To sole gaurd or not ?

fxh · Apr 2, 2011

Originally Posted by ThatGuy

Hate to be an arse, but that looks cheap and tacky... if you are more concerned than waiting for your shoes to come back, or having them resoled, you are a small-timer. I can't comprehend why anyone would alter the balance and appearance of a shoe by sticking a piece of rubber over the sole. It's like gluing a water repellent layer of material underneath a crocodile strap to prolong its life. Very cheap and tacky... but you will get away with this one

I like shoes, so I notice things like this.

You may well hate to be an arse but it seems you are compelled to prove - again and again - that you are in fact an arse.

This a picture of a pair of soles with new Topy on them.

Its not s'posed to go on yer fuckin mantelpiece with spotlights and a gilt frame.

Anyone who divides people into small-timers and big-timers shows themselves as most likely a twat and an idiot. To do it over someone using commonsense and brains in looking after shoes is to prove the assumption correct.

NORE · Apr 2, 2011

Eat your hearts out you Topying fools

apropos · Apr 2, 2011

Hai, bigbris.

Archivist · Apr 2, 2011

This thread makes the baby Jesus weep.

Son Of Saphir · Apr 2, 2011

Originally Posted by NORE

Eat your hearts out you Topying fools

me hope your fastener not damaged by the toe plate.

entrero · Apr 2, 2011

Technically speaking a toe plate/guard is a topy.

DWFII · Apr 3, 2011

Originally Posted by entrero

Technically speaking a toe plate/guard is a topy.

I hate to be so disobliging but I don't think so. Topy is/was a brand name that eventually became somewhat synonymous with any thin, after market, glue-on sole.

NORE · Apr 3, 2011

Originally Posted by apropos

Hai, bigbris.
Haaaaaiii!

Originally Posted by Son Of Saphir

me hope your fastener not damaged by the toe plate.

I put it on myself one drunken night since I had the Blakeys lying around. I like the tapping sound they make when I'm growing impatient at the liquor store

Originally Posted by entrero

Technically speaking a toe plate/guard is a topy.
See above. I read that adding the rubber sole guard takes away from the quality of leather that allows your feet to breathe, right thru the sole. So they may actually be doing more damage in another area, keeping moisture in or forcing it to go in another direction. I'm no expert, tho but I'd much rather wear a Dainite soled shoe than to add a Topy to a leather sole.

bloke11 · Apr 3, 2011

Originally Posted by NORE

I read that adding the rubber sole guard takes away from the quality of leather that allows your feet to breathe, right thru the sole. So they may actually be doing more damage in another area, keeping moisture in or forcing it to go in another direction. I'm no expert, tho but I'd much rather wear a Dainite soled shoe than to add a Topy to a leather sole.

If that is the case, where does moisture go on a pair of rubber soled shoes?

Archivist · Apr 3, 2011

What of the duck-ness?

Axel Ferguson · Apr 3, 2011

Originally Posted by NORE

I read that adding the rubber sole guard takes away from the quality of leather that allows your feet to breathe, right thru the sole. So they may actually be doing more damage in another area, keeping moisture in or forcing it to go in another direction. I'm no expert, tho but I'd much rather wear a Dainite soled shoe than to add a Topy to a leather sole.

We have to blow up the planet to save the planet?

apropos · Apr 3, 2011

Originally Posted by NORE

I read that adding the rubber sole guard takes away from the quality of leather that allows your feet to breathe, right thru the sole. So they may actually be doing more damage in another area, keeping moisture in or forcing it to go in another direction. I'm no expert, tho but I'd much rather wear a Dainite soled shoe than to add a Topy to a leather sole.
Mate, c'mon.

DWFII · Apr 3, 2011

Originally Posted by bloke11

If that is the case, where does moisture go on a pair of rubber soled shoes?

It stays right up next to and in the insole...the worst place for it to be both in terms of foot health and shoe longevity.

That said, leather soles don't "breath" in the sense of respiration...in, out. Rather they allow moisture to move from wet to dry. And when the moisture reaches the "outside" of the leather, it evaporates into the air.

Sole guards won't completely defeat this process although they will impede it somewhat. But full fledged rubber soles will stop all moister transfer and make the inside of the shoe a wetter environment--one where bacteria and fungi can thrive.

NORE · Apr 3, 2011

Originally Posted by DWFII

It stays right up next to and in the insole...the worst place for it to be both in terms of foot health and shoe longevity.

That said, leather soles don't "breath" in the sense of respiration...in, out. Rather they allow moisture to move from wet to dry. And when the moisture reaches the "outside" of the leather, it evaporates into the air.

Sole guards won't completely defeat this process although they will impede it somewhat. But full fledged rubber soles will stop all moister transfer and make the inside of the shoe a wetter environment--one where bacteria and fungi can thrive.

I knew I could count on you to set things straighter

bloke11 · Apr 3, 2011

Originally Posted by DWFII

It stays right up next to and in the insole...the worst place for it to be both in terms of foot health and shoe longevity.

That said, leather soles don't "breath" in the sense of respiration...in, out. Rather they allow moisture to move from wet to dry. And when the moisture reaches the "outside" of the leather, it evaporates into the air.

Sole guards won't completely defeat this process although they will impede it somewhat. But full fledged rubber soles will stop all moister transfer and make the inside of the shoe a wetter environment--one where bacteria and fungi can thrive.

Pardon my ignorance but AFAIK, moisture evaporates upwards, not downwards. Therefore I still don't see how a thin piece of rubber would hinder moisture from evaporating into the air on leather soles since it's at the bottom. Moisture doesn't have to go through the bottom of the sole in order to be evaporated into air, right?

To sole gaurd or not ?

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