Tools for Possibilities: issue no. 109

Once a week we’ll send out a page from Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities. The tools might be outdated or obsolete, and the links to them may or may not work. We present these vintage recommendations as is because the possibilities they inspire are new. Sign up here to get Tools for Possibilities a week early in your inbox.

All shoes all the time

Zappos

Shoes of any sort. Wide, kids, vegetarian, everything. Zappos has flat out the best web shopping/catalog experience on the Web. They have awesome policies — free shipping on most orders AND free shipping on returns up to 365 days! Click on the “sale” link, select your size, sort by price and shop until your heart’s content. — TDW


Non-skid shoes

SFC Slip-Resistant Shoes

Architects love to build walking surfaces that are horrible to walk on when wet. I found the elegant and foolproof answer to that — Shoes for Crews. This company has a shoe that I defy you to try to skid in when on slippery wet surfaces. They come in 50 or so styles for men and women, for work, play, casual and formal situations. The work models have steel toes. These darn shoes really work! — Don Bierey


Fancy comfortable shoes

Mephisto Shoes

French and expensive, Mephistos are what walking sneakers should be: good looking, hard wearing, and very comfortable. I wear the basic black model all the time, so much that I now take advantage of Mephisto’s offer to resole their shoes indefinitely. Since the shoes are leather, they adapt to your peculiar foot (such as my bunions), and they’re robust enough to carry on for many years with occasionally refreshed soles. I own two pair, so one is working while the other is in the shop. — Stewart Brand


Oven-bake, supportive orthotics

SOLE Ultra SOFTEC Insoles

Custom fit insoles created by professional podiatrists and orthotics constructors can make running faster and safer, walking more comfortable, reduce back problems, and improve agility and precision of movement. Unfortunately, this sort of work can costs hundreds of dollars per shoe. TheSOLE Ultra SOFTEC bring the benefits of a custom fit insole at a mass production price. You simply trim a pair of insoles to fit, briefly heat them, then fit the insoles into your shoes and stand in them in a neutral, well-balanced position for two minutes. At the end of that time you have pair of custom fit insoles with excellent Poron cushioning and exactly the fit you need; my friends and I found that SOLEs provided optimum arch support for high, normal, and low arched feet. At $45 they’re excellent insurance against running injuries (especially the low arch that eventually afflicts most runners) and a great,ay of getting extra safety, comfort, and performance for snowboarding, hiking, soccer, or skiing.

I have a high arch, which means I have a greatly increased stress on footfall, with energy being lost from the gait cycle into impact force. The SOLEs corrected this not so much through cushioning, but through restoring correct contact of the load bearing areas of my foot — more energy is now transferred from one step to another instead of into impact.

If you’re not impressed with the difference they make, they come with strong money back guarantee. — Jonathan Coupe


Guide to footwear-lacing

Ian’s Shoelace Site

Even if you have the least interest in shoes, do yourself a favor and experience this quirky site devoted to shoelaces. Thanks to an active community of contributors, there is an ever-growing abundance of excellent user photos exemplifying almost all of Ian’s already-detailed lacing illustrations. The combination of drawings and photos (and ratings!) has really enabled me to find and create any pattern I wish (Ian’s was the source for the previously-reviewed Surgeon’s Knot). Every article details the pros and cons of each particular pattern, and sometimes an article is supplemented with “work-arounds” which help readers tackle odd situations not covered originally. Quirky, entertaining, and above all, informative. — Jacob Musser

10/21/24
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