zip ties

[Bear Cables]

I just want to share this idea, maybe someone else might like this. Two years ago my husband suggested I take some zipties in my emergeny kit for my hike, in case I had a clip failure or need to hold anything else together. I took some and don't you know that the first day of my four day hike the sole of my leather boots came off from the heel to the arch. I was able to "McGyver" a harness to hold the sole in place and secure it with my laces. It worked well enough to complete the hike. So, maybe you might want to add these to your gear.

[MuddyWaters]

Shoes usually have a leather or synthetic material upper
The " bottom" that the upper is actually sewn and attached too, is sometimes nothing more than a waxy cardboard
Then the sole gets glued,and if your lucky, also sewn to the bottom
If your lucky, stitching goes thru the edge of the upper, if your not, it goes into the cardboard.

So sometimes, shoes begin to fall apart as the cardboard breaks down. Not unexpected with the way some are constructed.

Anyway, one particularly wet fall football season, half my sons team , including my son, were wearing Nike Land Shark cleats.
After being wet every day for several weeks, they all began falling apart. Every pair had the soles coming off.
They all made it thru the last ~4 weeks of the season taped together with the cloth athletic tape

duct tape will hold shoes together pretty good too.

[bigcranky]

Nice. I put zip ties in my repair kit years ago, and have found several uses for them.

[daddytwosticks]

Handcuffs?

[solobip]

Thanks B C I can now think of a lot of potential uses. Great idea, thanks for sharing.

[Bear Cables]

duct tape will hold shoes together pretty good too.

But not if the shoes get wet or are damp. We were hiking along alot of creek beds where we had damp crossings in our boots. First tried the duct tape but it didn't hold so...zip ties.

[Deadeye]

got a variety of sizes of zips in my kit

[SOBO_Pace]

Didn't have much luck with duck tap holding shoes together but shoe Goo on the other hand held a pair together for nearly 220 miles.

[hobby]

my son did a 3 day solo hike out of Vogle several years ago when he was in college. (Coosa backcountry + Blood Mtn) His boots had been in the closet for a few years and started to fall apart the first day. Rather than abort the hike, he continued through various stages of boot disintegration. Soles flopping, tongue ripping out, soles separating...... he ended up fashioning a pair of sandals from the insoles and boot laces to finish his hike (pretty resourceful, I thought--but he is an Eagle Scout)
Zip ties would have come in handy!

[Rocket Jones]

Yep, I carry a couple of small ones and a couple of larger ones in my repair kit. One of those items that's priceless when you really need it.

[Capt Nat]

Thanks for the tip! Added to kit...

[Chair-man]

I've used 2 zip ties to fasten my umbrella handle to my shoulder strap when it's raining. Works great.

[archie]

I always have a few zip ties along. I think I have used them more frequently than I have used duct tape

[rocketsocks]

Big fan of the zip-tie, they work when nothin else will do....

[Swordpen]

I carry zip ties,the ones that can be released, & reused.