WhiteBlaze Pages 2024
A Complete Appalachian Trail Guidebook.
AVAILABLE NOW. $4 for interactive PDF(smartphone version)
Read more here WhiteBlaze Pages Store

Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 30
  1. #1

    Default Anyone use elastic no tie shoe laces?

    Liked these. https://www.amazon.com/LOCK-LACES-El.../dp/B00975EAJ6 Just learned about them. I've found replaces some of the various lacing schemes I've used.

  2. #2
    Registered User
    Join Date
    09-08-2006
    Location
    Wilton CT
    Age
    77
    Posts
    1,097

    Default

    Well not elastic like that, but I've become comfortable with the speed laces in my Salomons. I was initially suspicious of their longevity but have had no problems. Nor have others, as far as I know. Is the elasticity a necessity? If so, I'd wonder about its loss over time. I'd like to hear your experience with them.
    "It goes to show you never can tell." - Charles Edward Anderson Berry

  3. #3
    Registered User
    Join Date
    01-28-2008
    Location
    Spokane, WA
    Age
    71
    Posts
    4,907

    Default

    I've used Speedo water shoes with these for sailing. They worked well for that, as well as some mild walking.
    "It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how." ---Dr. Seuss

  4. #4
    Registered User One Half's Avatar
    Join Date
    08-05-2010
    Location
    in a bus
    Age
    53
    Posts
    1,802

    Default

    I haven't used those but on my hiking shoes I do use the "friction locks" (the name eludes me right now) like you find on a gear bag/ditty bag. It's quick and easy especially when wet and/or cold.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    https://tinyurl.com/MyFDresults

    A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world. ~Paul Dudley White

  5. #5
    Registered User
    Join Date
    07-05-2011
    Location
    Gurja
    Posts
    385
    Journal Entries
    1

    Default

    I use exactly those- love'em.
    hikers gonna hike

  6. #6
    Registered User
    Join Date
    01-16-2011
    Location
    On the trail
    Posts
    3,789
    Images
    3

    Default

    I went through many pairs of Salomon with their speed laces which I really liked. Have you tried these elastic laces on a hike with some moderate to severe downhill stretches? That would be my area of concern, the laces would flex and allow the foot to push forward.
    enemy of unnecessary but innovative trail invention gadgetry

  7. #7
    Registered User
    Join Date
    07-05-2011
    Location
    Gurja
    Posts
    385
    Journal Entries
    1

    Default

    image.jpgRarely even bend over and tighten them up. Slip on and go for the most part. Yep I like purple
    hikers gonna hike

  8. #8
    Registered User Water Rat's Avatar
    Join Date
    06-17-2012
    Location
    New England
    Posts
    2,474
    Images
    6

    Default

    I wear Salomon's and my last pair had issues with one of my speed laces get trapped in the plastic lock. This was the only pair I have had that issue...but it was enough to drive me to look for a slightly more user-friendly lace system. I found the Lock Laces at a local outdoor store and decided to give them a go. They are now my favorites. They are easy to tighten and even easier to loosen at the end of the day (the Salomon lock system was a little finicky when it got mud and gunk in it).

    I have yet to have a problem with these laces allowing my foot to slip and slide on varying terrain. I could see where that might be an issue if one had their shoes a little loose before the start of the downhill, but have not yet had an instance where the laces themselves stretched enough to allow my foot to slide around.

  9. #9

    Default

    Haven't been using them for long. Have not tried them on steep downhills. Have used them on the Oregon PCT though that is a more moderately graded for multi use well maintained trail. I like they can decrease the potential for soreness and hot spots by expanding which is nice to have when changing to a thicker sock using the same trail runner or as feet enlarge on prolonged hikes or with a heavy load. I found I'm not adjusting laces as often as I might. Even though elastic they could be cinched tighter on steeper downhills which is what I will try here in GA on more steeply graded routes. I suspect even though having some give they could be cinched tighter preventing toe bump or feet slipping forward. I think a good heel lock is obtained from a shoe's design and footbed/orthotic also. It's not just about the lacing.

    I too like the Salomon speed laces but have had and seen them snap in the past. Maybe, Salomon has amended the laces by making them less prone to snapping /abrading because haven't had that issue in awhile. As much as I like Salomons I've been moving more and more to wide toe box shoes like some HOKA's, Altras, and Keens that let my forefeet splay. OHHH, what relief from hotspots these brands have been on longer warmer trips when feet will enlarge. Mine still grow the longer I'm out.

  10. #10
    Registered User cneill13's Avatar
    Join Date
    07-14-2015
    Location
    Atlanta, GA
    Age
    56
    Posts
    321

    Default

    Seriously? Too hard to tie shoes?????

    What has happened to our country?

    Might work for my two year old. She has a tough time with laces.

    Pathetic......

  11. #11
    Registered User
    Join Date
    07-05-2011
    Location
    Gurja
    Posts
    385
    Journal Entries
    1

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by cneill13 View Post
    Seriously? Too hard to tie shoes?????

    What has happened to our country?

    Might work for my two year old. She has a tough time with laces.

    Pathetic......
    yep, lock lace sales are a well known key performance indicator for a society's overall health. The Romans tied their sandals in the beginning, but when they went to lock laces in later years- well, you see what happened.
    hikers gonna hike

  12. #12

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by cneill13 View Post
    Seriously? Too hard to tie shoes?????

    What has happened to our country?

    Might work for my two year old. She has a tough time with laces.

    Pathetic......
    I find it a performance enhancement indicator of modern technological advancement.

    When in the market for a new truck I was determined to find a recent model with hand crank windows, manual door locks, and without an alarm system. The salesmen looked at me like I was nuts. One even said, "but they provide such convenience reducing hassles." To which I said, "then you pay for those features and get the neighbor's car alarm to stop going off when she inadvertently and routinely locks herself out of her car and she has yet after two year's of owning the vehicle learned how to enter it at 5 a.m. without setting it off."

  13. #13

    Default

    Hey, my Keen sandals have stock stretch lock laces too.

  14. #14

    Default

    Since I'm opining complaints microwaves, conventional ovens, and laundry driers that buzz when done and then continue to buzz, beep, etc indefinitely until the power goes out, the Second Coming, or you answer their call directly annoy me too. One or two beeps are enough!

    This is why I hike: to get the buzzing and beeping rattling out of my head.

  15. #15
    Registered User
    Join Date
    01-16-2011
    Location
    On the trail
    Posts
    3,789
    Images
    3

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Dogwood View Post
    Since I'm opining complaints microwaves, conventional ovens, and laundry driers that buzz when done and then continue to buzz, beep, etc indefinitely until the power goes out, the Second Coming, or you answer their call directly annoy me too. One or two beeps are enough!

    This is why I hike: to get the buzzing and beeping rattling out of my head.
    amen to the microwave buzzer. I keep disabling and my wife enables. RRRRRR
    enemy of unnecessary but innovative trail invention gadgetry

  16. #16
    In the shadows AfterParty's Avatar
    Join Date
    05-11-2016
    Location
    Norton, Kansas
    Age
    43
    Posts
    490
    Journal Entries
    1
    Images
    12

    Default

    I just picked up some addias swift r with speed laces and after a few weeks they are great I didn't know if I'd like them but I do, they stay tight.

  17. #17
    Registered User warld piece's Avatar
    Join Date
    03-23-2014
    Location
    Grayson co., VA.
    Age
    45
    Posts
    20
    Journal Entries
    1
    Images
    8

    Default

    I found that shoes like salomons which come built that way work wonderful, but once I added aftermarket elastic no ties to a pair of shoes and it didn't work out well, wouldn't evenly tighten like salomons which are built to glide thru
    ​ " I like things that cain't break, like escalators, they jus become stairs... .. ."

  18. #18

    Default

    Nike's self-lacing sneakers finally go on sale November 28th
    http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/21/12...s-hyperadapt-1
    Backpacking light, feels so right.

  19. #19

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Dogwood View Post
    Since I'm opining complaints microwaves, conventional ovens, and laundry driers that buzz when done and then continue to buzz, beep, etc indefinitely until the power goes out, the Second Coming, or you answer their call directly annoy me too. One or two beeps are enough!

    This is why I hike: to get the buzzing and beeping rattling out of my head.
    This is what I use to keep the noises out of my head: Tin_foil_hat_2.jpg

    "To make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from." - T.S. Eliot

  20. #20

    Default

    Hey, you could add an elastic chin strap to your foil hat.

    In Wisconsin a group of 3 hikers passed me going the other way all wearing Greenbay Packers cheesehead hats. One had a small Packers flag sticking out of the top. No surprise one was noshing Cheese Doodles and the focus of their conversation was beer at the TH.

Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast
++ New Posts ++

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •