Fast-laning is when you rush along on the very outer part of the sidewalk or walkway. Outside of the parking meters, outside the planters, the bike-racks, hydrants, mailboxes, scaffolding- likely treating the curb like a balance beam, eyes peeled for animal droppings and automobiles. Even the best planners occasionally find themselves in a rush and if the powerwalk trajectory is congested by stuck-together saunterers and other slow pokery— fastlaning, even if just to pass some crowded clumps, is something we’ve all done.
Fast-laning : Advanced Walking Technique number one
We love natural materials on the inside of our footwear. Leather, suede and cork do a superior job of molding to our footprint and absorbing perspiration. What about wood? A brand called Zederna manufactures these ultra-thin insoles made of cedar wood, and I’m giving them a good walk-around.
Cedar is the world’s go-to freshening wood. Layering a thin piece of 100% cedar over 100% cotton to create a shoe insole seems brilliant at first impression. The pleasant smell is there. The soles are stiff, pliable, and about as thin as a penny.
Zedernas come in fourteen different sizes (women’s 5 to men’s 14), and are not intended to ever be cut with scissors. This product worked best in shoes with a relatively neutral insole shape and would not be ideal for sneakers or footwear with orthotic-style footbeds. More on that later.
The packaging says you can wear these without socks. After trying them in a variety of different types of shoe, I gave them a long-term gig inside my Softstar Portlanders which I tend to wear sockless around at home during the warmer months.
Tongue slots, lace guides– those courtesy cuts or patches on the tongues of footwear that allow wearers to loop through when lacing
Try lacing up at first ignoring the slots then doing a pre-walk (light wear around inside) and making some observations. Note where the laces naturally overlap, then re-lace incorporating the courtesy slots. It’s okay for the tongues to naturally drift a little to the sides, but a proclivity of them starting to slowly slide around the arch of your foot is what the lace guides are meant to prevent.
You might find you don’t need to use them at all. I’ve come to prefer the underover method (as shown in photos), where I use the lace slots under, but not over when I cross lace up.
Feet are just Louisiana-shaped bags of bones best enabled by having the sturdy flexibility that wrapping laces partially around them offers. Try out the underover way and let me know what you think.
Sometimes I feel like the only one- the only one who is never content with the length of shoelaces that come stock with some footwear. Laces always seem way too long right? Shoe shops never seem to have a great selection of laces, but I was pleasantly surprised that behind the counter of Journeys Shoes and Clothing hung this pair of 39-inch laces that fit a pair of my Mauris perfectly. 36’s were too short, 45’s too long so yes, a pair of shoelaces made me happy.
Thanks to a gigantic attention-getting promotional Skechers sneaker on a table at a volunteer fair I happen to be walking by the other day, I came to learn about an organization called Back on My Feet.
Back on My Feet works to combat homelessness by directing resources toward specific housing and employment initiatives, while fostering self-esteem in homeless individuals (many who are veterans) through the communal act of getting together for a run. Big city marathons to small morning groups- keep an eye out for them. There are chapters in 12 major US cities. I encourage anyone to check out their sitefor more information. Wicked-cool shout out to the staff from the NYC chapter.
Vans Bike Grips
I needed some new grips for my mountain bike. I used to love the ODI mushroom grips back in my BMX Freestyle days- were they still making grips? (searches web) Hell yeah they are.
For someone who grew up wearing Vans, these rubber grips featuring the classic waffle-sole pattern, also made-in-the-USA like the old Vans used to be- bought ’em faster than a wheel spin.
What the heck- just a few little things that made me happy recently
I was listening to an old No I.D. instrumental, and he used a long sample of Biz Markie on one of the beats. Pete Rock always sampled Biz on his early work. Beasties did songs with Biz..
Biz is the producer’s favorite rapper, your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper, and now he’s your favorite DJ’s favorite DJ, so I’m kicking myself for not ordering one of these Converse shirts 26 years ago.
Yes I made digital versions off the tape and they knock.
I’m going to write something nice about flip-flops (the double F-word) for the first time ever, specifically these Island Slipper men’s Paniolo sandals handcrafted in Hawaii, USA that I happily purchased with my own Benjamin.
Popdiatry recommends not wearing flip-flops on city streets, while travelling (planes and trains), and definitely not while driving. I was looking for something that surrounded my foot with leather, and these do that.
If you’re going to flip-flop, do it right and spend a little more than it would cost for lunch at Wendy’s. These are your feet! Island Slipper has lots of designs using leather, suede, and denim- materials we feel offer a happier foot-feel than plastic/foam.
When it’s summer, and I’m at my place working on the computer for long hours, these cowhide leather-topped flip-flops feel perfect on my bare feet, and I look forward to the natural wear they will incur throughout the many years I imagine owning them.
They have some arch to them, a heal cup, and a non-marking rubber deck outsole, so you won’t scuff up the yacht.
Island Slipper makes sandals for men and women, and offers true number sizes (not like S/M/L/XL) The slippers are made upon order and find their way to your doorstep in about three weeks after confirmation.
The embossed leather pattern is very cool, asymmetrical, and florally Hawaiian they way I imagine a Hawaiian shirt pattern.
I have an inexpensive pair of foam slides for walking around after a shower, but they were very un-chill to wear for long periods of time with their ultra-synthetic feel. When I slide my feet into leather Island Slippers, I want to keep them on.
The Island Slipper staff was very friendly and helpful, and I look forward to sharing more thoughts about their unique products.
The Hat Jack Hat Stretcher by Killer Incorporated is made in the USA out of wood and metal, and is exactly what I needed to expand some fitted New Era 59FIFTY caps back to wearable size.
The Hat Jack Hat Stretcher
“Headache Relief For Hat People”
The Jack comes in three sizes, and will set you back around 15 bucks. I used it to stretch, but like shoe-trees for kicks, it is an excellent device to leave inserted while storing hats between wears to absorb moisture and prevent shrinkage.
Get the appropriate size, stick it in your tight hat and hand-crank until it feels like it may rip. Get a teapot or pan with water boiling in the kitchen until some visible steam is produced
New Era 59/50 getting stretched
With this wool baseball cap, I held each side over the steam a little bit then used a wrench to carefully expand until I sensed the threads might pop. I let it sit overnight, and cranked it a little more in the morning.
Careful not to rip it money
No more torture on thy forehead; I knew there had to be a tight-hat solution and a Hat Jack was the answer. Whether you rock Stetsons, Yankee-fitteds, straw hats or mack-daddy felts, the Hat Jack is an excellent piece of hardware at a great price.
We’ve been a fan of Oregon’s KEEN and their penchant for coming up with eye-catching, functional designs for outdoor types. (I love my left/right socks). I recall seeing their UNEEK line of open-air footwear hit the scene, but it wasn’t until I inspected the latest UNEEKs up close did I get a little mEsMeRiZeD by the tapestried system of interlocking cords that attach the sole to the upper, creating a sturdy, ornamental web around your foot.
KEENfootwear.com
KEEN threw a party last week on Orchard Street in NYC to showcase the UNEEK 02 line, which they feel perfects the build of the 01s with even more thought on how the cords (flat and rounded) work with the natural shape of the foot. I’d knee-jerkedly put them on a list of “things to wear instead of flip-flops”
Photo: KEEN
On display, they had the prototype collection of what would become the UNEEK, including the OG pin & thread over last:
I got to chat with members of the Keen team, and they assured me these would probably be good for river-tubing. It takes a stroke of confidence to uniquely call your thing U-Neek. I’d say that KEEN delivered with what are essentially little engineering masterpieces. I’d consider trying them out on the beach, probably while bumping some Eek-A-Mouse, and maybe a little Chronixx.
The Green Festival Expo calls itself America’s largest and longest-running sustainability and green living event. I took a walk around the 2016 New York City Green Festival Expo to see what they had.
It seemed like 75% of the exhibitors fit snugly in what most would categorize as GREEN. The rest was rather “anything goes”. Enthusiastic Green Expo greeters threw around green plastic frisbees by the entrance of Javits Center North and cheerfully guided guests to the green table-clothed rows of exhibitors. I paid the reasonable entrance fee of fifteen greenbacks and commenced the stroll.
Who’s the greenest of them all
All in all, it was a fun event. The folks working the booths I visited were kind and helpful. The overall vibe was earthy, crunchy and friendly, but I had to get a little grouchy towards some of what I saw, so read on with good humor.
SOCKS THAT GIVE, TREAT, FEED & TEACH
Cause marketing is here to stay. That is- products where a portion of the proceeds go to a charitable cause. Conscious Step socks are made in India from fairtrade certified organic cotton in an ethical, worker-friendly environment and come in four main styles, each with an embroidered graphic representing the cause their sale goes toward.
Water socks = Water.org
Book socks = BornToRead.com
Red ribbon = UNAIDS.org
Food socks = ActionAgainstHunger.org
Tree socks (Limited Edition) = treesforthefuture.org
The stockings are well-designed, quality to-the-touch, and the packaging makes them ever so giftable. What kind of monster doesn’t want to conquer starvation, AIDS, pollution, and illiteracy?
If it were that easy…
With Conscious Step, or any other cause-marketer, the empathetic among us must rely on the benevolence of the entity when it comes time for charity to be delivered. The grouch in me wonders if you make a $50,000 donation to a charity and don’t tell anyone, wouldn’t you be helping more than a company that donates a smaller amount to the same charity then makes the act part of their brand identity? “Millennials like to buy products they think are helping people” say the Wall Street market watchers. I do believe we all want to help.
Many wonderful people do hard work for non-profits around the world, but it is discouraging when trusted sources become embroiled in scandal or at least have serious questions raised about their donations.
One of the most successful cause-marketers in the footwear category, with profits north of $300 Million, has been TOMS Shoes with their “one-for-one” model of giving a pair of shoes to a needy child for every pair sold.
A thoughtful expose done by Tiny Spark found that TOMS founder was essentially a reality show bro with evangelical tendencies who did drop shoes off to poor African villages whether footwear was needed or not. Bain Capital Private Equity bought 50% of TOMS in 2014, and the company continues to thrive and expand into eyewear using the same 1-4-1 steez. No data is available on the current state of worldwide barefootedness.
In a world full of pressing problems, most philanthropists pick a single issue to concentrate their forces around, so Conscious Step servicing multiple charities seems rather ambitious. With a positive outlook, I commend their idea and will observe how they evolve. Did I mention the socks look really nice?
NERVE STIMULATING SANDALS
HiDow Acuslippers
Hi-Dow (pronounced High Dow) makes a variety of products that employ the latest in TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation) and EMS (Electrical Muscle Stimulation). These Hi-Dow Circulation Slippers are affixed with rechargeable lithium battery-powered sensors that can be controlled with a number of iPod/tablet-like devices offered by HiDow.
HiDow Circulation Slippers can be activated wirelessly by a TENS device
Green how? Using TENS devices to treat nerve-related pain instead of drugs is probably better for your mental environment. Consult your doctor before trying footwear equipped with electrical nerve stimulators.
VEGAN SHOES
If there’s something to be admired about those who identify as vegan, it’s the valiant effort to keep consistent across their lifestyle. Synthetic leather, or pleather- once thought of as a cheap sign of fakeness gets a rebirth as vegan-leather. I have no idea if there are any animal byproducts used in the glues on these shoes, or if there exists any internationally recognized vegan certification. The well-respected Moo-Shoes store uses the term “cruelty-free” to describe the products they sell. PETA tells aspiring vegans to look for shoes made from “faux leather, synthetic materials, waxed canvas, cotton, microfiber, polyurethane, cork, mock croc and fake snake” so I’d assume Wills Vegan Shoes use some combination of the above. They had vegan versions of many popular men and women’s styles all hovering around the hundred-dollar range.
What about your socks, belt and underwear- are those vegan too? If you take off your shoes at a vegan’s home for dinner and they see “vegan” on the inside, will you get an extra piece of seitan ?
A couple isles over, I did have a piece of “vegan” fudge that was quite good. In 2016, vegan shoes are a thing and Wills London is doing that thing. Popdiatry recommends never eating footwear, vegan or otherwise unless they are deep-fried in peanut oil.
CURE-ALL INSOLES
BestSole Inc. offers some unique polyester insoles that contain glycerin (not the explosive kind), and serve to be a peaks & valleys landscape for your feet that BestSole claims they’ll massage while walking.
Image: massaginginsoles.com
Do your feet, ankles, knees, hips or back ever hurt? Do you like massages? Ever feel fatigued? What about heel spurs, Morton’s Neuroma, Plantar Fasciitis, spinal problems, or diabetes?According to this evangelical Bestsole pamphlet- these massaging insoles can address all of that and more.
Their copy stops short of saying these things can cure cancer then hits you with generic quotes from “satisfied customers”. WB – a “camera man” from ESPN says “THEY ARE WONDERFUL”. JD’s son from the Navy claims “Boot camp marches were made easier with these”. Notice there are no endorsements from ESPN or the US Navy directly. A logo from the Pedorthic Footwear Association graces the front, but it is unclear what they have to do- if anything- with this particular product line.
Of course the friendly folks at the booth insisted I try them for a test walk. I was wearing my Finn Comfort Linz boots with leather/PU coated cork footbeds perfectly fitting with some cotton socks – no way am I sliding these in to walk in a 3 foot circle to try to judge whether they’ve cured my Morton’s-Plantar-Spur-Spinal-Bunion in 30 seconds. Since I wasn’t in immediate pain there was no need for these joints. If they’re powerful enough to cure many maladies, couldn’t they have unwanted side effects? (Other than disappearing $45 from your account)
So-called premium insoles are big business; This product is a neat idea, and I’m a made-in-USA product supporter, but spare me the late-night-TV snake-oily sales tactics. I’d ditch the creepy pamphlet and concentrate on comfort and durability.- maybe pay an athlete to endorse them. Please visit an actual doctor if you suffer from any of the conditions massaging insoles claim they can treat.
GREEN GREEN GREEN
Quinoa and hemp were plentiful here. I snacked on some jackfruit, gobbled some quorn (a fungus-derived protein), got a flyer for a documentary called “Cowspiracy”, learned about the plight of American wild horses; Sleepy Hollow Cemetery had a table there (their grass is green, and they offer good walking tours). LiveOnNY was there (organ donation).
Despite some of the stuff being questionably green, you have to understand that exhibitions like this need to fill all their spots to give their mission momentum. The zany mix of exhibitors was rather interesting in a carnival sort of way. The same expo will be visiting Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Portland before the year’s up so keep an eye out if you’re near those locales. There’s plenty to see for all ages, and I’d love to know what you think about what I thought about the Green Festival Expo.
Special thanks to Oscar The Grouch for inspiration
