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Do you have a favorite pair of Crocs that you wear all the time? Do you think that Crocs are one of the best footwear related inventions ever? If you answered “yes” to these questions, you are like me. I have worn out more than one pair of Crocs in my time. This being the case, I started buying cheap Croc imitations. They lasted about as long, but were much cheaper to buy. (for the purpose of this ‘ible, I’ll use the term “Croc” to mean both, authentic and imitations.)
The problem I have is that the soles of the Crocs wear out and become flat, slippery, and holes develop. These particular Crocs have just finished a one year tour in Iraq, and are now three months into my current Afghanistan tour. Sure, I could just go but another pair from the PX, but then why waste money, and put these in a landfill (most likely here, they will get burnt and lots of poisonous gases put into the air.)
The next problem is that everywhere you go in the Middle East, it’s tile floors. These floors are mopped constantly. I don’t have to tell you that "tile + water=ice skating rink!" These tiles are slippery even with brand new soles on really good shoes.
I tried a few things to fix the crocs. I cut notches into the sole. I even took a die grinder to the shoe to make new “valleys” in the shoe. Nothing worked.
So enter my current solution. I’m writing this as I’m making these, so I’m not sure how they’ll last long term, but I plan to post my findings as they develop.
What we are going to do is to “retread” the Crocs with a bicycle tire. The tire I have is the only one I could get. It was destined to end up in the trash, so we are saving another item from a landfill (or more burning.)
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Of course you need a worn out set of Crocs (note, this same technique could be applied to other types of shoes, but as always, your mileage may vary.)
An old bicycle tire. The fatter the better, but stay away from mountain bike tires as they treads could be uncomfortable to walk on. I want to thank Garden State Bicycles in Whitehouse Station NJ who provided a tire for free to me in Afghanistan. There website is here...
http://www.gardenstatebicycle.com
Shoe-Goo adhesive. Other adhesives might work, but I know this stuff is good for my purposes.
A knife -if you don’t have a knife, check out my ‘ible on the GRUK here…
http://www.instructables.com/id/A-Ghetto-Retractable-Utility-Knife-AKA-GRUK/
Scissors are nice to have
Weights or straps to clamp down on the rubber while it hardens. (However, there are hundreds of ways to “skin this cat.” Be creative.)
Some plastic bags, or bubble wrap or something to stuff inside the Croc while you work on it.
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now its just a matter of looking for bungie cords
I did need to add a little glue on a few of the strips to get them to stay on, but they are doing great!
FWIW, the Crocs are getting LOTS of wear and are holding up well. The only thing about them is they leave a VERY distinct shoe print. I can't sneak anywhere with them on! 8>)
I don't know how long the goo will last, but you might be right. I'll post my experiance with them here however.