Extremely comfortable from day one
I have feet that were born to hurt. I'm 6'5" and much of my life (though not now) I have been overweight. To make matters worse, although I wear size 13-14 shoes, I have a very light bone structure and a high arch. This is a recipe for plantar fasciitis, which I have "enjoyed" for more than twenty years. In that time, I have tried custom hard-plastic orthotics from a couple of podiatrists. Without exception, they were horribly uncomfortable and the slow, patient adaptation process recommended by the prescribers did not help me tolerate them. I then went the other way, to ultra-soft Dr. Scholl's silicone inserts that felt great in the morning but provided no support as the day wore on. My next attempt was heat-molded insoles from Sole. I found that those didn't really mold well to my feet despite my meticulous attention to the instructions. Further, they were seriously stiff in the midfoot and, at least for my feet, the arch support was too far forward. Not as uncomfortable as the hard plastic orthotics but still no improvement over plain shoes. I was at the point of giving up when a shoe salesman suggested that I try the Superfeet footbeds. I selected the Copper model and they arrived promptly. I removed the thin foam rubber liners in my shoes and used them as templates to cut the Superfeet to size. If you do this, you need to know that the forefoot of the Superfeet insert is made of some very tough stuff. You're going to need heavy kitchen or shop shears to cut them. Attempting the trimming process with ordinary household scissors will leave you with sore hands and sprung blades. Having cut them to size, I slipped them into my shoes, laced up, and walked tentatively around the room. OK, let me cut to the chase. They felt great. The insole is quite firm in the midfoot but, unlike the model from Sole, the arch is far enough back so that it gives me real support instead of making me feel like I have a big, smooth rock in my shoe. I had no break-in period at all; I just put them in and walked away. To summarize: The Superfeet copper footbeds appear to be well made of durable materials. They are quite thin in the forefoot and I have not noticed that they have molded to my feet, as advertised. There is little room for molding when the footbed is at most 3/16" thick under the metatarsal fat pad and toes. The heel cup is deep and improves stability for my relatively week ankles. For me, they required no break-in; they were comfortable from the first moment. My plantar fasciitis, while not completely gone, is much better and I no longer feel like my feet have been beaten up after a five mile walk. But note: Feet are all different. I am enthusiastically positive about the Superfeet Copper footbeds. However, I have not compared them to every competitor out there, nor have I tried the less expensive models in the Superfeet range. In particular, I have not tried the store-molded custom inserts that one can purchase at ski shops and outfitters. Further, no footbed will help if the shoes in which they are worn are not properly and sturdily made and accurately fitted. I encourage you to try a variety of footbeds/inserts/insoles in your shoes before making a purchase decision. My disclaimer: I have no financial or other interest in the manufacturer and I have received no inducements of any kind for this review. Read more
