landings? New spikes don't cost much. My main concern is haviing weird feet and getting a good fit so I'm not whining while trying to find where the hooktender went.
Vibergs come hooktender recommended. I wanted to try a pair of them but they didn't have my size available. I blew the $$ on what I knew had worked in the past and would fit well. I'm supporting a semi-local business also. It'll be easy to get things fixed when they need it. Kuliens have been around for 100+ years.