Killing the Shoes

How to keep yourself in quality footwear

Dateline: 21 December 2000

Any skateboarder who's worth his salt knows that skating for any length of time will wreak havoc on the shoes. Since the top of the board is covered in griptape, which is essentially sandpaper, and since certain tricks require the sliding of feet across the surface of this griptape, it is an unavoidable certainty that the shoes will wear and tear.

Example: When executing the kickflip the forward foot is placed at a 45 degree angle and upon popping the tail is slid up and off the board causing it to flip along it's horizontal axis. For the goofy footed this results in the destruction of the forward and outer right edge of the shoe exposing your feets and putting a significant damper on any future skateboarding activities -- being as you can't skate in bare skin, or you shouldn't, because it's ow-y.

Fortunately, there are some options to help assuage this problem.

The Shoemakers:

There are actually companies out there whose specialty is the making of quality shoes that are specifically designed for the sport of skateboarding. They have made it their business to add extra features that help combat the deterioration of sneaks, including such things as lace protectors with rubber lace and rubber padding in the high wear areas doubled with triple stitched siding for a much longer shoe life. They also have extra thick rubbery soles to keep you from wearing them down to your poor bloody arches and multitudes upon multitudes of variations on these options.

The Goop:

For those who can't afford to go out and buy a new pairs of sneakers every other month we advise the Shoe Goo. This is a painfully ugly but greatly useful tool that will keep you in shoes for the long haul. Goop 'em up. It kills and keeps you going.

Option number two in this category is of course the super glue which isn't quite as strong as the Shoe Goo but will keep your footwear lasting longer. It's better than nothing, so if this is what you have, put it to good use and try not to glue your fingers together.

The Home Remedy:

Any self-respecting skater is resourceful when it comes to skateboadring solutions so lastly, if it's done it isn't over. For those to whom prevention takes a back seat we offer duct tape after the fact. If you've already gone and put holes in your shoes, grab some duct tape and cover the abused areas. Then if you like you can heat the tape to melt and more forcefully secure it to the shoe. Only don't let it catch on fire. I'd be truly bummed if someone got burned on this account so be really careful. Keep your shoes in shape and keep your feet in one piece -- respectfully.

That is all.