# Feet Bottoms....Best Material?



## Cheveyo (Oct 12, 2011)

Trying to come up with something to put on the bottoms of my feet but not sure what the best option might be.  Currently just tennis shoe soles.  Hold up great to any conditions, but finding them to have way to much grip, prefer to have a little give , especially when dancing.  Thinking about maybe going with a heavy grade leather attached to the soles.  Know the owner of the local boot shop well and he always has scraps for cheap.  Mostly going to be worn indoors so not expecting a ton of breakdown.  But wondering what other materials are out there that hold up well, what is the usual choice for builders?


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## Kaluna (Oct 12, 2011)

I see foam used a lot. Like a thick study foam. I don't know how that would work as far as grip goes though. You could always just sand down the bottoms of your tennis shoes to get rid of the traction too, lol.


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## Grae Sparrowkin (Oct 26, 2011)

I would try flip-flops.


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## Skylar_Jaeger (Oct 30, 2011)

I have six fursuits and I must say the best feet bottoms I have belong to my Husky fursuit, which was made by Arend Studios.  I have had the suit for six, going on seven years and I have never had a problem with the feet. As Near as I can tell, it is made out of that very tough carpet I have seen only used on the exteriors of gig boxes that bands use to put their amps and instruments into. It is that very tough grey carpet like material. 
Another pair of feet which belong to my German shepherd suit (Made by Toonsuits) were made with vast amounts of "shoo-goo."


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## Mika (Oct 31, 2011)

I ripped apart a pair of cheap flip flops and attached the soles to the bottom of my feetpaws.


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## dinosaurdammit (Oct 31, 2011)

hobby lobby sells "design your own flip flops" they are dirt cheep and are pretty durable. I recommend an exacto knife, an industrial one to cut it


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## Mika (Oct 31, 2011)

dinosaurdammit said:


> hobby lobby sells "design your own flip flops" they are dirt cheep and are pretty durable. I recommend an exacto knife, an industrial one to cut it


Yeah...I got a pair of black XL flip flops there for about $1.00..


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## Sar (Nov 5, 2011)

Wear flip flops or cut up the flip flops to look like paw pads and hot glue on.


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## ~Insanity~ (Nov 6, 2011)

For indoor i covered the bottems with fur (it may get dirty though) and used pinkish fun foam to make the paw pads
                                     <3Insanity<3


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## Skylar_Jaeger (Dec 1, 2011)

Triple_7 said:


> Never even thought of that, friend of mine makes a lot of speaker boxes and has a ton of the stuff laying around.  Have to remember it if I go to change it at some point or if I need another set of paws.



I wondered if the use of the material was began in order to get rid of some surplus material that was laying around and then whoever decided to use it thought: "Wow!  That stuff tough as nails!  We ought to use it on all of our suits!" In all honesty, I would have never thought to use it in a hundred years. It was clever.



Triple_7 said:


> Flip flops would work too, but since the current feet paws are already made they would build up too much height, not really wanting them strapped on, going for a more subtle look.  Don't trust myself to take apart the feet to make them fit as I'm not the best craft person when it comes to fabric.



I have actually wanted to make an enormous pair of flip-flops for my fursuits. When I am not in my suit I like to run around wearing faded blue-jean shorts, a t-shirt and sandles, so it would not stray too far from me in reality. (late '80's early '90's head-banger.)



Triple_7 said:


> Ended up going with a nice heavy grade leather, freebie courtesy of the local boot shop owner.  He got a laugh when I showed him what it was for, apparently I'm not his first fursuiter encounter, just the first local one.  Tested out with a scrap piece and seemed to have just the right amount of slide ability but grips enough to avoid any mishaps.  He's even taking care of attaching it for me since they are not flat soles and he can fill in the gap, picking them up this morning



That is cool.  There are not a great deal of custom boot shops out there anymore. What was really neat is that he knew what a furry was and that he was willing to give you some stuff. It is interesting to note in my travels I have found more often than not people tend to just be okay with it. I do not tell people I am a furry unless I am asked. often times if I go in I say: "I need something to fix my mascot costume." If I am asked "Are you a furry?" I will answer truthfully. Most folks think it is neat and any experiences I have had in public have been positive. I have yet to run into anyone who acts with complete revulsion, although I do from time to time, get ignorant questions about how much the gatherings I go to resemble _CSI_ or _1,000 Ways To Die_ episodes. For the most part, the public just thinks we're a little off-beat.  That's fine with me.


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## KarabinerCoyote (Dec 27, 2011)

Anti-fatigue mats, available at Harbor Freight and Home Depot. Grey color. Suggested as paw sandal material too. Similar matting for children's play rooms, but smaller squares and in a variety of colors.

Found individual sections of anti-fatigue mats at a local SA store, but in bright blue.


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