Laces

July 6, 2010

Last time I got going on zippers. This time it’s laces. Why? Because I’ve had a footwear focus this year and if there is one thing I’ve noticed, it’s that there is a lot of great footwear out there that comes with COMPLETE CRAP LACES. You know the type. They come untied every quarter mile, they fray, they break in about a week, they get stuck in the eyelets – this can’t be a coincidence. I have boots and shoes that have proudly worn their original laces for years and years and years, and then I get new shoes with laces that seem as if they are made with toilet paper.

What’s up with this? A $100 pair of running shoes with garbage laces, are you kidding me? No, I don’t want to just double knot them; that is completely beside the point. There are good laces out there on the market. Stop trying to save production costs with crap laces.

I think the ones that come untied are by far the most annoying. Even the ones that break early don’t break THAT early. One can usually get a few months out of them at the least. But the ones that come untied? Agh! Evil incarnate. I’d love to be more technical about this, but I guess I’m a tad ignorant about shoelace construction. However, I can tell you with certainty that the soft squishy kind with a kernmantle feel about them (though they have no core, hmm, interesting and perhaps very relevant) are the ones that come untied. You know them. They are on your brand new $120 trail running shoes and your mid-hikers. They come untied all the damn time. You can cinch them as tight as you like but as soon as you take a few steps, they stretch, loosen, and fall apart. You have to stop and tie them several times during each trail run and each time you get exasperated. Well, at least I do. So please, footwear manufacturers, just put good laces on your shoes. We will notice.

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