Friday, July 03, 2015

Hose sandals test run

I made some running sandals yesterday from some scrap five-inch hose. This is the hose we use to get water from the hydrant to the fire engine.

The design was pretty straight forward. Trace your feet on paper, add a little buffer and then trace the paper on the rubber. I used a drill to make the holes for the shockchord laces. The tricky part was figuring out how to tie them. Seems like everyone has a favorite way of doing it and they have all made videos to show you how.

I had to move one of the holes because my right foot was sitting too far back on the rubber.

This morning I took them for a run - once around the park and then onto the High Drive trails.

I found myself sprawled out on the east end of Cannon Hill Park. I had, apparently, ducked just in time to avoid planting my face into the end of this sawed-off branch. It did catch the top of my head, leaving a scratch and a bump. I don't think I lost consciousness but was dazed for a bit. And my head hurt.

I dusted myself off and continued on for a little run on the trails. I found the sandals extremely loud on pavement. On the trails they protected my feet pretty well from rocks. One thing I worried about was picking up pebbles between the sandal and my foot. This did happen, but the pebbles came out really quickly while running. Encountering some sprinklers in a final lap around the park, my feet slipped around on the sandals. This makes sense because the tops of the sandals are the interior of the hose. It is purposely slick to reduce friction loss for better water pressure.

All in all. I think they worked pretty well. I wont run in these every day, only occasionally. I have an idea about using some other discarded material for the next pair, something a little more soft and grippy. These hose sandals are something I will probably wear as a daily replacement for flip flops and to weddings.

 

 

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