Exhibit 24


                                POWER OF ATTORNEY


         Each of the undersigned officers and directors of ROCKY SHOES & BOOTS,
INC., an Ohio corporation (the "Company"), hereby appoints David Fraedrich and
Curtis A. Loveland as his true and lawful attorneys-in-fact, or either of them,
with power to act without the other, as his true and lawful attorney-in-fact, in
his name and on his behalf, and in any and all capacities stated below, to sign
and to cause to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission the
Company's Registration Statement on Form S-8 to register under the Securities
Act of 1933, as amended, an additional 500,000 shares of Common Stock, no par
value, to be sold and distributed by the Company pursuant to the Company's 1995
Stock Option Plan, as amended (the "Plan") and such other number of shares as
may be issued under the anti-dilution provisions of the Plan, and any and all
amendments thereto, hereby granting unto said attorneys, and to each of them,
full power and authority to do and perform in the name and on behalf of the
undersigned, in any and all such capacities, every act and thing whatsoever
necessary to be done in and about the premises as fully as each of the
undersigned could or might do in person, hereby granting to each such attorney
full power of substitution and revocation, and hereby ratifying all that any
such attorney or his substitute may do by virtue hereof.

         IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned have executed this Power of
Attorney in counterparts if necessary, effective as of August 18, 1998.



/s/ Mike Brooks                                      /s/ Barbara B. Fuller
- -------------------------------------------          ---------------------------
Mike Brooks, Chairman, Chief Executive               Barbara B. Fuller, Director
Officer, President, and Director (Principal
Executive Officer)



/s/ David Fraedrich                                  /s/ Leonard L. Brown
- -------------------------------------------          ---------------------------
David Fraedrich, Executive Vice                      Leonard L. Brown, Director
President, Chief Financial Officer,
Treasurer, and Director (Principal
Financial and Principal Accounting Officer)



/s/ Curtis A. Loveland                               /s/ Robert D. Stix
- -------------------------------------------          ---------------------------
Curtis A. Loveland, Secretary and                    Robert D. Stix, Director
Director




/s/ Stanley I. Kravetz                               /s/ James L. Stewart
- -------------------------------------------          ---------------------------
Stanley I. Kravetz, Director                         James L. Stewart, Director