Toe taps

Where can someone purchase toe taps at an affordable price?

Absolutely. But then, metal tips (known in UK as 'Blakeys' (after a maker), or 'segs' in the north), and heel quarters are traditional in the military, at least amongst Officers and Warrant Officers. Whilst they make a splendid noise as one strides down the corridor, I confess that modern flooring occasionally forces me to do ice-skating impressions....

Only when wear begins to show after the first 1-2 wearings. Then I take them to my neighborhood shoe repair shop and they add toe and heel taps for $6, while I wait.

Never wear toe or heel taps.. You should have more than one pair of shoes. What type of style are you showing by wearing shoe taps/plates?

Definitely yea - the tips of the toes can wear out LONG before the rest of the sole.

I agree with indylion. I have quite a few pairs and would never wear taps because of the slippage already mentioned and I just don't like that sound. I prefer the sound the leather makes.

I prefer only the metal plates on the heels of my shoes. However I do have a friend that likes them on the toes as well he feels that they protect for toes and heels. I must admit the heels of shoes don't wear down so quickly now and it is cheaper to replace plates than heels. I also understand about the the Ice skating effect.

I must confess - I don't get it. Wouldn't you make an unbearable racket just walking down the hall? Or is there a sinister cabal of tap-dancers out there...

In an ideal world, people would walk their soles through evenly, right in the centre of the sole. But people walk differently and according to their individual walking pattern, put different stress at different sections of the soles. Some people have no problems with excessive wear of the tips, others do, particular if the shoes are pointed and elongated. I ruin my toes in next to no time and, even as a child, had metal toe pieces nailed on. About six or seven years ago, I discovered toe pieces that were actually set into the sole. I believe that is the best way to protect the tips if you wear the toes hard. J M Weston and the German firm of Dinkelacker produce some of their heavier designs with these set-in toe pieces as part of the specifications. Otherwise you'll have to find a cobbler who can fit them. It's quite a delicate job and very few still can do it. Second best solution are nailed on toe protectors in either metal or plastic. Third is an additional row of nails in the toe area. (I ruin these almost as fast as if they were not there.) But you might not be as hard on your toes as I am. Toe pieces (even metal ones) don't make any excessive noise; metal heals make one hell of a noise. (I once tried them and had them removed a week or so later.) Ultimately it all depends on your particular walking pattern.

I have a pair of shoes with metal heal taps and I'm removing them immediately. I suffer from having post-traumatic flashbacks of people staring at me at the supermarket whenever I wear them.

I usually wear out first through the balls of the foot, so I skip on the taps. They're not really gonna do anything for me.

Time to resurrect a thread...

I would like to try metal toe taps on my shoes. I have called three cobblers in the area, and none of them provide that sort of service. They are happy to nail on a hard rubber tap, but I think those are ugly as &$%^&.

So, I'd like to take a pair of crappy dress shoes and try to inset a metal tap like the picture in post #10. I figure I can probably do it with some light Dremel and knife work. But - where do I get the taps? Has anyone seen them offered for sale anywhere? Please let me know. Thanks!

Never, though for purely asthetic reasons. I do have a few pair of Greens and Westons that have metal toe plates and they are noisy as hell.

Sounds like an interesting experiment.