In grim times, it doesn’t hurt to focus on something small now and then.
Many years ago, my friend Jon Hodoway turned me on to special athletic shoes made by New Balance. Designed for people with diabetes, their wide cut works great for those of us whose arthritic feet look like Hobbit feet or something. I’ve worn them with comfort for a long time now. The last couple of pairs, however, have started to delaminate at the soles.
I was already on the road when I noticed it happening to the pair I’d brought along for a month on shooting ranges. My always-resourceful wife turned me on to a product called Shoe Goo, made for just such emergencies. We found some at a back-country hardware store. She applied it deftly. Needing something heavy to hold it down for 24 hours, we resorted to a case of 9mm ammo we had in the car.
It worked like a charm. I’m wearing them happily now.
There also used to be a sole patch material called “Goop”. Then I think there was “Super Goop”. You used it to build up worn areas of the sole. If there’s still a running shoe shop locally, I need to find it and see if they’ve got it. Got a really nice pair of low quarter boots with a worn spot. Otherwise, gotta trash them.
Free Sole works to build up heels or repair holes in soles.
It is slippery when on a wet surface, so sprinkle a little grit on it for grip.
These are urethane adhesives.
I used Gorilla Glue to reattach soles and heels on two pairs of Johnston & Murphy shoes. This after the shoe maker tried twice with whatever he used. The GG worked to perfection and it’s still holding on each shoe.
I have not tried to replicate this on anything else yet, though. Good luck!
That would have been a local shoe repair job. J&M factory only repaired the stitch on leather sole dress shoes and not even that for a while now.
been using it for years, and for a lot more than shoes! good stuff!!!!
My Dad used it on his running shoes for years… Good stuff!
Thats goo’d stuff. Have a tube in my glue box
Professional hunter/guide/author Finn Aagaard described in some of his articles how he applied Shoe Goo to his slings to make them “tacky” so as not to slip from his shoulder while hunting.
Yeah but be sure and let it cure before you throw it on your shoulder!
Mas, I believe we share something in common besides a passion for shooting! Can you please give me the specific model of New Balance Hobbit shoe that has worked so well for you? I’d like to try those. “Small things” like foot comfort are not so small for some of us, eh? Thank you for sharing this and all else you have passed along through the years on situational awareness and personal protection; mighty important and much appreciated!
928 V3.
Yet another good use for 9mm ammo! Who says you always have to resort to using 45?
“…resorted to a case of 9mm ammo…”
One BOX of 45 ACP would have been enough rather than a CASE of 9 mm.
In the 2010 – 2013 time frame, while commuting from work in SC (SRS) to my cabin in WNC for weekends, I’d often stop by PSA in Columbia to pick up whatever ammo was on sale ( for the years ammo was cheap).
Balancing the load between the panniers on my 1999 Triumph Tiger 885 made me very aware that a box .45 ACP weighs almost exactly twice what a box of 9mm weighs.
Delamination is a common problem with boots in the summer Arizona Sonora desert heat. I had to take some exceptionally comfortable regulation Army combat boots to a local cobbler to get the Vibram soles re-glued after the heat set them flapping. #$%!, I hate it when delamination strikes a long ways out on foot in the sand. The cobbler had some industrial adhesive that did a good job, although I don’t expect the soles would have stayed on forever without hobnails. The temperature of the sunbaked, abrasive desert sand probably runs around 140 degrees or more, which is a lot to expect of any glue. I decided to throw the boots away when the inner heels started to wear out. I have had good luck with Shoe Goo in ordinary temperatures. I will try a roll of 1-inch Gorilla duct tape for a boot-emergency remedy. Ordinary duct tape for sure has a tough time adhering even to itself in the heat. I recently discovered that 111 degrees F are considered hot enough to burn the skin. Makes you wonder how we get by when air temps are higher than that, but us desert rats seem to make do. I recently found a vintage pair of like-new, genteel Reebok hiking boots that are OK so far. I am interested in how well my Timberland Nubuck Direct-Attach soles will stay on my new work boots this coming summer. I would prefer to have all-around, rattlesnake-proof boots that are fully metal free so as to be metal-detector friendly and even magnetic land-mine neutral. Snake leggings at least up to the knees are a must. I have hip-high protectors, too, and heavy shop gloves for occasional help to protect my hands and lower arms. Ballistic gloves might be good to have, too, come to think of it. You know you are in challenging country when you find a survival rifle in parts half-buried in the sand along the way. No human bones were around, though. I left the lost AR-7 where the owner might have rediscovered it better. Somebody did, anyway. If all my boots come apart in the heat this summer I may just head North again for a snake-free place that really cools off for a while.
I nearly laughed out loud about the weighting device you used! I’ve got a pair of my daughter’s shoes I need to do the same for, and while I don’t currently have a case of 9mm (shame on me) I’ve got enough .22lr to do the job.
I’ve been using Shoe Goo for over 35 years on my boots and shoes. It works! Make sure you follow the directions and you will be O.K.
I’ve been wearing New Balance and Skechers extra wide shoes for many years. I’ve also glued soles back on with Shoe Goo, several times. They are all great products!
Another reason to always have a case of ammo in the trunk.
Shoe Goo, been using it college…….50 years ago!
Mas,
Don’t leave us fellow Hobbits in the dark, what’s the name of the shoes please?
Having three kids all of whom treat shoes as imminently disposable items, “Barge Cement” is a staple of our lives. It is similar but is applied to both parts and allowed to dry before “offering together.” Once they touch repositioning is not possible so get it right. But generally speaking $300 in ammunition isn’t needed. A plus for repairs around small ones.
I’m pretty cheap when it comes to the rest of my clothes, but good footwear is something I’ll spend money on. Having spent a large portion of my life in the military or teaching on a range, my feet appreciate it!
If I can afford a case of 9mm I can afford new shoes!
yes, troe. But with a two dollar tube of Shoo Goo you can now have both.
Mas, after reading the title of the article, I was at first concerned that you might have suffered a brain fart and regressed back to a much younger iteration of your self. As disturbing as that might sound, it still would not negatively impact a future run for political office. In fact, it might help. Regarding the Goo: Very good advice on a good product for those of us who love their worn-in shoes. I have stretched many months more life out of my mistreated “outdoor shoes” using Shoe Goo to cement wayward components back into place. Very handy item to keep in “the bag”.
Used shoe goo for more years, and I can remember! It’s the best thing for repairing shoes, boots, sandals, rain gear, belts or anything else made from leather, rubber, most plastics and fabric! Excellent stuff!
My dad was an avid runner while I was growing up. At the cost of good running shoes, he was a big fan of Shoe Goo. I have a tube in my laundry room tool bin. Great Stuff.
New Balance in EE and EEEE have been my go-to shoes for years.
Shoe Goo extends their service life (available at Walmart for ~$7 or on Amazon for ~$9) when the sole starts to come loose.
Key Observation: Many folks buy too-narrow/too-small shoes. This is partly because wider sizes were hard to find in the past and because, in their youth, men wear too-tight shoes so we can move fast (think basketball or other athletics) without their shoes rolling on their feet and women wear too-small shoes due to style. Most folks also don’t know that their feet may gain a half-size or a whole size each decade after age 35 (especially if one gains weight), so they wear the same size they habitually bought in high school.
And, as Ken Hackathorn would say, “let me give you a clue”: if you have calluses on the sides of your feet (especially on the medial side of your great toe and the outside of your little toe or the nearby wide part of your foot), then your shoes are too tight! Buy wider shoes! As a retired family doc, I can’t count how many patients told me this tidbit cured their calluses and foot pain.
And, if you have plantar fasciitis, get shoes a half-size bigger still and add a pair of good inserts like those from SuperFeet (I have no financial interest in them).
You should be able to “fan” or spread your toes a bit inside your shoes and your longest toe should stop about one thumb-width before the front end of the shoe. If you can hit your toes against the inside front of your shoes/boots by scuffing them on a surface or when walking down a steep incline, then your shoes/boots are too short (or you don’t have them properly laced).
Best wishes to all for good health and painless feet.
Yes, Shoe Goo. Attached trimmed leather pieces to my worn out leather slipper soles, a “pulled out” sandal strap which then outlived the rest of the sandal, wear around casual shoes’ delaminated sole, and numerous other shoe repair needs. Great stuff!
I’ve been using Shoe Goo for many years. Great stuff for shoos, and many other applications as well.
Hmmm. If Shoe Goo works so well, why don’t the shoe manufacturers use Shoe Goo when they make the shoes? Usually products are cheaply made in order to keep the price down. I think the soles of boots are supposed to be sewn on to the uppers, not glued anyway.
Let’s see. Footwear has been in development for thousands of years. In 1969, Apollo 11 walked on the moon. Our cars are pretty close to perfect these days, especially when you consider how much we use them. Why can’t every manufacturer make shoes that don’t fall apart? Human beings just keep getting dumber and dumberer. ; )
Because too many folks refuse to pay a hundred bucks for shoes, and they can’t be made to last for much less than that. False “economy” at work here.
I needed some durable work boots many years ago fr a new job. Contractor told me to go to this one store and get a pair if RedWing boots, on his nickel. They fit well, were sturdy.. for a whileAfter six months they were literally falling apart, way beyond what SHooGoo could fix.
Next pair I tried were Westco logging boots. They lasted almost a year and a half, but never really fit me well. I coaxed as much life out of them as I could….. someone suggested I try a pair of Danner logger’s boots. The store (a logger’s supply store in Bellingham Washington long before Uncle Stoopid invented the Spotted Own Myth and destroyed the timber industry here in the Pacific Northwest) carefully sized my feet, said to come back in two weeks and they’d have them.I followed their detailed insructions as to the care and feeding of them, I wore them almost every day for FOUR YEARS. When they finally fell apart I had discovered the factory’s location in Portland Oregon.Visited their “outlet store” where they sold blems returns, overstocks, cancelled orders, etc for about half new off the shelf pricing. I still wear the same size Danners forty years after I bought my first pair. Most durable and comfortable boots I’ve ever found. I asked at the store one time if they are still using the same lasts as they did “back then”. He told me they have used the same lasts since the company started almost a hundred years ago. Even f I move far way I’d still get hod of them and order a new pair by size, knowing they will fit perfectly and outlast anything else out there. With all day hard use comfort into the bargain.
Yes that ShooGoo is a good product. ‘ve used it a few times in the past.
there is nother product I learned about during my saling years….3M 5200 adhesive. It will actually stick and cure UNDERWATER, lats forever, remains flexible, sticks to almost anything, and is tough and durable. A bit more dear than the shoogoo, but works for some situations where the goo falls short. It WILL stick very well to aluminium and fibreglas, along with just about any rubber, plastic, fibre. It does have a fairly long cure time, I usually leave clemped for 12 hours or so. Not having a case of Nines handy, I resort to a couple of G cramps from the woodshop. Blocks can spread the pressure.
I restored a VERY exensive pair of road cycling shoes, the hard plastic sole was separating from the upper leaving the cleat and hard sole attached to the pedal and the cloth-like upper still tied to my feet. Not a very comfortable way to ride. I cleaned the sole’s top with mineral spirits, waashed it and let it dry, applied the 5200, clamped, left it for a day, and I’ev put a few thousand miles on the repaired shoes over the past three years, no sign of failure yet. The ten dollar tube of 5200 bought me a $200 pair of road bike shoes. And saved the two hour round trip to the nearest place that would have them.
SOmeone mentioed the Gorilla Tape….. I have found a VERY unique use for that stuff, and it works. The very thin but strong tyres for the fast road bikes tend to bet tiny cuts from glass, metal shards, etc, and at upwrds of fifty bucks the tyre it was tearing me up to toss a tyre with a quarter inch slice in the casing.. just big enough to allow the tube tpsquirt through and flat again. So I carry in my patch kit a few two or so inch long strips of the one inch Gorilla tape, and apply them to the insisde surface of the tyre casing, two or three layers crossed. I’ve repaired cuts as long as 3/4inch. The adhesive on the tape bonds well to the inside face of the tyre, the fibres in the tape are strong enough to contain the 140 psi inside the tyre, and it remains flexible enough I don;t feel any “lumps” as the tyre goes round and round. At fifty bucks a pop I can buy three or four rolls of that tape for every tyre I save. One roll lasts me a few years.
Creative application of products intended for one purpose is a very fun endeavour. Thrifty too. Such savings liberates pictures of dead presidents for alternate uses, such as buying cases of nine mm boolitts. And maybe even a new thing with which to direct those boolitts.
Tionico,
Thanks for sharing your experiences, which have qualified you as an expert on this subject. Your post is an education. It’s nice to know quality footwear can be made today. I thought that if it is possible for some people to travel to the moon and back, it might also be possible for some people to make footwear that fits well and lasts.
The subject of footwear reminds me of something John Farnam wrote about concerning September 11th, 2001. Imagine you worked in the World Trade Center on that day. The tower you are in is hit, and now the elevator doesn’t work. Those towers had 110 floors. If you are above the kamikaze plane, you probably won’t be able to walk down the stairs anyway, but if you are below it, the only way to exit is to walk down many flights of stairs. The stairs may have broken glass and even jet fuel on them.
Imagine you are a young woman. You wore high heels to work that day. Now you have to walk down many flights of stairs in your high heels, or take them off, and walk on your tender feet.
I used to work 32 miles from home. I wondered if I might have to walk all the way home from work if an EMP struck and disabled my car.
I once bought cheap boots. They were not waterproof. I wore them at work, outside, when it was raining and the temperature was 40 degrees F. My feet got cold and I was miserable. I went right out and bought waterproof boots as soon as I could.
John Farnam wears steel-toed boots in case he has to kick someone in a self-defense encounter.
Lesson = footwear is important
I’ve got a tube of Shoo Goo that I’ve used more than once on a favorite pair of Nikes that I’ve had for quite a few years and it works fairly well. I’ve also used Gorilla Glue on the heel of a boot that literally came off one time. Once it had dried, I had to trim off the cured glue that had foamed out, but it held rock solid. Speaking of good footwear, I sometimes find myself studying the boots worn by our soldier customers who visit the facility I work at on Fort Lewis. Many, many light years ahead of the issue boots I used to wear back in the early 90’s.
Just a short bit up the road from me…..
and yes, today’s military boots are FAR better than what our GI’s wore in earlier “conflicts”. Danner Boots, down there in Portland maunfacture quite a few models issued to today’smilitary. I often see them, slight defects’ in their outlet store in Portland.
2023 and you just found out about shoe goo from your wife? Wow. Unbelievable.
I keep a tube of Shoe Goo for repairs and have for 30 years or more. It has
other uses. Like temporary repair of a garden hose or seal a drain pipe
with. It’s flexible, strong and very sticky.
Dano
I’ve successfully used Weldwood Contact Cement. You have to show you’re old enough to buy some at Home Depot or Lowes. Works like a charm on shoes, delaminating counter tops and lots of other things. It smells like shoe repair shops.
I have used Shoo Goo to keep many a pair of cheap, crappy shoes from falling a part. Also broken purse straps. More often than not it’s a family member who buys cheap, and them comes to me to fix it.
I wear 14 EEEEEE, available from http://www.wideshoes.com. What a blessing!
“In grim times, it doesn’t hurt to focus on something small now and then.”
You are reaching back in time. Back to the early 20th Century. Back to the days of the Great Depression.
In those days, Americans were known for manufacturing good quality products at an affordable price. We were also known for being thrifty with those products. Americans would take a good quality product and patch/repair it to make its useful life stretch out to about double its design life. America was full of inventors would would come up with all kinds of useful small products, like Shoe Goo, to help to stretch out the useful life of products.
Don’t take this the wrong way, Mas, but, clearly, your status as an “Old Timer” is showing.
Nowadays, Americans live in the Age of Instant Gratification with Instant Products. We buy cheap junk products, from China, that soon fall apart but which, nevertheless, enrich the ChiCom’s with our money. When they soon fall apart and wear out, we don’t lift a finger to repair them or stretch out their lifespan. Instead, we toss them in the garbage and go buy another one (thus continuing the cycle of enriching China).
The modern American mindset is that it is not worth the time and effort to repair anything. Everything is disposable. You buy it cheap, expect it to soon fail (sometimes it is defective right from the box!) and when it does fail, just toss it and buy another.
Back in the days when America was growing, people were thrifty and sought out good products and made them last. Now, in the days of America’s decline, all is disposable!
Like I said, both you, Mas, and I are dinosaurs. We are slowly going extinct and even so small a thing as “Shoe Goo” shows it.
Sorry, even focusing on the “Small Things” just shows another dimension of our “Grim Times”.
And all socks should be diabetic socks. They’re antimicrobial and promote circulation. I remember after my diagnosis my first endo telling me that I’d likely outlive all my friends, and after even a couple years of watching their habits, i understood his point. Health and safety go hand in hand with ingenuity and self-sufficiency.
Re Roger Willco’s comment on 911:
I was in Trafalgar Square in 82. The year it all went wrong. People killed and injured in the crush. One noticeable thing was the amount of shoes lost. Since then Ive noticed them in disaster scenes. Good luck walking out of a burning building/train/plane…. with no footwear. Nothing on earth will get me to abandon boots now.
I pronate terribly and got through footwear very fast. Superfeet insoles were the answer. it’s like going from walking on a mattress, to moving on rails. The best are the fitted ones where they warm them then and put them against your feet and suck the air out of a plastic bag aroiund them. Expensive, but I’d spend my last money on earth on a pair.
I blame the right! Not sure what I’m blaming them for, but wanted to keep the site tradition of everything being the fault of the other side going :-).
I wear the New Balance wides too, more because of the hereditary flat feet that spared my Uncle from Vietnam.
I too became frustrated with their deconstruction before being worn out, so I started taking newly purchased pairs to a local shoe repair shop, where they ran a line of stitches through the sole in the front, charging $15 to easily double ther service life
@Mas
If you think it’s tough to get WIDE shoes when you get older, try finding NARROW shoes!!
I’m 65.88 years old and while the length of my feet has increased, the width is still B.
Think downhill skis.
@Tionico
On the other hand, I retired a pair of Red Wing boots (composite safety toe) last year, exactly the same as the ones I’m wearing now …. after 4 years 5 months of DAILY wear
(5-6 days a week).
Purchased 31MAY2018 $199.99.
The soles were worn pretty close to slick, I broke the laces twice.
The replacements cost about $20 more.
Purchased 31OCT2022 $219.99
I’ve been wearing their boots for decades, because they make NARROW widths and they’ve always given me my money’s worth. of course YMMV.
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