(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Dead Shoes
There’s a stack of things I mean to blog building up in my notes file for such things, but Manu had to go and blog about shoes which means I’m constitutionally required to take advantage of the opportunity do the same. Shoes will never not be a hassle and a half.
To be clear: the single biggest problem for me when it comes to shoes isn’t the set of things I need from a pair of shoes, but the fact that shoes need to be replaced so often and I simply can’t afford to do that. That’s frankly unlikely to change any time ever.
As for what I’d prefer to find in shoes outside of their general lack of affordability? I’ve mostly gravitated to needing lightweight mid-tops. Low-top shoes tend to be a sensory frustration at my ankle bones, and high-top shoes just seem too binding. (Although I do have a pair of duck boots which are high-tops, but that generally makes sense because I live in Portland and there are puddles.)
My current everyday shoes are a pair of Adidas Bravada mids, which as near as I can tell aren’t even made anymore, and this brings us to the other major problem when it comes to me and shoes: being autistic, when I find something that works for me, I really do need to be able to get them over and over again, or get a bunch of them all at once. The latter fails on the affordability count, and the former just seems to fail for me as a matter of general course.
There are reasons I refer to myself as an “unsupported use case”, and this sort of thing definitely is one of them.
The affordability issue would nag less if shoes had any kind of durability to them whatsoever. Several months ago while researching online I cam across the GORUCK Ballistic Trainers which had very high marks almost everywhere for sole durability. Alas, they are phasing out the mids and even if I could afford $135 shoes all the time they only have the Black + Gum. They used to make an all-black version.
I’ve not really found anything comparable, or at least not before my patience was replaced by frustration. It’s too bad, because those seemed to be a good balance of lightweight and durable.
So, I continue to wear my Bravadas despite the fact that the heel is wearing away at an ever-increasing rate, and that’s all I really have to say about shoes.
Addenda
- Further reading suggests the Ballistics might be heavier than I thought, I can’t tell. But I just found out something else: my Bravada Mids seem to be back in play and are available on Amazon just in time for my birthday.