I've been using old worn out skater shoes to fly my twister 3 + 4m. The worn out soles make it easier to scud on the grass or sand when the kite pulls. The problem is that they don't offer any foot or ankle support. I hurt the ball of my foot coming down off a small jump, and almost rolled my ankle on another jump.

I know people say you need a 5M+ to jump at all, but I don't want to catch tons of air, just get a second or 2 of hang time, and I don't have a 5m yet. I figure its better to learn the basics and get great kite control, make the redirect instinctual, etc. A couple weeks ago it was blowing about 12-15mph and my timing had gotten much better, so I was jumping way higher and farther (still only 2-4' max). There were a couple times that it was pretty crazy! I was glad it was only a 4m and not a 5m!

I sanded off the lugs on some old hiking boots using a belt sander and 40 grit sandpaper. Then I coated the soles in armor-all. The problem is that they had holes in the rubber, and sanding it down revealed these holes. They still had a bit too much grip when I tried them out, and sent me running a few times. I'm wondering if I should use rubber, leather, or plastic to glue onto the soles for a smooth surface. I don't want something too slippery! What do you think?

Just get a pair of classic old school high top Converse.
No high tops? then lowtop Converse or Vans with some Dr. Schoals sport inserts

Perhaps we should revisit the pop bottle shoe idea......kidding:D

I've never had much luck scudding on grass. I've heard that skate boarding shoes work the best but never tried them. I had one bad day trying to scud on wet grass and that was the end of it for me. The only time I will scud now is at the beach, it gives you the best surface and control to work with.

I like to buggy in running shoes(old) and jump a bit in same. I'm not getting more than 6 feet of air) any time I jump (yet..anyway. Still controlled and cautious with FB kite jumping) -so I can handle complete gravity if kite collapses or for whatever reason I don't float so softly back down.

How rigid or soft the shoe's upper is has little to do with hurting the ball of your foot. Better cushioning of the sole and especially the midsole can help a little there. My running shoes have both a soft compressible midsole AND soft rubber lug sole.

Hiking boots have hard rubber soles that don't absorb. The midsoles of the boot varies by brand and model and can be from spongy EVA foams, to hard polyurethanes.

The upper- if it if stiff enough- may prevent over pronated rolling of the ankle and prevent an injury from this. But some hiking uppers are still so soft that you can still roll your ankle to an injury... or if they are too wide and/or tied loose on your feet.

I am on sand 99% of time but I believe same softer soles(of running shoes-even with a lug pattern(some running soles are hard too-so)- will slide more for scudding(either on purpose or for when it often happens launching).

Side motions can be much more injurious than forward/backward linear ones. Like steering your car into a skid...best to face and align your body in the direction your being flung! Bad motions to ankles can move up to knees and hips and you can even injure those by same forces 'misaligning you that second of impact.

Good form and strong muscles around joints can help. Exercises can strengthen and should not be overlooked.

So....If looking for kite footwear with a combination of firm ankle support AND cushioned sole(along with the right soles to allow slidding/scudding) it's not that easy. If the upper is that stiff...usually the sole/midsole is firm ..boot is deeply lugged and too 'grippy'.

...but there are some compromises to be found if you look hard....or you have a good grinder/sander perhaps

BTW...w/regards to SIZE for jumping...

I often jump with a FB 4m race kite and have jumped smaller too. I'm about 150+ pounds. The power of high aspect vs low(er) aspect is obviously a lot stronger...but I'm not sure how the aspect of a kite relates to the 'FLOAT'-and again.........if its strictly size- and not related to kite's aspect.

...If it's the latter, then jumping with a higher aspect(that can create more force to lift you) is more dangerous than jumping with a low aspect of the same power-but bigger size.

Then there's the AOA(angle of attack)of the kite to consider.....(whew!)

Maybe a much more seasoned and knowledgeable kiter can clue us into the FLOAT postulates and theroms regarding size..and more:puzzled:!


Obviously you'll always be safer with a depower.

I've been rocking a pair of $9 Walmart flipflops (Op's)... I just recently bought myself a new pair of Keen hiking shoes, but since they're made for hiking, they grip a bit too well for scudding. The flipflops have NO tread and scud well, but I occasionally lose one if I step back too fast... When I have an opportunity I'm going to get some boat shoes, converse or vans.

With decent winds I would slide 4 to 8' on a single scud across grass with my worn out skater shoes. I actually hurt the ball of my foot at the beach because the sole was to soft and my foot was loose in it. My beach is small and I only go there when it's low tide so the sand is pretty hard all the time. The park is only 2 min from the beach so it gets the same nice wind and the grass is softer than the packed sand. Thanks for the tips! I'm thinking I might do leather and glue and staple it to my boots. Think about how slippery a new pair of leather bottomed dress shoes is!

With decent winds I would slide 4 to 8' on a single scud across grass with my worn out skater shoes. I actually hurt the ball of my foot at the beach because the sole was to soft and my foot was loose in it. My beach is small and I only go there when it's low tide so the sand is pretty hard all the time. The park is only 2 min from the beach so it gets the same nice wind and the grass is softer than the packed sand. Thanks for the tips! I'm thinking I might do leather and glue and staple it to my boots. Think about how slippery a new pair of leather bottomed dress shoes is!

Check Bowling supplies. They make self adhesive teflon pads you could adhere to your shoes..


LINKY LINKY

my sneaks are held together w/ goop... best glue ever...come to think of it its holding together my helmet and front fender on the bug and top sheet on atb...stuff is liquid duct tape... i fly at the beach and have 3 pair of 18$ Walmart OP sneaks in rotation..i wash them out if they take any salt water..and my #1 tip is a 2le hours in freshwater/bleach mix every few times out to keep things all nice nice...

Here's what you do:

Did deep in the back of your Closet and pull out the pair of those hideous Sneakers your Aunt Edna gave you 5 years ago

Rip off the sole tread part and you'll be stylin!

Here's mine- old pair of Nike running shoes


[img][/img]

I ordered some heavy duty leather off the net. I'll report back once I get them installed!

That's a great idea. Re-use of an old pair is great.

Quote: Originally posted by beachrights

Here's what you do: Did deep in the back of your Closet and pull out the pair of those hideous Sneakers your Aunt Edna gave you 5 years ago Rip off the sole tread part and you'll be stylin! Here's mine- old pair of Nike running shoes [img][/img]

Hey,, if I'm not wrong then you might be using these shoes regularly or are you a regular runner?? These shoes shows that only,, But if I talk about me then I think I'll have to run not more than 15 km a day to make my own Ripcurl shoes look like that,, hahahahaha

Quote: Originally posted by andelcatherine

Hey,, if I'm not wrong then you might be using these shoes regularly or are you a regular runner?? These shoes shows that only,, But if I talk about me then I think I'll have to run not more than 15 km a day to make my own Ripcurl shoes look like that,, hahahahaha

Reported.

Earmarks of a bot, zip code in location, blond, nonsense post.

What you are wearing in the first picture are the same things I wear all the time when flying. Had a nice pair I got in Hawaii at walmart but they blew out a month ago at SOBB.
So its back to the old leather flip flops, or what we call zories.:D

What you are wearing in the first picture are the same things I wear all the time when flying. Had a nice pair I got in Hawaii at walmart but they blew out a month ago at SOBB.
So its back to the old leather flip flops, or what we call zories.:D

I wear a pair of these for my scudding and jumping:

http://www.sportsdirect.com/airwalk-snoop-mid-mens-skate-sho...

Nice support on the ankles for landing my jumps, and with limited grip on the soles I find I can scud pretty smoothly in them and still achieve good distance. Decent price too :D

Today I found a pair of "carpet skates" at the thrift store. Soon to be tested on the sands of Wildwood and probably end up on the raffle table Sat. night. They could be the perfect "skud shoes". Someone is going score big!

The motorcycle circle track racers had this figured out years ago.
For those on a budget...
Some sheet metal, some gray Duck Tape to match and....PRESTO...Scudding shoes!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VTG-1953-AMA-RACING-METAL-FLAT-TRACK...

Try ski boots lots of ankle support, smooth soles.....

I've go to say the picture of you sanding the soles of your shoes while standing in your flip flops with rubber all over you and your feet really cracked me up!
The first question was "this man really needs to keep those shoes". The 2nd was " is this a homeless guy with power tools?" The 3rd was "is he doing this in his bathroom"?
Number 4 was "Does his wife know what he is doing and has she seen the mess"? #5 is "does he own a shop vac"?

Funny Funny Funny Ha Ha Thanks

Quote: Originally posted by WIllardTheGrey

Quote: Originally posted by andelcatherine   Hey,, if I'm not wrong then you might be using these shoes regularly or are you a regular runner?? These shoes shows that only,, But if I talk about me then I think I'll have to run not more than 15 km a day to make my own Ripcurl shoes look like that,, hahahahaha Reported. Earmarks of a bot, zip code in location, blond, nonsense post.

That isn't just ANY blonde. That is Julia Stiles!

duplicate

Quote:

"this man really needs to keep those shoes"

No, they are disposable, but they have good ankle support

Quote:

The 2nd was " is this a homeless guy with power tools?"

Sometimes my wife points out homeless guys that are dressed nicer than the clothes that I work in the garage with. I got into kiting when the homeless guys let me fly their kites!

Quote:

The 3rd was "is he doing this in his bathroom"?

The previous owner tiled the garage, and painted a bunch of concrete! Never paint concrete!

Quote:

Number 4 was "Does his wife know what he is doing and has she seen the mess"?

I might have mentioned something, but I'm not sure. She could care less how much of a mess I make in the garage.

Quote:

#5 is "does he own a shop vac"?

3 of them. A 3 gal small one, a 15 gallon rigid vac, and a 3hp, 220V, 6" inlet industrial vac.

Thanks for all the tips guys. I'm going to try to glue the leather onto the boots tonight and hopefully try them this weekend.

I love the shoes Myaikencheeks posted. I found the guy, ben almeda, that makes those custom made steel shoes for vintage dirt track motorcycle races.

http://vft.org/vftforsale2Products.html

It's towards the bottom of the page. Dude wants over $200 for a pair. Which may or may not be worth it for you (too expensive for me) but they sure do look bad-ass!

TIN! Tin would be a cheap way to skid on any pair or shoes. Tin snips are cheap. Tin is cheap. Screw it into soles for 3-5 times out, replace.

i Just bought these today from walmart for $7. The tag said they are made out of 80% recycled plastic bottles. I tried them out today and they worked great on dry grass.

Quote: Originally posted by MyAikenCheeks

The motorcycle circle track racers had this figured out years ago. For those on a budget... Some sheet metal, some gray Duck Tape to match and....PRESTO...Scudding shoes! http://www.ebay.com/itm/VTG-1953-AMA-RACING-METAL-FLAT-TRACK...

Ohh, flattrack! Never expected to find another flattrack fan here

BTW, those shoes can make quite the fireworks show on gravel at 100 mph :-)

A pair of cheap tennis shoes work well as a lot have very little tread but are still comfortable for long periods of time.

I glued some thick leather to them. It was crazy windy today, but I cant make it out. weather man says 25-35 with gusts to 50 at my house, and 15 -20 mph with gusts to 25 at the beach! It's probably a good thing! It is supposed to be calmer tomorrow.
I might add more leather to the heel if they dont slide fast enough. They turned out pretty good. I cleaned up the edges with a flap disk on a grinder. Here are a couple pics.