Stephen Venables Lecture - In the Steps of Shackleton

A friend invited me along to a talk by Stephen Venables last night called “In the steps of Shackleton”. I hadn't heard of Stephen Venables before, but he was the first Briton to climb Everest without supplementary oxygen and one of these people you envy because their life seems to be a constant adventure at the far flung corners of the earth.

Last night he was discussing Sir Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated attempt to be the first team to cross Antartica from one side to the other. Amundsen and Scott had already beaten Shackleton to the pole so if he wanted to get a “first” he needed to come up with something even more daring. Unfortunately it did not all go to plan and after departing from the island of South Georgia http://bit.ly/rx8p the ship carrying Shackleton's party, the Endurance, became trapped in sea ice. Repeated attempts to break through to Antartica failed and eventually both ship and crew became trapped. They drifted in the ice, completely unable to escape, for months and eventually the pressure crushed the ship and they had to abandon it and make camp on the ice.

When the sea ice started to melt, the party took to the three tiny lifeboats and made landfall on Elephant Island, a god-forsaken lump of rock hundreds of miles from civilisation http://bit.ly/41y7gk. Realising there was no hope of rescue from here, Shackleton and 5 others decided to try and sail the 800 miles to South Georgia in one of the life boats. Dead reckoning and amazing navigation skills would be necessary, as if they missed the island (which is only 100 miles long) the next landfall would be South Africa, and they would run out of supplies long before reaching it.

They set off and battled through freezing South Atlantic storms and miraculously about 14 days later managed to reach South Georgia. However, they had landed on the SW coast which was desolate and uninhabited. The whaling stations where they would find some small semblance of civilisation, but more importantly rescue, were on the NE coast across an umapped and never before crossed mountain range. Unwilling to put back to sea in their battered vessel, the decision was made for Shackleton and 2 other men to try and cross the range, leaving the 3 weaker men to shelter under the hull of the upturned lifeboat awaiting their return.

Amazingly, Shackleton and the 2 others managed to eventually cross 30 miles of snowy mountains and glaciers to reach the whaling stations and salvation. They then immediately set out in a boat and picked up the 3 men on the other side of South Georgia, before heading back to Elephant Island, not knowing what state they would find the other men in, assuming they were still alive at all. Sea ice prevented them from reaching Elephant Island on the first attempt and they retreated to the Falkland Islands from where they launched repeated rescue attempts until finally succeeding on their fourth try. Amazingly, all of the men on Elephant Island were still alive and the whole party had survived the ordeal.

Having originally left South Georgia on their original expedition on 5^th December 1914, the remaining men on Elephant Island were finally rescued on 30^th August 1916. During that time, World War One, which had only just started when the men left and was supposed to be “over by Christmas” had been raging for almost two years. http://bit.ly/hp5V8J

Stephen Venables has been to South Georgia several times and walked the route Shackleton took from the SW to NE side of the island. Even with modern equipment and mapping it looks like an amazing walk, and one can only imagine how difficult it must have been for Shackleton with only a carpenter's adze available to him in lieu of an ice axe, and a small stove for melting snow to get drinking water.

His lecture really brought the expeditions to life and if he writes like he talks then it was clear why he has one literature prizes for his mountaineering books.

If you have the opportunity, I would strongly suggest catching one of the lectures on the remainder of his current tour http://www.speakersfromtheedge.com/node/267

Lo-Base Guide to Shoe Care and Saving Money

Looking after your shoes isn't just about looking smart and being clean, its also about making them last longer and saving you money. From the first time you wear a new pair of shoes to the umpteenth time you clean them, following a few simple guidelines will increase your use and enjoyment of them far beyond what you may have previously thought possible.

• Set the tongue

Have you ever found the tongue on your shoes starting to gradually slip down to one side over time, no matter where it starts off when you lace up the shoes? When you wear a pair of shoes for the first time, make sure the tongue is set as centrally as you can possibly manage. Your body heat and compression of the fabric will have a setting effect on the tongue and if it starts centrally it will be more likely to stay central in the future.
In particular, make sure the tongue is not towards the outside of your foot, as this is the way it will tend to move with the natural slope of your foot.

• Read the manual

Most men don't like instructions, but if any come with your shoes then reading them can pay dividends in the long term. Manufacturers will sometimes recommend using sprays or creams before you wear shoes for the first time, which should protect the fabric and make it easier to clean when the time comes.

• Change your shoes

Ever wondered why your shoes smell, even when you haven't had them too long? Wearing the same pair of shoes every day means the sweat from your feet doesn't get a chance to dry off properly. Sweat in your shoes attract bacteria, which start to multiply and cause your shoes to smell bad. Try and only wear your shoes every second or third day so that they get a chance to dry out and air. This should keep them smelling fresh (well, within reason, these are shoes we are talking about after all) for a lot longer. It's also a good idea to remove your insoles as well if you have particularly sweaty feet, which is even more likely if you have big feet and big shoes. There are even more hints and tips here from the NHS

• Got them wet?

If your shoes get drenched in an unexpected downpour or sodden Scottish bog, getting them dry is a priority. DO NOT use a hairdryer or put them on top of a heater or boiler unless you want to reduce their lifespan even more. Direct heat can cause the fabrics to shrink or become more fragile and prone to cracking. Instead, stuff them with paper (white paper or kitchen roll is generally preferable to newspaper, unless you like newsprint on your socks) and leave them somewhere at which is reasonably warm but not too hot. Left like this shoes will dry out naturally, although it can sometimes take several days.

• Dirt-busting

Leather shoes generally need cleaned/polished in a particular way which we isn't covered in this guide, but you will find plenty of direction on the internet without having to look very hard. Fabric shoes, such as sneakers, trail shoes, walking boots and the like can also be cleaned, but as most people tend not to bother, the cleaning method may be less obvious. The general principle is a dry brush, followed by mild detergent/soap and a nail brush or similar. However, a much more in depth guide can be found at Big Shoes for Big Adventures under the heading “Shoe Care”.

Lo-Base Shoes sells large mens shoes from its Edinburgh shop in size 12, size 13, size 14, size 15 and size 16. In particular we specialise in large cycling shoes, large rugby boots, large hiking boots and large walking shoes. However we also have a range of large mens shoes more suited to the office or school.

What's wrong with wearing wellies in winter?

With winter very eminently upon us it has been interesting to see what people consider as appropriate shoes for 6 inches of fresh snow. A nice pair of white trainers or your regular smooth soled work shoes seem to be popular, if completely ridiculous, options.

However, a lot of people also seem to have been giving their wellington boots a good airing after an autumn tucked away in the cupboard under the stairs. You know the one, its usually the last place you look for things you can't find anywhere else and are therefore pretty sure you must have put them in here at some point. Where it smells a little bit musty for no discernible reason and you keep that old tin of paint you're never going to use but just can't bring yourselft to throw out.

Anyway, a lot of people have wellingtons on and I can't help but notice how totally inappropriate they are for winter weather.

Firstly, most wellington boots don't have any insualtion in them at all. As I write its -10 in Edinburgh so toes exposed to the cold will fall off pretty quickly (well, maybe not that quickly). People say that they use extra socks, liners, insulation etc, but even with those wellies simply aren't warm. I wore a pair last year in an ice covered muddy canal basin for three days in a row last year. No amount of extra insualtion would get my toes warm though.

Wellingtons don't have great grips on them. Walking down the steep hill from the centre of Edinburgh to the shop was a bit like stepping out on to a luge run and hoping for the best. The pavements are covered in thick ice which has been polished to a nice, slidy finish but the procession of countless feet, made worse by the fact more people are walking as their cars aren't going anywhere. In these conditions a walking boot with a nice firm, solid sole is my footwear of choise. The lugs are strong enough to gain some small purchase on the surface and you can walk down the hill, albeit gingerely. In wellies, the lugs (again, generally) are more flexible and smoother, making it much harder to keep your footing.

The sole benefit of wellingtons is that they are waterproof, yet in these conditions you don't have to worry about this. It isn't snowing and the snow underfoot is already compressed, so the tops of your feet are not getting much, if any, snow on them. So there's no need to be wearing something waterproof. Then again, if you do want to wear something waterproof, wear a decent hike boot.

Wellingtons are dangerous. I'm maybe slightly biased here, as when I was about 4 I had a terrible wellington related accident. Having been bought a new pair of wellingtons in a size that was slightly too big, I ignored my parents' entreaties not to put them on, and manage to trip over them hard enough to break my leg and earn a couple of weeks in hospital. I think this exact chain of events is unlikely to befall most adults, but wellingtons are still dangerous. Should you lose your footing on the ice it is quite easy to twist your ankle while doing so. In a wellington which has almost no lateral support at all, there is almost nothing you can do to stop this. Ina hike boot, the laterl ankle support is generally very good and lacing allows you to support your ankle securely and safely.

Finally, whilst I'm not about to break into any Fashion Icons of the Year lists any time soon (despite my extensive The North Face hoody collection) I think wellingtons look terrible. General black wellingtons are pretty bad, but women seem to think that yellow and pink wellies are "fun" and "reflect their cheerful personality". Well, they don't. They look bad. They don't look as bad as Ugg boots though, but that's a blog post for another day.

So the next person who comes into the shop and asks if we have any wellingtons for large feet will be politely told that we don't, along with an explanation of why we don't.

Wellies - rubbish for winter, just about okay for wet summer days.

Some wellies yesterday being rubbish

Article Blogging for Traffic

In its ongoing bid to completely take over the internet, Google offers a number of interesting and useful services which you can generally subscribe to for free. One of these is called Google Alerts and its premise is very simple. You tell which words or combinations of words you are interested in and Google will send you an email when these words are used somewhere on the internet.

I use it to keep track of "interesting" discussions about big feet, large shoes and so on. So for instance, you might get an email telling you someone on a forum was asking where they could get big cycling shoes. You could then hop on that forum and tell them you had some in stock.

However, it also generates a lot of white noise results which either don't have much to do with what you are looking for, or are complete drivel with little value. An example of the latter arrived in my onbox today, entitled "Large size shoes: Wediabuzz.com".

The article it links to has been written on the Wediabuzz website, whose aim is not exactly clear. It appears simply to be a list of poorly written articles which fall into such useful categories as "162, 173, 181 and Business" Trying to find out what the site is for I can only divine the following:

"What is WediaBuzz?

We are a group of seven individuals that represent innovation, web development, information technology, analytics, data, business, news and community who came together to collectively share knowledge that will help our company move forward in a Web 2.0 world and beyond.

Our mission is to develop and provide a Web technology framework, the processes, tools, best practices and standards body and make those available to media organizations in every project going forward."

Yup, sounds good to me.

The article I am referring to about large shoes also seems to have been written in a similar style:

"Finding large shoes might be a difficult task to everybody. Most of the store shops would not have plus size collections, and you might be finding hard to get a plus size shoes that fit you. If you are worried about plus size shoes, then online shoe shopping could be the best option. Shoebuy provides large size shoe collections, and you feel very comfortable."

Really? Shoebuy seems like a fairly legitimate site with a lot on offer and it looks like they are based in the US. But it seems unlikely they commissioned someone to write this for them and were then happy enough to pay for it afterwards. It doesn't get any better later in the text either:

"If you know the right size, then these shoes might fit you. Most of the shops would not the plus size footwear; if they have also they don’t be stylish or trendy. The Shoebuy.com provides you great deals and you could also get shoebuy promotional code before proceeding to get the offer. Keep in mind, these codes would be available for some period of time, at the end of the month it expires. So you could also update by another coupon codes.".

Well, that's pretty insightful. If you know the right size of shoe for you, the shoes at Shoebuy might fit you. Hmm, but what about ladies shoes? Do you have any useful insights on that for me?

"Many large shoes, comes with high heels and this might cause you back pain. So if you are buying shoes, avoid buying footwear with heels. If you are looking for shoes that would fit you perfectly, then you must know the correct size. In today’s fashion, every woman started walking with heels, without knowing it risks and effects. You could make use of high heel footwear for some parties, or any occasion. For daily wear, this heel might not be the right option for you, so keep in mind, and make use of the footwear."

Still on about making sure you get the correct size. Sounds like these guys know their stuff.

The above probably serves its purposes inasmuch as Shoebuy is mentioned in an article on another site which presumably gives credible backlinks. But how valuable are those backlinks and what is the point of the actual article?

The internet appears to be swimming with this sort of traffic building content just now, so I suppose the moral is be careful how much you ask Google to alert you to, in order to avoid wading through all of the dross out there.

Cycling skills - big shoes not required

I was thinking about big cycling shoes recently and trying to source some new styles, as well as pondering on issues with how best to lace up a pair of cycling shoes to stop the laces ripping on the chainset.

My online "research" led me to a Danny Macaskill video I hadn't seen before, so presumably it is a new one. Still displaying some pretty amazing skills from parts of Scotland I know and love, including North Berwick, Edinburgh, South Queensferry, Inch Garvie on the Forth, and lots of other places I recognise but couldn't put a name to. Very impressive skills

Summer is finally over

Its been a good couple of months here at Lo-Base HQ. Our proximity to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh means that there is a reasonable amount of footfall past the shop, even though we don't exactly have a city centre location. And most of those who do happen to stumble across us in this way are as excited as new born kittens.

A customer last month, visiting from rural France, tried on a pair of shoes, which he found comfy, then another pair, then another two pairs. He then bought them all, plus two pairs of socks, and promised he would be back next year when he made his annual pilgrimage to the Edinburgh Festival. This week a customer was in the shop who had unfortunately lost most of his shoes in a house fire, so was replacing the whole lot. Another good day.

But there are also quiet days too and we need to make ourselves more visible in the local community. If you have any contacts in local rugby, swimming, hockey, cycling, walking clubs etc then we'd be delighted to hear from you. If we get any info which leads to sales we'd be happy to offer a discount to whoever provided the info.

Most of our winter stock has started arriving in-store and there are some great new offerings from Columbia and Merrell. Of particular note are the Westward Chelsea boots from Merrell. High quality yak leather outers and soft inners mean this is a really comfy, smart boot, but with the cushioning in the sole you would usually associate with Merrell's trail shoes.


The Centracer is a great looking and comfortable approach shoe from Columbia and their Switchabck Omni-Tech is a comfortable and distinctive trail shoe with Omni-tech waterproofing. Apparently tests show it performs better than some well-known brand name waterproof fabrics and treatments.


We now have six different styles of walking boots in store with a really smart one from Merrell due in shortly as well.


After the New Year we are going to start stocking shoes from Simple and "Five by Rio Ferdinand", which will give the more fashion conscious access to some great looking shoes up to size 16 and 15 respectively. http://www.fivebyrioferdinand.com/brand1.asp

Stock Control And Supplier Woes

Until we evolve sufficiently to be able to fly it seems likely that people will continue to need shoes and they'll need somewhere to buy them from. So its been interesting to note this week how hard it can actually be for a retailer (i.e. us) to set up an account with a new supplier. In a global recession you might be mistaken for believing that any manufacturer would be desparate to push as many sales as possible, but its not always the case. Big manufacturers can afford to be choosy about who they allow to sell their shoes and when they allow them to sell them. There can be dozens of obstacles to surmount, questions to answer and criteria to meet before you achieve the holy grail of approved supplier status. Still, we continue undaunted in our quest to get more varied stock and suppliers into the shop.

The recession has also made manufacturers more cagey about holding on to large amounts of stock in the hope that someone will buy it before next season's styles are available. This applies particularly to larger sized shoes. Previously stock levels were apparently quite good throughout the year but now when something runs out, unless it is a line that is always carried in volume, generally you have no chance of replacing it. When its gone, its gone. So mid-season gaps start to appear in your product line and less choice is available to your customer. The only way to avoid this is for the retailer to overstock lines, which makes even less sense. Still, the new season starts in a month or two and supplies will be replenished and new lines will start to come in. Hurrah, new shoes all round.

That said, the Spring/Summer 2011 previews start soon!!

Marketing and the Volcanic Ash Cloud

Whilst the cloud of volcanic ash spreading south from Iceland isn't doing much for flights or people's holidays, it seems to be unexpectedly benefitting my business, which can't be bad.

On Saturday I had two people up in the centre of town with a placard and a load of flyers and lanyards. They came across quite a few people with big feet or who knew people with big feet, who promised to come down to the shop when they got the opportunity. However, they also managed to send some people down on Saturday, so we managed to generate sales, which was great. Unfortunately one customer was in looking for size 17s, and whilst we have shoes in 16.5 which might have fitted him, he didn't like the look of them. When your options are so limited, you can't really afford to be picky about shoes, but he wasn't needing them urgently and he will be back.

On Monday though, a Dutch chap came in who's flight home on Sunday night had been cancelled. He had been given a flyer on Saturday though so thought he would come down to kill some time. He ended up buying a set of insoles and two pairs of socks, which was a good result. Fingers crossed that he eventually managed to get a flight back home.

Today I've started to make some product review videos so that you can see the shoes and their features before you buy them, so keep an eye out on the website for these starting to appear over the next few days.

Its always difficult to know with a niche business where the next sale will come from and how best to market the business. This week I've had an order from the Isle of Man, and a sale to a Dutch chap on holiday who popped in on his way by. The shop is between Edinburgh city centre and the Botanic Gardens, so its on quite a popular walking route.

I had an American in last week who lives in Ireland and was again on his way to the Botanic Gardens. He bought two pairs of shoes and then came in again two days later to ask about socks as well. So at least the customer service being offerd is good enough to draw people back.

One customer who has bought from us three times now works locally and saw the shop in the passing. He has bought two pairs of shoes and a pair of walking boots and comes in for advice on foot issues, walking routes etc.

Advertising is a harder nut to crack though. So far we have tried Google Adwords, Facebook Ads, a newspaper website and writing to all of the sports clubs in Scotland we can think of where people might have big feet. I suspect we will do some of these things again and refocus the adverts or amend the copy text, but generally they have been pretty ineffective.

It seems so far that word of mouth seems to be the best method of attracting new customers along with visibility of the store in Edinburgh. So today we have some (paid) volunteers out and about in Edinburgh handing out flyers to likely prospects (i.e. people who look like they might have big feet and wouldn't be too offended by you suggesting as much). We're also going to try and see how, if at all, we can get any coverage in the local media for nothing or next to nothing. Fingers crossed

Top ten

Part 2

Running Spikes

From a quick glance you'd be forgiven for thinking that running spikes looked pretty similar to any other pair of trainers. They are generally lightweight, colourful and have a certain amount of cushioning in the sole to make them more comfortable to run in. However, the obvious addition of several short metal spikes in the toe and ball area of the shoe means that their utility is strictly limited. You wouldn't want to wear them around town , you'd ruin the spikes on the pavement and slide all over the place due to lack of grip. If you wore them into the house then you wouldn't be thanked for the effect those same spikes had on any carpets you might happen to be standing on, or lino or laminate for that matter too. In fact the running track is the best place for them and really the only place for them. However, given the recent cold weather we've been having it has crossed my mind that they could be pretty good on ice too.

Surprisingly for a specialised activity shoe, these are not difficult to get in larger sizes. Adidas, who seem to be the champion of the large shoe, offers a running spike in a size 16, and other manufacturers such as ASICS offer them up to a 15.

Boxing Boots

Like a lot of sports, you could probably get by in boxing wearing just a pair of trainers. However the need for constant changes of direction and a little bit of ducking and diving could soon see you wishing you had invested in a pair of proper boxing boots instead. Boxing boots have a high cut to give your ankle a lot more support whilst you run around the ring swinging wildly at your opponent and trying to avoid having your face brutally smashed in. Laces usually run the entire length of the boot and they are lightweight and flexible so you can move quickly and comfortably. Its also quite important that the soles are good and grippy, so when you crash to the mat its because your oponent has landed the KO, rather than your feet sliding out from under you.

Again, Adidas seems to be the go to brand for large sizes, although some of their boots do look a little “fruity” to me. Still, I wouldn't be saying that to any boxer who was big enough to be wearing them.

Water Skiing

Water ski bindings are designed to perform a similar function to snow ski boots. They hold your foot firmly to the ski and give you limited movement in certain directions, whilst providing a high level of ankle support to help prevent injuries and to give you greater control over the edges of your skis. The obvious difference though is that ski boots are generally designed to keep out water (whilst frozen in the form of snow) and water ski bindings are designed to let it in and then straight back out again.

They tend to go up to an XXL, but what that works out to in shoe size is anyone's guess apparently.

Running Shoes

Okay, going out running generally works better when you have a decent pair of trainers on, but you don't need to wear them. In fact you can go running in pretty much any sort of shoe you like, although whether you'll enjoy it or not is quite a different matter. Running shoes aren't particularly unusual either, most people have a pair of trainers of some sort which they could run in. So why bother mentioning it?

Well, recently some brands have been trying to market a new type of running shoe under the auspices of being a “barefoot” shoe. In essence, they argue that, with a thin yet protective sole, the effect is like running in your bare feet in terms of how your foot impacts the ground and how the muscles of the rest of your body are used when running. It is therefore meant to be better for you than using all of the artificial supports which you find in standard running shoes. Again though, most of these barefoot running shoes don't like very different from the outside. To see how specialised these things can get though, we need to look at the Vibram Five Finger running shoe. Vibram, better known to most people for making the rubber soles on their walking and hiking boots, came up with the idea of making their barefoot shoes even more authentic by having a separate sleeve for each toe. Really, they need to be seen to be believed. Unfortunately, they only go up to a size 10 or 11 UK.

Cycling Shoes

Unless you do quite a lot of cycling or are quite serious or knowledgeable about it, you might not realise that you get special cycling shoes too. As with a lot of sports, your normal day to day shoes will often be more than sufficient if you are a leisure cyclist. But if you want to get more power with every drive of the pedals and get more performance from your footwear, then specialised cycling shoes are a must.

Shoes exist for all types of cycling, from BMX road racing, cross country to trials riding. For road and mountain bike racing you can get shoes which fit into special bindings in your pedals. The shoes have a special cleat which fits on to the bottom of them and you can then clip this in and out of the binding. Generally, twisting your foot away from the bike will disengage you from the binding, meaning you can put your foot down when you stop rather than collapsing in a heap on the ground.

These shoes also usually have a stiff sole so that your foot doesn't flex when you are pedalling, meaning more of your effort goes into moving the bike forward. Unfortunately this also means that they aren't much good for walking in.

Some manufacturers do slightly larger sizes, but SIDI do their shoes up to a 52 European, which is approximately a 16 UK.

Our top ten activities requiring specialist footwear

Part 1

Okay, you may think its difficult getting hold of shoes in your size, as most places seem to stop their men's ranges at an 11 or 12 (maybe 13). Admittedly there are specialist retailers of large shoes out there, such as www.lobaseshoes.com but if you want to try something a bit more specialist, which requires specialised footwear, and which very few people take part in, then you could be really struggling. Here's our top ten list of sports and activities for which getting the right equipment could be a mission impossible for big footed men.

Luge

You've seen the competitors at the winter olympics in Vancouver flying round the sheer ice bends with their feet pointing this way and that to try and control the sled, then wondered when they get to the end of the course and try to leave why they slip and slide all over the place. After all, if you have a sport on ice you'd have thought the footwear would have some sort of grip on it to help keep upright.

Well, not luge shoes, or at least until recently. Adidas luge shoes aren't available in retail stores or to the general public, so if you fancy a pair for sledging in your local park you'll be out of luck. They're only available to professional athletes and are designed to be as aerodynamic as possible, so zips up the front and very little in the way of seams or grips is the order of the day. Adidas' new style are also designed to be slightly easier to walk in, although you wouldn't know it to look at them. They'll set you back about £100, which is cheaper than the £200 plus you would pay for a luge helmet. I was thinking about impersonating a professional lugerista (or whatever they're called, “lugists” maybe? I went with lugers originally but that's a type of German pistol from the second world war so doesn't really sound right) to try and find out from Adidas what size they do them up to, but given lugeristas are generally short and skinny I reckoned they'd be on to me pretty quickly. My money's on them going up to a size 11 UK at most.

Rock Climbing

This is actually quite a popular sport (compared to lugeristaing at any rate) with participants all round the world and in all shapes and sizes. You'd think therefore that getting larger sized shoes for it would be pretty straightforward but trust me it's anything but. Having tried it a few times in my life I have always been forced to use whatever shoes I arrived in rather than a pair of hire boots. Its a good think I hadn't come straight from work I suppose. Normal trainers work okay for climbing rock faces and climbing walls with massive footholds you can get plenty of grip on. But when you have smaller to holds or sections where you need a lot of grip, they just aren't up to the job.

I can see that big feet would potentially be a disadvantage in climbing too. You have a lot more foot hanging out over open space so a longer lever to hang your weight on, making the toes work even harder to hold on. However, at least with proper climbing boots you have more support for the sole of your foot and lot more grip.

The last time I went to a climbing centre in the UK the largest size they had were an 11 UK, which I was told was more like a 10. Apparently Scarpa sells a boot up to a 12 1/2, but still too small for most big footed men I fear. I've put a picture of it underneath though to give you some pangs of longing for new shiny kit. Most of their climbing shoes stop at a size 10 though, which is mental. And they've got a shoe called the Women's Thunder, which can't be right either.


Skiing

Skiing is obviously a very popular sport and as such you'd think there'd be no difficulty in getting a wide range of styles and manufacturers to choose from when looking for larger sized ski boots. However this couldn't be further from the truth, at least when looking to buy rather than hire. In my search I have been to various ski shops and various manufacturers websites and generally they stop at a Mondopoint 31.5 – 32, although not all manufacturers seem to use the same Mondopoint system for some reason (there is only one so I'm not sure what they're up to), with the occasional manufacturer going up to a 33 (which is a about a 14 UK, but actually feels smaller because I've tried skiing in 33s and they hurt, a lot).

But some of them have a guilty secret. You see, they don't want the man in the street to have access to large sizes for some reason. I suspect its part of some personal vendetta by the small-footed chairmen and women of the ski manufacturers who have been shunned by their larger footed winter sports brethren, the snowboarders (and if you don't believe me, have a look at what size they do snowboard boots up to here http://ridesnowboards.com/boots/bigfoot). However, if they reckon they can sell a lot of them at one time then they are happy to do so. Having struggled in my too tight size 33 boots whilst up skiing at Cairngorm late last year, I went to try and hire a larger pair from the ski hire, expecting to be met with guffaws and mockery (like “what do you need skis for with feet that big” etc). However, I was both shocked and surprised to find that the hire boots they had from a major European manufacturer went up to a size 18 UK. I happily installed myself in a pair of 15s and got on with enjoying the day.

Ballet

Now admittedly this isn't an activity I have ever tried, have any intention of trying or would be physically capable of trying even if I wanted to. My impression of male ballet dancers (based I suppose mainly on Billy Elliot and Wayne Sleep) is that they are all quite short and slight men with little body weight, which must make supporting it on the tips of your toes that much easier. As such, I'd have thought men's ballet shoes would have stopped at about a size 9. Given there's quite a lot of work goes into making them (according to a programme I saw on the Discovery Channel once, in case your thinking I have just a little bit too much knowledge about this subject) and how small the demand must be for larger sizes, I was surprised to find that on the first website I looked at they had ballet shoes available up to a size 13 UK.


Scuba Diving

This is a sport which maybe doesn't spring to mind immediately when thinking of things which require specialist footwear. However, trying to get both fins and boots in large sizes isn't easy in this country. Diving around the coast of the UK is, as you would imagine, pretty damn cold and generally requires a full body dry suit. You can get these in standard sizes in which the boot component generally goes up to a 12, or you can have them custom made which obviously costs a lot more. When investigating this previously though, the boots on custom made items still tended to stop at a 12, because the rubber soles they used were pre-made and then attached to the custom suit. No point having a size 15 boot which the sole doesn't cover completely.

You might think it would be easier in the States, where its warmer and there are consequently more divers and generally bigger footed people. However, one US website offers fins up to XXL, which in their sizing chart equates to a 12+ US, so not very big at all. Their boots weren't much better, stopping generally at a 13 US. To give them their due though, it was huge website with tons of stock and I couldn't be bothered to look through every single pair of boots and fins to see if they went larger. Having feet the size of flippers will just have to do us for the time being I suppose.

Website is go, and we have bags

Something happens every week with the shop to move things forward, but not always something very interesting. Our carrier bags arrived this week so no longer do customers have to take away their purchases in a black plastic bag to protect them from the rain. The bags are very, very big and white with the "LB" logo slap bang in the centre in a reasonably matched shade of blue and other bits of text around us. Soon every trendy man about town will be sporting one for his large transportation needs. Take three briefcases into a meeting? Not any more, now you can just half fill a Lo-base bag and go. Or something.

Anyway, more importantly and potentially more exctingly, the website is now up and running too. Avoid the hassle of coming into Edinburgh and trying the shoes on in a comfortable, warm shop by having us send them to you instead. There's also a bit of info on there about Scotland's very own Bigfoot and I'll be trying to update it with some more light-hearted/hilarious pieces like this in the future too. Have a look here Big Mens Shoes

In the shop we currently have walking boots and shoes from Merrell, Columbia and Hi-Tec, running shoes from Hi-Tec with ASICS and New Balance hopefully following shortly, rugby boots from Gilbert and a few other bits and pieces including some very comfy socks.

We'll be trying to get some more brands and styles in soon, so let us know if you have any preferences.

Our first club night is coming up soon too. Mailings went out to pretty much every rugby club in Scotland last week inviting them to our night on Thursday 4th February between 6 and 8pm. If you play, work for or support a local rugby club and didn't see our flyer then firstly have a strong word with your club secretary, but secondly and vitally come along on the night to get a 10% discount on any shoes you buy.

Up and running

Happy New Year everyone. Its been a hectic few weeks so the blog hasn't been updated recently at all.

However, the shop is up and running now and most of the initial teething problems have been dealt with so there's a little bit more time for this.

We had a successful opening party on Sunday 13th December with about twenty people along to see the shop and mgo on a ghost tour through the haunted cellar (if you haven't seen the cellars yet then you're missing out!!). We opened on the MOnday and had our first sale on Thursday from a gent who worked locally and had seen the shop on his way to work. Up to Christmas it was pretty quiet though as our marketing hasn't really started yet, so we are relying on people seeing the shop or hearing about it through word of mouth, which is going to be quite limited at this stage.

We opened again today after New Year and sold a pair of our most expensive shoes (Titanium Bugaboot XTM Omni-Tech) to a chap who was going boar hunting in Lithuania and needed something warm for his feet whilst he stood in the cold. The Titanium is waterproof and insulated down to -54 celsius, so it should ndo him just fine.

We're working our our first flyers just now to support our marketing campaign. If you can think of anywhere we should be marketing or know of any opportunities (e.g. if you work for a big company and their intranet has an offers/discounts section etc) then please let us know. The more people know about us the better.

Game On - It begins here

Well we finally got all ofthe documents for the lease of the premises signed up last week so get the keys to the shop on Monday morning. Two weeks of hard work will follow fitting it out ready to start trading at the beginning of December in time for Christmas.

We also are starting to get our suppliers sorted out, with a few in pleace already with shoes up to a size 16. There isn't much bigger than this in the UK market so it will set a natural maximum, but hopefully in the New Year we will be able to source some larger sizes from the States.

Website Happenings

Website is starting to come together. Quite liking the look of it so far.

Visit it at www.lobaseshoes.com for all your CD-ROm needs apparently!!

Big Shoes for Big Adventures

As we're going to be selling activity footwear rather than Oxfords and brogues, we needed some sort of slogan to reflect that, so "Big Shoes for Big Adventures" is it. Criticisms and praise to the usual address please.

Quite a few things happening this week. Website is under development and is sounding promising. I would say it is looking promising, but as I haven't seen any rough drafts yet that would be tricky. Still, I am optimistic.

Bank account has been set up and company finally exists (Lo-Base Shoes Limited, catch us now at Companies House for all your exciting limited company information www.companies-house.gov.uk) so we can now move on with suppliers.

We've managed to identify suppliers across a range of disciplines who make large shoes and activity footwear so are currently getting in touch with their reps. Anyone for snowboard boots in a size 22?!!!!!!!

Struggling to find ski boots in anything above a 14 though so if you have any thoughts please send them our way. That said, I've found somewhere in Austria that do them, but at about £1k per custom fit pair, it could be a bit toppy for most people.

Just got a new logo designed which we are quite excited about and should see us right for a good few years.

Slow Week

Not much has been happening with the shop this week unfortunately. Trying to register as a limited company has been held up by Companies House, who are apparently having some sort of software problem. This is different to the explanation they gave me last week though, but there isn't much I can do about it.

However, after having some crossed wires with my website guys about the timescales they could do the website in, I think I have found someone else who should be able to do it in fairly short order, and the websites they have produced so far all look pretty good. There's no point having the website open in the New year and missing all the potential Christmas sales, especially with Scottish spending in the high street showing good signs of recovery just now.

A friend of a friend was round the shop last week doing a basic survey and schedule of condition, which included about 88 pictures of the shop to allow me to agree the condition with the landlord. This stops me having to potentially spend a fortune making it good when the lease expires, as I'll be able to show what condition it was in when I moved in. If anyone needs any building survey or similar work done then I can strongly reccomend Steve Thomson. Drop me a line if you would like his details.

Premises Located (Hopefully)

After a few months of looking it seems like Lo-Base Shoes have finally found the site for opening the first dedicated large shoe shop in Scotland.

We will be based at 11 Howard Street (which is essentially the town end of Inverleith Row) in Canonmills, not far from Inverleith Park and the Botanics. Find it here http://tinyurl.com/ykse4t8

Parking is good nearby. If you come down Dundas Street and round the corner you can usually get a space just before the lights opposite the tapas restaurant. Its only half hour parking though, so if you're planning a longer visit then Inverleith Terrace has plenty of parking at 70p an hour (although shortly to be going up to a pound).

Unfortunately, the guys we had been hoping to get to do the website are snowed under with work so we need to start looking at that again, but I'm sure we'll find someone.

We should be getting access to the shop from 1st November and we hope to start trading in the middle of that month. Hopefully see you there.

Lo-Base