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Archmolds Maximum Custom Insoles
Field Report September 25, 2006
After
two months and 26 mi (42 km) of use
Tester's Information
Name: Liz Neely
Age: 38
Gender: Female
Height: 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Weight: 145 lb (65.8 kg)
Email address: liz at armory dot com
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
Tester's Background:
I've been day hiking for many years, and started backpacking in 2005.
My hiking and backpacking has been primarily in the San Francisco Bay
Area of California, on designated trails, with occasional stream
crossings. My backpacking
trips have ranged in length from two to four days and have all been in
state and national parks in the San Francisco Bay area. The
temperatures I encounter range from 25 F (4 C) to 80 F (27 C), the
elevations are between sea level and 7500 ft (2286 m), and my pack
weight is between 28 to 36 lbs (13 to 16 kg).
Product Information:
Manufacturer: Archmolds
Year of Manufacture: 2006
URL: http://www.archmolds.com/
Listed Weight: not available
Measured Weight: 4 oz (113 g) for the pair; this is for women's size
10.5-11/men's size 9-9.5
Available Sizes: men's 6-15.5, women's 4.5-12.5
MSRP: $37.95
Product Description:
The Archmolds Maximum Custom Insoles are removable insoles that are
intended to
replace the original insoles that came with a pair of shoes or boots.
Archmolds has two versions of these insoles, Maximum and Standard. I am
testing the Maximum. The difference between the two versions is
that the Maximum are 3mm and the Standard are 1.5mm. Archmolds
recommends the Maximum for running shoes, tennis shoes, work boots,
hiking boots, etc. They recommend the Standard for tighter shoes where
the Maximum won't fit, and for more casual shoes.
The word Custom in the product name refers to the feature of this
product that allows you to Heat Mold them to custom fit them to your
shoes and feet. The Heat Molding process involves heating the insoles
in an oven to soften them, then putting them in your shoe or boot while
they are still hot, then putting your shoe or boot on your foot so that
as the hot
insole cools down, it conforms to the shape of your shoe and foot. The
Molding process can be
done up to five times.
For more details about this product, please read my Initial
Report.
Initial Impressions:
To read about my initial impressions of these insoles, please read my
Initial
Report.
Field Information:
I have had these insoles in my hiking boots for about two months now,
and during that time I have been on a couple short walks, one long
walk, and two backpacking trips.
After heat molding these insoles to my feet and hiking boots, I took
two short walks (about 1 mi (2 km) each) in town to make sure they felt
comfortable enough for backpacking. During the first short walk I
discovered that since these insoles are significantly thicker than the
insoles that had come with the boots, it brought the top of my feet
much closer to the tops of my boots, causing my boots to feel
uncomfortably tight and causing the tops of my feet to rub against the
tops of my boots. The next day I took the same walk again, but with my
boot laces much looser than I typically wear them. This helped a lot,
and they were much more comfortable, but I felt that I couldn't really
go backpacking with my laces quite that loose. Next I took a longer
walk (about 4 mi (6 km)) in town and stopped several times to adjust
the
tightness of my laces. I was trying to find a nice compromise where my
feet weren't rubbing against the tops of my boots, but the laces were
tight enough to give me the support I expect from hiking boots. By the
end of the walk, I felt that I had found a reasonable adjustment that
worked with these new insoles. Other than these problems due to the
thickness of these insoles, I found them very comfortable. I had no
blisters or sore spots on the bottoms of my feet, and my feet weren't
at all tired after these walks.
Since I had now found a way to adjust my boots with
these insoles in such a way that my feet didn't rub against the tops of
my boots, but that the laces were also tight enough to give me the
support I need, I decided it was time to try these insoles on a
backpacking trip. This was a two day/one night trip in Big Basin State
Park, California. The elevations were
between 400 to 1000 ft (122 to 305 m) and the temperatures were between
55 to 70 F (13 to 21 C). The hike covered about 6 mi (10 km) each day.
At the beginning of the hike, I had to stop a
couple times to adjust how tight my laces were on my boots, as I was
still not quite sure how tight I wanted the laces to account for the
thickness of the insoles but to also give me support. But after those
adjustments, everything was very comfortable. And, my laces were tight
enough; I could tell this because my feet didn't slide forward in my
boots when going down steep hills, which is a problem I have when my
laces aren't tight enough. I was very happy to find that at the end of
each day of hiking, I had no sore spots or blisters on my feet, and my
feet didn't feel tired like they often do after a day of hiking; my
feeling is that the added padding of these insoles, as well as the
added arch support, heat molded to my actual foot shape, is what made
my feet feel so good even after two full days of hiking. I also found,
that although my socks still had some odor after a day of hiking, it
was not a very strong odor, and my
boots themselves didn't have much of an odor to them either. I have to
attribute this to the odor fighting qualities of these insoles, which
is awesome!
The second backpacking trip on which I used these insoles was a two
day/two night trip in Desolation Wilderness, California. The elevations
were between 6900 to 8700 ft (2103 to 2652 m) and the temperatures were
between 35 to 75 F (2 to 24 C). The hike was about 3 mi (5 km) the
first day, and about 5 mi (8 km) the second day. I believe I have got
the laces adjusted just right on my boots now, because I didn't have
any problems at all on this trip with the boots feeling too tight, or
rubbing the tops of my feet. The insoles were very comfortable, and I
am convinced now that they are helping my feet feel less tired after
hiking than they typically would. Also, as I found on the previous
backpacking trip, my socks and boots didn't have much odor to them
after hiking. After returning home, I
removed the insoles from the boots and gave them the sniff test, and
they have almost no odor at all!
Summary of feelings about these insoles after two months of field
testing:
Comfort and Fit:
At first, I had some problems with comfort and fit. The main issue was
that since these insoles are so much thicker than the insoles that had
come with my boots, it left less room for my feet between the insoles
and the tops of my boots. After an adjustment period, I got used to
this, and the resolution was to loosen my laces a bit. I did not have
to loosen them so much that I lost the support I needed, I just
loosened
them enough to make a little space in the boots for the added space
taken by the thicker insoles. Once I got this adjustment figured out,
the insoles were very comfortable. I could definitely feel the added
arch support both from them being high quality insoles, and from them
being custom molded to the shape of my
feet.
Convenience:
I've already determined that while my boots are a little difficult to
install insoles in, due to their not opening very widely, these insoles
are not any more difficult to install than the insoles that came with
the boots. I can't yet report on how convenient these insoles are to
wash or dry because I have not had any reason to wash them, and I have
also not gotten them wet while in use. I will make a point of washing
them, whether they need it or not, during the long term test period so
I can report on how easy or difficult they are to wash and dry.
Durability:
These insoles are not showing signs of deterioration. The only signs of
wear are that they have some small dirt particles embedded in the
fabric on the tops of the insoles. This is not something I can feel
when wearing them, but is visible when looking at them. I can't really
tell if the cushion has been squished down at all, but it's still
extremely comfortable and they still look much thicker than the stock
insoles that came with my boots. I don't think the arch support has
fallen at all because it is still a nice high arch support exactly
molded to my foot and boot.
Odor:
I believe the Advanced Ag does help fight odor, as I always have some
foot odor in my boots after hiking, however, the boots and insoles have
had almost no odor after hiking in them with these insoles!
Heat Moldable Sub Layer:
I believe that the
heat moldable sub layer is great for making these insoles conform to my
feet and provide the shape insole my particular feet need.
Additional Testing
Over the remaining two months of the test period, I will be watching
for any degradation in the performance of these insoles, as well as
any changes in my opinion of their comfort. I will also be smelling for
increases in odor, and looking for physical signs of wear on the
insoles. And, finally, I will be washing them so I can report on any
difficulties I encounter washing or drying them.
Thank you to BackpackGearTest.org
and Archmolds for giving me the
opportunity
to test the Archmolds Maximum Custom Insoles.
Read more reviews of Archmolds gear
Read more gear reviews by Liz Neely
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