Taps

[Bruce Wayne]

Take this photo fro this thread. The orange dots on the heel are harder wearing rubber than the surrounding hell. They are there to help make the heel last longer, therefore requiring less replacement.

 

[TomS]

I always thought they were for protection against wear...

 

[South]

Okay, I may be slow... I had completely forgotten about Kiwi "Heel Savers". I bought some and will be trying them out on some of my shoes and boots.

Hopefully, it will slow down uneven wear on the heels.

I think they are expensive, though. They were ~ $3.50 for a pack of two pairs. They look like they should be about .50 a pair.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I always thought they were for protection against wear...

They are. However inthe photo I linked to above, the oranger dots are essentially built in taps, per se.

 

[bburtner@moran]

Obtuse

E gad`s talk about being obtuse!!!

 

[willyk57]

Kiwi Heel Saver Review

Okay, I may be slow... I had completely forgotten about Kiwi "Heel Savers". I bought some and will be trying them out on some of my shoes and boots.

Hopefully, it will slow down uneven wear on the heels.

I think they are expensive, though. They were ~ $3.50 for a pack of two pairs. They look like they should be about .50 a pair.

I am very bad about dragging my heels and all of my boots show it. It took me a while to find a brick and mortar retailer that carried heel savers, but I have two Kiwi pair now.

So far , I am in the process of waring out a pair of the Kiwi Heel Savers on a pair of rubber soled casual boots. After about about a week they are still ok, with the molded writing still readable. They initially looked like they were going to ware out very quickly but I now think they will last about a month and a half out of them. I will say that the small nails used to hold the heel savers in place were hard to countersink and may scratch some flooring materials.

I will try to give another update when I replace them.

Best,
WillyK

 

[Slim Portly]

Now someone must create a devise for protecting the sides of my shoes! I only began wearing dress shoes very late in life, and my many decades of bad habits from wearing soft athletic shoes are paying hell on my nice Oxfords. I sit at a desk for many hours each day and I unconsciously cross my legs at the ankles. This causes the bottom and side-heel of one shoe to rub against the leather of the other. With black or dark brown shoes there is little evidence of my laziness, but my first pair of white bucks were all but ruined after just the first day, with dirty scuffs marring the white suede leather of the sides! Would it be terribly bad practice to go about with my feet encased in plastic bags?

 

[cptjeff]

Now someone must create a devise for protecting the sides of my shoes! I only began wearing dress shoes very late in life, and my many decades of bad habits from wearing soft athletic shoes are paying hell on my nice Oxfords. I sit at a desk for many hours each day and I unconsciously cross my legs at the ankles. This causes the bottom and side-heel of one shoe to rub against the leather of the other. With black or dark brown shoes there is little evidence of my laziness, but my first pair of white bucks were all but ruined after just the first day, with dirty scuffs marring the white suede leather of the sides! Would it be terribly bad practice to go about with my feet encased in plastic bags?

Sounds like you are going to get to know messrs. Saddle soap and White shoe polish pretty well.

 

[Tomasso]

my first pair of white bucks were all but ruined after just the first day, with dirty scuffs marring the white suede leather of the sides!

Get yourself a Buck Bag.

 

[jdbenson]

Hale Heel still in business?

I ordered taps from Hale Heel on April 5, and have still not yet received anything, nor has my credit card been charged....

Does anyone know if Hale Heel is still in business? [huh]

 

[Baron Kurtz]

It is almost impossible to get adult dress shoes small enough for my feet, so i end up wearing 1/2 size too big. I learned from a friend in graduate school who studies the mechanics of walking that most people's toe clearance is surprisingly small so slightly long shoes tend to strike very slightly at the toe, wearing down the sole.

I go for metal toe taps. I don't wear down heels particularly much, but each new pair of shoes i get has "Blakey's" (the major manufacturer of "segs" back in the day, their name has become the common name of the item; like "Hoover".) fitted pretty sharpish.

bk

 

[Slim Portly]

Get yourself a Buck Bag.

Excellent, thank you! That's going right to the top of the shopping list.