Wide shoes?
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I have weird flipper feet, so I find myself limited to brands that offer 4E width (typically 10.5 @ EEEE ) does anyone have any recommendations? Any style goes as long as they offer closed toes
Greetings fellow flipper Friend! I wear a 6E in Dunham brand boots, and for general sneakers / “running” (gym) shoes i wear a brand called “xelero”. New balance makes exactly one 6e width shoe IIRC, the 990 i think? It used to come in multiple colors but now just the one color if its a wide shoe.
If it helps, I’m also stuck with very thick feet so my picks also account for that. Center of my sole to top of foot is 3 inches.
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I have weird flipper feet, so I find myself limited to brands that offer 4E width (typically 10.5 @ EEEE ) does anyone have any recommendations? Any style goes as long as they offer closed toes
As a fellow person with very wide feet, I’ve found that Barefoot style shoes offer the widest and most comfortable experience, as they’re designed to let the toes splay out naturally instead of scrunching them up to conform to an aesthetic.
Another common feature of barefoot style shoes is that they are extremely flexible, and usually have very thinly padded soles to accomplish that, which can take some getting used to. They also generally offer no arch support (by design), and no heel-drop.
This video does a good job of explaining why they’re designed that way.
If you decide to go that route, I’d recommend:
- Freet (Often use recycled material, average pricing, good durability, made in UK)
- Vivobarefoot (Higher pricing, generally more stylish, offer a trade-in program for used shoes which are refurbished/repaired to be resold for cheaper).
- Xero shoes (Average pricing, perhaps slightly lower quality compared to Freet)
- Whitins (Very affordable entry-level pricing, surprisingly well made and durable, downside is they are only available on Amazon).
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As a fellow person with very wide feet, I’ve found that Barefoot style shoes offer the widest and most comfortable experience, as they’re designed to let the toes splay out naturally instead of scrunching them up to conform to an aesthetic.
Another common feature of barefoot style shoes is that they are extremely flexible, and usually have very thinly padded soles to accomplish that, which can take some getting used to. They also generally offer no arch support (by design), and no heel-drop.
This video does a good job of explaining why they’re designed that way.
If you decide to go that route, I’d recommend:
- Freet (Often use recycled material, average pricing, good durability, made in UK)
- Vivobarefoot (Higher pricing, generally more stylish, offer a trade-in program for used shoes which are refurbished/repaired to be resold for cheaper).
- Xero shoes (Average pricing, perhaps slightly lower quality compared to Freet)
- Whitins (Very affordable entry-level pricing, surprisingly well made and durable, downside is they are only available on Amazon).
Sadly, until Vibram starts buying off congressmen any kind of barefoot style shoes are banned at my workplace
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I have weird flipper feet, so I find myself limited to brands that offer 4E width (typically 10.5 @ EEEE ) does anyone have any recommendations? Any style goes as long as they offer closed toes
Not sure about reliability and BFL, but Hoka has X-wide sizes. I tried to find what that meant in the standard scale. However, their toe boxes tend to be pretty wide already.
Edit: found on a separate website their X-wide is 4E.
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Sadly, until Vibram starts buying off congressmen any kind of barefoot style shoes are banned at my workplace
Hm, do they need to be Steel toe? The Jim Green boots are not truly barefoot, as they still have a proper thick tread, they just don’t have a heeldrop and are extra wide. Unless your workplace asks for like, a receipt for your boots where they would notice they’re called barefoot, they wouldn’t be perceived as barefoot from a casual inspection, they just look like a leather hiking boot.
The same could be said for the other brands I linked, none of them have like, individual toes or anything, they look like normal sneakers, just wide.
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Greetings fellow flipper Friend! I wear a 6E in Dunham brand boots, and for general sneakers / “running” (gym) shoes i wear a brand called “xelero”. New balance makes exactly one 6e width shoe IIRC, the 990 i think? It used to come in multiple colors but now just the one color if its a wide shoe.
If it helps, I’m also stuck with very thick feet so my picks also account for that. Center of my sole to top of foot is 3 inches.
I’ve been wearing 990s in a 14 or 15 6E for a while (12 years or so) for work and exercise, but the newer 990v6 just doesn’t hold up or fit quite the same. I’m still wearing a (tightly laced) 15 in them, but I’ve had trouble finding alternatives, and I definitely feel like I need more of a 14/14.5 with more width (which doesn’t exist).
Given how expensive NB has gotten, I’m eyeing whatever other options turn up and wondering if I’ll have to go custom. I’ll give xelero a look over, though, thank you for sharing this.
For boots I just wear thick socks in my red wings, but that’s not too often.
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I’ve been wearing 990s in a 14 or 15 6E for a while (12 years or so) for work and exercise, but the newer 990v6 just doesn’t hold up or fit quite the same. I’m still wearing a (tightly laced) 15 in them, but I’ve had trouble finding alternatives, and I definitely feel like I need more of a 14/14.5 with more width (which doesn’t exist).
Given how expensive NB has gotten, I’m eyeing whatever other options turn up and wondering if I’ll have to go custom. I’ll give xelero a look over, though, thank you for sharing this.
For boots I just wear thick socks in my red wings, but that’s not too often.
I felt the same on the 990v6, they just didnt fit right and i returned them immediately because of it. Not much better than NB in price but well, thats 6E tax lol.
Xelero ive got the X-GPS in 11 wide (its absolutely wide enough, trust me)
I almost exclusively wear the Dunham boots, they’ve lasted about 2.5 years now i think? Still going strong. I’ve replaced the laces once.
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Proto from Trippen are pretty wide: https://www.trippen.com/proto
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As a fellow person with very wide feet, I’ve found that Barefoot style shoes offer the widest and most comfortable experience, as they’re designed to let the toes splay out naturally instead of scrunching them up to conform to an aesthetic.
Another common feature of barefoot style shoes is that they are extremely flexible, and usually have very thinly padded soles to accomplish that, which can take some getting used to. They also generally offer no arch support (by design), and no heel-drop.
This video does a good job of explaining why they’re designed that way.
If you decide to go that route, I’d recommend:
- Freet (Often use recycled material, average pricing, good durability, made in UK)
- Vivobarefoot (Higher pricing, generally more stylish, offer a trade-in program for used shoes which are refurbished/repaired to be resold for cheaper).
- Xero shoes (Average pricing, perhaps slightly lower quality compared to Freet)
- Whitins (Very affordable entry-level pricing, surprisingly well made and durable, downside is they are only available on Amazon).
Same, but don’t buy Xero, they’re trash. Basically flip-flops with a fabric covering imo. And the ones that have survived 2yrs had their rubber harden up like decades old tires.
I’ve been trying “Rutsu” out based on an ad recommendation (yeah yeah, sue me). Time will tell for sure but they’re definitely made better at least.
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Same, but don’t buy Xero, they’re trash. Basically flip-flops with a fabric covering imo. And the ones that have survived 2yrs had their rubber harden up like decades old tires.
I’ve been trying “Rutsu” out based on an ad recommendation (yeah yeah, sue me). Time will tell for sure but they’re definitely made better at least.
Thanks for the info, I’d heard mixed things about Xero, but based on your experience it sounds like they’re probably not worth considering over other options.
