Walking and Climbing

Hi Trevor,

 It depends on your feet and the quiality of footwear you purchase.

The best introduction are Superfeet.  You cannot fit them yourself properly although a milliion people will disagree.  The problem comes that 90% of the places you go that sell them the staff have not been given the training to fit them.  I know i used to work for them but your Snow and Rock is the best place to go to access what size and depth.  Some people just buy green size ten as they are an adult size ten, but its all about the heel and arch.  I have high arches and wear a 11 cut down althoughi am a 9 foot.

And use the garantee it works, if you don't think they work or make a difference then take them back!!!! 

If you think these work really work then you can progress to the Custom molded ones CONFORM'ABLE

etc.  These are tricky, some shops willtry to sell you ski thickness ones, which will just snap aftera short time as walking gear is flexible.

Most manufacturers will do hiking ones that are thinner and more flexible.  The killer is that they are expensive and if not done properly useless.  The problem is that they are molded off your feet and most shops will stick these straight in your boots as is.  Unfortunately they dont do things like square off the heel.

If they dont do this they rock in the boot, like wise the front if they leave the toe bit lumpy yes it will flatted out but you will get some interesting blisters.

A good set will be amazing though!

I personally wear in approach style and soft boots - SUPERFEET

Mountain boots - Ski CONFORMABLE moulded

There is not doubt these thing help most people as our feet are designed to hang from branches and not to wear shoes!

START with superfeet and do not be affraid to use the comfort Guarantee.

If you go for heat moldable ones, remember the heel needs to be squared off on the underside so it is stable in boots.

When you are ready to spend hundreds then go to see my mate leo at www.surefoot.com in london.

Ment to add,  in relation to these SOLE ones, heating them in your own oven and then standing on them will make a lovely mold of you feet, however that will NOT provide any support.  They will feel more comfy and supportive as they are generally thicker and more padded than the standard foorbed in the footwear you have.  As lets face it the footbeds you get as standard are terrible in most shoes.

If you doa little test TREV for me:

Bear foort and trousers rolled up!

Stand up straight feet shoulder width apart.

Look at your arches of your feet, mine for example are very flat.

Now in same position put hands on knees and keeping back straight bend your knees.

You should see your arch increases in hieght.  This is the position footbeds should be molded to so when you relax the arch falls onto the mold and is supported.

Hope that makes sense!

Very slightly off topic but while we've got a bit of inside knowledge here. How come these things are so damn expensive ?

I've got a set of Superfeet but they cost me £30 which I begrudged paying and still do, the production costs can't be any more than the footbeds sold in my local shoe repairers for £5, it's a bit of plastic and a bit of foam stamped out and moulded by a machine with little if any labour input.

Much as i don't like things being expensive, alot goes into them, Surveys of feet, with fancey laser machines etc.  £30 is alot in a pair of  £30 regatta approach shoes but they are not aimed at that market.  In a pair of £100+ walking boots it comes into perspective.  3 year  life of boot thats £10 a year?

They do work but again use the guarantee if they dont but let them play with different models sizes etc.

Trevor, Happy Birthday!

Alot of knee, hip and back problems are casused from the feet 60% rings a bell.  In the feds now so alot of my knowledge has gone.

Did you try the position Trev and see what i mean?  If you g to a shop for Superfeer choose you footbed by standing on them in that position.  Start with the greens for boots and blue for approach.   Find the one that come up as near as possible to your arch in the position.  Some people with high arches will never get one to come right up but choose the closeest.

If you choose a green then put it in a boot and the boot becomes to tight then swap to blue that are thinner,  the opposite can be done also to help things fit.

you think it all sounds complicated i once made a set of custom beds for a pair of winter climbing boots  for a man with no toes!!

Any more random knowledge required let me know!

Oh by the way they are $30 in states so no saving to be made there!

 Find yor size in blacks, Snow and rock Etc then http://www.chinesedoctor.co.uk/section/106/1/superfeet_insoles

 To save a few quid,  but i would recommend paying the store price you can always get 10% off for some club or other then you have a place to take them back to for the GUARANTEE!

 You want expensive , my mate works for surefoot and they charge a minimum of £200 for footbeds !!  Then again your feet are scanned by lasers and a pair of beds are CNC milled out of a material made for someone like  NASA.!

Laser-scanned custom-fitted orthotic footbeds? £200+

Multiple pairs of new footwear that my feet and new orthotics will fit in properly? £750+

Not living in constant pain, and being able to do exercise after 18 months of inactivity? Priceless.

Just ordered these puppies, i am going to carry out an in depth study!!!!

all dpends upon what your foot is like but for what it's worth. 

i use moulded conformables as i found superfeet truly horrendous.

the shop will try to sell you orange ones. these are for ski/mountain boots - do not use these for anything else because they snap as they're not designed to flex.

i have the "off the shelf" grey ones. they are pre moulded but can be put in their oven thingy and they go flat, you stand on them and they remould. this makes a better fit.

the principle difference between conformable and superfeet is how agressive the arch support is. superfeet have solid arch support i.e. when your arch tries to flex downwards superfeet stop it doing so. the conformable have a "graded" amount of support. when your arch flexes downwards the conformable provide an initial softer support until it gets down to where the sole won't go any further.

i would guess that superfeet MAY be better if you have a high arch that MUST be supported firmly to correct a gait problem.

conformable just provide a graded support that allows your foot to flex naturalluy up to a point.

the benefit of some proper insoles is they make your feet less tired over a day and the downside is that because they fit the underside of your foot they get warmer -handy in winter