Work with me here. What if you lined a pair of customs with a plastic bag, mixed plaster of Paris and poured in to create trees?
Or some other substance? I’m thinking of expanding foam, but that stuff is a damn mess. Scratch that.
Some kind of art medium? How about the fiberglass wrap used for orthopaedic casts? A bunch of those rolls unwrapped, prepped and stuffed into the plastic bags and left to cure?
I would not use anything that didnt allow air to circulate within the boot. One of the reasons why boot inserts are the way they are
Why reinvent the wheel? What problem are you trying to solve that’s not addressed with the products already on the market?
Ahhh. Excellent point.
Just trying to keep new boots in tip-top shape. I never had trees for the old pair. My legs are ridiculously long and I doubt that anything mass-market will work that well. Plus I’m a tinkerer.
Scrunched up newspaper in the foot and rolled up paper in the leg. But that shows my age because no one reads an actual physical newspaper anymore.
Many years ago boot shapers were semi-custom carved from wood. You occasionally can find a pair listed on ebay, though the likelihood of finding a pair for sale that would work with your own boots is pretty slim.
Plaster of Paris to fill the shaft of a boot would be ridiculously heavy. But your idea is a good way to achieve a custom fit.
But why stop with the plaster inserts? Use them as your templates to create digital images and produce a lighter weight and ventilated set of custom inserts using 3D printing.
Trader Joe’s paper bags FTW.
Roll up and shove down the shaft of your boots. Then sit back and enjoy your pita crackers, lamb vindaloo, Hatch chili mac and cheese, and/or cheap wine.
I know, I know! They were so cool. They were offered w my first customs many years ago but they were almost as expensive as the boots. Sigh.
They do make boot “trees” for thigh highs, so there’s definitely something out there tall enough. Pool noodles are also popular, and can be cut to any length…go for the ones with the hole down the middle, to allow for airflow.
Rolled up copies of Vogue. Roll them up tight, drop them into the boot and they unfurl to a tight fit.
But actually, the Ariat boot trees do a fine job.
I recently got these cedar boot trees. They are quite adjustable for different widths and come in two different heights. And they smell great. They do add some weight though if you are carrying your boots often.
HOUNDSBAY Cedar Boot Tree Shaft Shaper, Cowboy & Tall Boot Inserts Shape Holders, Women https://a.co/d/gH9KJoG
I also got these for the foot and ankle after mine were collapsing because of using a too small boot bag.
HOUNDSBAY Boot Tree, Cedar Boot Trees for Men, Boot Shoe Tree, Shoe & Boot Trees, Shoe Trees for Boots https://a.co/d/biuEvV2
Allegedly the cedar wicks moisture too and helps with odors.
A bit of a spin off of the tree topic but do you all store your boots standing upright, or do you hang them upside-down?
I just use pool noodles from the dollar store and cut them to length
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