Insoles

Mike Mason said:

For quite a while now I have been using a pair of Raichle boots (Mountain
Trail GTX). The insoles are now pretty well knackered and need replacing.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what might be a good buy.

I use Sorbothane double strike insoles in my Scarpa Mantas and am now
on my second pair. List price is UKP 16.99 but you can find them
cheaper. Just make sure there is room for them in your boots, they are
quite thick. They were certainly an improvement on the Scarpa insoles
insofar as I can walk much further without making the soles of my feet
sore.

HTH

John D.
--
John Dawson at home in Kendal, Cumbria.
Lake District Walks Web Pages http://www.lakedistrictwalks.com/
Sicilian Volcanoes at http://www.lakedistrictwalks.com/sicily/
Pyrenees trek at http://www.lakedistrictwalks.com/pyrenees

Bitstring <[email hidden]>, from the
wonderful person John Dawson <[email hidden]> said

Quoted message said:

Mike Mason said:

For quite a while now I have been using a pair of Raichle boots (Mountain
Trail GTX). The insoles are now pretty well knackered and need replacing.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what might be a good buy.

I use Sorbothane double strike insoles in my Scarpa Mantas and am now
on my second pair. List price is UKP 16.99 but you can find them
cheaper. Just make sure there is room for them in your boots, they are
quite thick. They were certainly an improvement on the Scarpa insoles
insofar as I can walk much further without making the soles of my feet
sore.

I use them too, but they sure are thick - have to go up a boot size in
many cases, unless you are rattling around already.

It depends what you are looking for: cushioning - Sorbothane is fine,
arch support - Superfeet, or local equivalent,
or just a thin layer to keep the footbed out of your skin - anything
cheap from Woolies or Boots (the chemist).

I just finally tossed a pair of (cheap) Hi-Tech boots because the
footbed itself was just a compressed cardboard layer over some sort of
'waffle-iron' plastic, and once the cardboard got wet / rubbed away
there was no insole on earth which could make the boots comfortable (I
tried about six sorts - not really enough room for the thicker
sorbothane, but I could still feel the ridges even through those).

--
GSV Three Minds in a Can
9,423 Km walked. 1,827Km PROWs surveyed. 33.2% complete.

John Dawson said:

Mike Mason said:

For quite a while now I have been using a pair of Raichle boots (Mountain
Trail GTX). The insoles are now pretty well knackered and need replacing.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what might be a good buy.

I use Sorbothane double strike insoles in my Scarpa Mantas and am now
on my second pair. List price is UKP 16.99 but you can find them
cheaper. Just make sure there is room for them in your boots, they are
quite thick. They were certainly an improvement on the Scarpa insoles
insofar as I can walk much further without making the soles of my feet
sore.

I always use Superfeet "green" footbeds. They don't have much in the way
of padding themselves, but help to support your foot and let your
natural shock absorption work. (or something like that) Only problem is
the cost - about £35 here or an infuriating $30 in the US :-(
I've used various squiggy insoles before (including the Sorbothane
double strike) and while they do reduce impact, I found the movement of
my foot due to the compressible elastomer caused general
discomfort/tiredness in my feet. Of course YMMV. I suggest you take your
boots along to a shop with a selection of footbeds to try including both
Sorbothane or equivalent squiggy footbeds and Superfeet or Conformable
hard "semi-orthotic". It'll be difficult to get a proper impression just
in the shop, but it should give an idea. I've noticed my local
Field&Trek has pre-cut Superfeet footbeds to help them sell the things
with new boots...

-Antony

Antony Jones said:

John Dawson said:

On Tue, 18 Sep 2007 20:12:05 +0100, "Mike Mason"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

For quite a while now I have been using a pair of Raichle boots (Mountain
Trail GTX). The insoles are now pretty well knackered and need replacing.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Does anyone have any suggestions on what might be a good buy.

Quoted message said:

I use Sorbothane double strike insoles in my Scarpa Mantas and am now
on my second pair. List price is UKP 16.99 but you can find them
cheaper. Just make sure there is room for them in your boots, they are
quite thick. They were certainly an improvement on the Scarpa insoles
insofar as I can walk much further without making the soles of my feet
sore.

I always use Superfeet "green" footbeds. They don't have much in the way
of padding themselves, but help to support your foot and let your
natural shock absorption work. (or something like that) Only problem is
the cost - about £35 here or an infuriating $30 in the US :-(
I've used various squiggy insoles before (including the Sorbothane
double strike) and while they do reduce impact, I found the movement of
my foot due to the compressible elastomer caused general
discomfort/tiredness in my feet. Of course YMMV. I suggest you take your
boots along to a shop with a selection of footbeds to try including both
Sorbothane or equivalent squiggy footbeds and Superfeet or Conformable
hard "semi-orthotic". It'll be difficult to get a proper impression just
in the shop, but it should give an idea. I've noticed my local
Field&Trek has pre-cut Superfeet footbeds to help them sell the things
with new boots...

-Antony

If these insoles are that much cheaper from the US, why don't you just
buy them form there ? After all the postage won't be that much more
than from the UK, and if you buy two pairs you will definitely be
quids in. I've bought a number of items that way and so far haven't
had any problems and saved quite a bit of cash. The only downside is
that the delivery time can be a bit long.

Rob

The message <[email hidden]>
from Rob G <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

If these insoles are that much cheaper from the US, why don't you just
buy them form there ? After all the postage won't be that much more
than from the UK, and if you buy two pairs you will definitely be
quids in. I've bought a number of items that way and so far haven't
had any problems and saved quite a bit of cash. The only downside is
that the delivery time can be a bit long.

Probability of customs duty + VAT + the Post Office's £5 service charge
for collecting the other two?

Richard

Richard Spencer said:

The message <[email hidden]>
from Rob G <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

If these insoles are that much cheaper from the US, why don't you just
buy them form there ? After all the postage won't be that much more
than from the UK, and if you buy two pairs you will definitely be
quids in. I've bought a number of items that way and so far haven't
had any problems and saved quite a bit of cash. The only downside is
that the delivery time can be a bit long.

Probability of customs duty + VAT + the Post Office's £5 service charge
for collecting the other two?

While there is that possibility, with the current exchange rate you'll
have to get quite remarkably unlucky to come out behind even if they do
pounce on you.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Peter Clinch said:

Richard Spencer said:

The message <[email hidden]>
from Rob G <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

If these insoles are that much cheaper from the US, why don't you just
buy them form there ? After all the postage won't be that much more
than from the UK, and if you buy two pairs you will definitely be
quids in. I've bought a number of items that way and so far haven't
had any problems and saved quite a bit of cash. The only downside is
that the delivery time can be a bit long.

Probability of customs duty + VAT + the Post Office's £5 service charge
for collecting the other two?

While there is that possibility, with the current exchange rate you'll
have to get quite remarkably unlucky to come out behind even if they do
pounce on you.

Pete.

I've ordered lots of stuff from the USA. I find that if you keep the
total parcel value (including postage) under £20, they rarely pounce.

--
Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

Bitstring <[email hidden]>, from the wonderful
person Kate XXXXXX <[email hidden]> said
<snip>

Quoted message said:

I've ordered lots of stuff from the USA. I find that if you keep the
total parcel value (including postage) under £20, they rarely pounce.

It's officially £18 value of goods. See:

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.port
al?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageTravel_ShowContent&propertyType=document&res
etCT=true&id=HMCE_CL_001454

So for 'rarely' read 'never', unless the goods are excise duty type
items.

--
GSV Three Minds in a Can
9,423 Km walked. 1,827Km PROWs surveyed. 33.2% complete.

GSV Three Minds in a Can wrote

Quoted message said:

So for 'rarely' read 'never', unless the goods are excise duty type items.

I assure you that it happens. Randomly.

Chris

Mike Mason said:

For quite a while now I have been using a pair of Raichle boots (Mountain
Trail GTX). The insoles are now pretty well knackered and need replacing.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what might be a good buy.

Mike Mason

The sort of insole you should buy depends on a lot of factors.
Personally I love the Sole Ultra - it's £35, but it gets moulded to
the shape of your foot (you heat it slightly and step on it to do
this) like the sort of high-end Superfoot insole you can only buy in a
few places and which costs £50-80. The benefits of the Sole are that
provides it excellent arch support for all shapes of foot, shock
reduction (partly because it has 3mm of poron and it's a full contact
insole, but mostly because it improves pronation), and increased
stability for some types of foot.

If I wasn't willing to spend on the Soles, I wouldn't buy Superfeet -
same price, not as good. I probably wouldn't buy Sorbothane - still
£20, and the one decent medical trial done (http://www.jrsm.org/cgi/
content/full/99/1/32) said that they were useless for reducing injury.
Maybe the gel insoles you can get at Woolworths - they should spread
the pressure at contact points, and they're less than £10.

Bitstring <[email hidden]>, from the wonderful
person Chris Gilbert <[email hidden]> said

Quoted message said:

GSV Three Minds in a Can wrote

Quoted message said:

So for 'rarely' read 'never', unless the goods are excise duty type items.

I assure you that it happens. Randomly.

On items valued <£18? If so, complain to the Customs and Excise folks,
and point them at that web page I linked you to, because they are not
following their own procedures.

Now if you put 'value = £17' on something which in their opinion is
worth more, you're on your own.

I ship in several hundred items from the USA, Austalia, Canada,
Argentina, Seitzerland etc. (CDs, GPS screen protectors, minor bits of
electrical kit) every year and the only ones I've ever been hit on were
(and were clearly marked) valued £25 or so.

--
GSV Three Minds in a Can
9,423 Km walked. 1,827Km PROWs surveyed. 33.2% complete.

GSV Three Minds in a Can wrote

Quoted message said:

On items valued <£18?

So, all a criminal has to do is label his package at £20 or
less and HMRC will ignore it ?

Quoted message said:

If so, complain to the Customs and Excise folks, and point them at that
web page I linked you to, because they are not following their own
procedures.

HMRC do pretty much exactly what they wish. They have
more clout than the taxman.

Quoted message said:

I ship in several hundred items from the USA, Austalia, Canada, Argentina,
Seitzerland etc. (CDs, GPS screen protectors, minor bits of electrical
kit) every year and the only ones I've ever been hit on were (and were
clearly marked) valued £25 or so.

As I said, it's random.

Chris

Bitstring <[email hidden]>, from the sneaky
person Chris Gilbert <[email hidden]> said

Quoted message said:

GSV Three Minds in a Can wrote

Quoted message said:

On items valued <£18?

So, all a criminal has to do is label his package at £20 or
less and HMRC will ignore it ?

You carefully and deliberately snipped the bit where I said

"Now if you put 'value = £17' on something which in their opinion is
worth more, you're on your own."

That makes you sneaky and underhanded, in my book, so you deserve all
customs an excise can do to you.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

If so, complain to the Customs and Excise folks, and point them at that
web page I linked you to, because they are not following their own
procedures.

HMRC do pretty much exactly what they wish. They have
more clout than the taxman.

They also have a complaints procedure.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I ship in several hundred items from the USA, Austalia, Canada, Argentina,
Seitzerland etc. (CDs, GPS screen protectors, minor bits of electrical
kit) every year and the only ones I've ever been hit on were (and were
clearly marked) valued £25 or so.

As I said, it's random.

And as I said, I'm sampling it at a rate of several hundred a year, and
it hasn't got one wrong yet. Maybe you are on the blacklist .. I can see
why.

--
GSV Three Minds in a Can
9,423 Km walked. 1,827Km PROWs surveyed. 33.2% complete.

GSV Three Minds in a Can wrote

Quoted message said:

That makes you sneaky and underhanded, in my book, so you deserve all
customs an excise can do to you.

Quite, which is why random sampling happens.

Quoted message said:

And as I said, I'm sampling it at a rate of several hundred a year, and it
hasn't got one wrong yet.

Out of how many packages per year ?

Quoted message said:

Maybe you are on the blacklist .. I can see why.

What ? because I worked for Royal Mail ? :-D

Take it or leave it but I have been in a number of Mail
Centres where Customs and Excise, as they were, operate
and Royal Mail does exactly what C&E tell them to do.
They *do* indulge in random sampling. The assertion that
it never happens to small value parcels is simply incorrect.

Chris

Bitstring <[email hidden]>, from the wonderful
person Chris Gilbert <[email hidden]> said

Quoted message said:

GSV Three Minds in a Can wrote

Quoted message said:

That makes you sneaky and underhanded, in my book, so you deserve all
customs an excise can do to you.

Quite, which is why random sampling happens.

Quoted message said:

And as I said, I'm sampling it at a rate of several hundred a year, and it
hasn't got one wrong yet.

Out of how many packages per year ?

You obviously have trouble reading. 'Several hundred' (see the para
above)

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Maybe you are on the blacklist .. I can see why.

What ? because I worked for Royal Mail ? :-D

Take it or leave it but I have been in a number of Mail
Centres where Customs and Excise, as they were, operate
and Royal Mail does exactly what C&E tell them to do.
They *do* indulge in random sampling. The assertion that
it never happens to small value parcels is simply incorrect.

I don't dispute they may randomly =sample=, I'd expect them to. I
dispute they randomly stick customs duty + VAT charges on items valued
<£18, unless they are subject to excise duty ([censored], booze, perfume,
whatever).

--
GSV Three Minds in a Can
9,423 Km walked. 1,827Km PROWs surveyed. 33.2% complete.

GSV Three Minds in a Can wrote

Quoted message said:

You obviously have trouble reading. 'Several hundred' (see the para above)

My error. Out of how many packages per year processed by
C&E at the mail centre ? Several million. Random chance
favours you.

Quoted message said:

I don't dispute they may randomly =sample=, I'd expect them to.

Good. They *do* randomly sample. They do not specifically
target low value items but they do get sampled.

Chris

Bitstring <[email hidden]>, from the idiot
Chris Gilbert <[email hidden]> said

Quoted message said:

GSV Three Minds in a Can wrote

Quoted message said:

You obviously have trouble reading. 'Several hundred' (see the para above)

My error. Out of how many packages per year processed by
C&E at the mail centre ? Several million. Random chance
favours you.

Quoted message said:

I don't dispute they may randomly =sample=, I'd expect them to.

Good. They *do* randomly sample. They do not specifically
target low value items but they do get sampled.

Your comprehension failed again. You also snipped the relevant bit
again, and failed to respond to it.

"I don't dispute they may randomly =sample=, I'd expect them to. I
dispute they randomly stick customs duty + VAT charges on items valued
<£18, unless they are subject to excise duty ([censored], booze, perfume,
whatever).
"

So do you have examples of them charging VAT+Customs duty on<£18 items
or not? Because I don't. Never. No, don't bother responding, life is too
short to try communicating with you when you wilfully distort what I
said and dodge the issue.
<plonk>

--
GSV Three Minds in a Can
9,423 Km walked. 1,827Km PROWs surveyed. 33.2% complete.

GSV Three Minds in a Can wrote

Quoted message said:

No, don't bother responding, life is too short

Too bloody right :-D

Kate XXXXXX said:

Peter Clinch said:

Richard Spencer said:

The message <[email hidden]>
from Rob G <[email hidden]> contains these words:

> If these insoles are that much cheaper from the US, why don't you just
> buy them form there ? After all the postage won't be that much more
> than from the UK, and if you buy two pairs you will definitely be
> quids in. I've bought a number of items that way and so far haven't
> had any problems and saved quite a bit of cash. The only downside is
> that the delivery time can be a bit long.
Probability of customs duty + VAT + the Post Office's £5 service charge
for collecting the other two?

While there is that possibility, with the current exchange rate you'll
have to get quite remarkably unlucky to come out behind even if they do
pounce on you.

Pete.

I've ordered lots of stuff from the USA. I find that if you keep the
total parcel value (including postage) under £20, they rarely pounce.

One passing comment from me seems to have diverted this thread to a
discussion about importing rather than the quality of different insole
types.... <sigh>

To Rob G: Thanks for the advice, but I do already buy my Superfeet from
the US. I find they last long enough that I can wait between trips over
there rather than getting them posted. Finding a cheap source that's
also willing to post overseas at a reasonable cost isn't that easy. But
I continue to be outraged how we get ripped off in this country for our
outdoor gear compared to the same stuff in the US, when it all comes
from a Far East factory (so it's not like it's made in the US).

Perhaps we could now get back on topic?

Cheers,
-Antony.