# Vibrum (sp) soles (aka VIBRAM ...)



## swanita (21 Jul 2005)

Hi everyone!!

Does anybody know where I can get vibrum (spelling?) soles put on my combat boots? Preferably around the Toronto or GTA area.   Also the cost involved.... Thanks!   

[Moderator Edit: AAAGGHHHH ... I couldn't stand it any longer ... it's "Vibram" ... and I can't believe it took so long for somebody who knew the correct spelling to correct it ... sigh ... especially since I only discovered this thread the weekend after the walk ... groan ... and, yes - the Yellow Pages would have been faster ... and I apologise for not noticing this thread sooner, since I know of several places in Toronto ...]


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## Scoobie Newbie (21 Jul 2005)

Most shoe shops can do it.  I recommend a phone book specifically the yellow pages.


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## mcnutt_p (21 Jul 2005)

Canada 411 and if that does not work talk to your unit MO and tell them you have a foot problem and they shoulld be able to write a perscription in which you take to the QM and they do it at cost to the Queen.

McNutt


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## medic2ic (21 Jul 2005)

And I'm not entirely sure but you must have a medical chit on your file to allow you to wear the Vibrum soled combat boots. They are much more comfortable, I don't know why we all don't have them, but alas, it is a thing that has to be put through the medical wheels of progress.


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## Scoobie Newbie (21 Jul 2005)

actually you don't.  If you have a chit you can wear them.  If not you can chance it and wear them like I have done.


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## mcnutt_p (22 Jul 2005)

When I got mine in BMQ you needed a chit but that was in 03, I think you do not need a chit no because my girlfriend went to clothing stores to get kit for her BMQ and she got  two sets in St Jean. She said she was told if you had them, you could were them regardless. 

McNutt


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## Scoobie Newbie (22 Jul 2005)

Of course it is always wise to follow the norm when on course (especially in the beginning of ones career) if you don't have a chit.


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## mcnutt_p (22 Jul 2005)

I only got mine for breaking my ankle, waiting on PAT. Follow the norm and don't pay for it yourself. I think they guy who did them said they cost something like roughly $80 a pair.


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## swanita (22 Jul 2005)

mcnutt_p said:
			
		

> I only got mine for breaking my ankle, waiting on PAT. Follow the norm and don't pay for it yourself. I think they guy who did them said they cost something like roughly $80 a pair.



Price means nothing to me if it saves my already troubling knees.  As for the chit thing I know plenty of people who do not have a chit & have the soles.  But that isn't what i was asking....thanks for the couple replies that were very vague, I figured asking here would save me some time/trouble but haven't got a definitive answer. Maybe it's a mystery!!  ;D But particular names of places if any one knows...if not, i'll have to find out at another time. I wanted these soles for the Weekend to End Breast Cancer walk were me & my team, from my regiment, will be walking 60km over 2 days in combat boots & thought i'd be much nicer with those soles!! Thanks anyways.


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## Roy Harding (22 Jul 2005)

swanita said:
			
		

> Price means nothing to me if it saves my already troubling knees.   As for the chit thing I know plenty of people who do not have a chit & have the soles.   But that isn't what i was asking....thanks for the couple replies that were very vague, I figured asking here would save me some time/trouble but haven't got a definitive answer. Maybe it's a mystery!!   ;D But particular names of places if any one knows...if not, i'll have to find out at another time. I wanted these soles for the Weekend to End Breast Cancer walk were me & my team, from my regiment, will be walking 60km over 2 days in combat boots & thought i'd be much nicer with those soles!! Thanks anyways.



Swanita:

Some folks tried to help you out, to the best of their abilities - don't get huffy because you didn't get the precise answer you were looking for.

Looking at your original posting, it was put up here Thursday morning.  You say you needed the stuff done by the weekend (LESS than two business days).  Why didn't you pick up the Yellow Pages and start dialing??  Or search the GTA directory online, and start dialing??  Did you just hear about this Walk-A-Thon Thursday morning??

Do they still teach the 6 P's??  If so, you fail.  If not, you still fail.

Either way - the failure was YOURs, not the kind souls who attempted to provide you with the best information they had.  Please take your snit elsewhere.


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## swanita (22 Jul 2005)

Retired CC said:
			
		

> Swanita:
> 
> Some folks tried to help you out, to the best of their abilities - don't get huffy because you didn't get the precise answer you were looking for.
> 
> ...



I think you should reread my "original post" as i mentioned nothing about needing it for this weekend. In my second post, I was THANKING people for the replies I got but it seemed to take a turn to whether or not a chit is required.  

The weekend I was referring to (if you've haven't heard any details about it as some people might not have) was on the "weekend to end breast cancer" which a fundraising event taking place in September....so nothing was mentioned in my last post regarding needing the soles for THIS WEEKEND....I'm not that stupid, well occassioccasionally all are but not this time.  Maybe the tone with what i wrote was taken the wrong way as I was just hoping that someone had an actual name of a place that does the service I'm searching for. That's it.


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## mcnutt_p (22 Jul 2005)

swanita said:
			
		

> Hi everyone!!
> 
> Does anybody know where I can get vibrum (spelling?) soles put on my combat boots? Preferably around the Toronto or GTA area.   Also the cost involved.... Thanks!



Just reading through and your original post says nothing about needing them that weekend. Provide more info if you want a better answer.

McNutt


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## Fishbone Jones (22 Jul 2005)

Get over it already. Either put it back on track or it gets locked.

It'll cost you anywhere from $60 - $100, depending on where you go, and almost any shoe repair store will do it. Get in the phone book. I don't think you'll get more of an answer than that, unless you tell everyone your specific area of abode and someone near you has had it done.


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## Scoobie Newbie (22 Jul 2005)

Thanks rg, like I said.


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## DannyBoy (12 Sep 2005)

Moneyworth and Best does vibrant soles for about 91 bucks a pair, i got em and they are 10 times better then the original sole.


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## Michael OLeary (12 Sep 2005)

*VIBRAM*

http://www.vibram.us/products/default.asp


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## bossi (12 Sep 2005)

P.S.  (my father was a carpenter, and one of his enduring lessons to me was "use the right tool for the right job" ... and so, purely as a demonstration to anybody else who ever needs a quick answer to a simple question ... out of curiousity, I Googled "vibram soles Toronto" ... and here's the first hit)

http://www.myccr.com/SectionForums/viewtopic.php?p=103150&sid=2ae13c4f829fad3f0fd583ad47afb4cd



> 1.  Does anyone know where, in Toronto, I can get a good resole job? I have a pair of Zmberlain boots with Vibram soles that are getting awfully close to wearing out.
> 
> 2.  Try the folks at MEC. They may know someone in TO to resole boots, if not, they should be able to tell you the name of the shop in Vancouver that does their warranty work.
> Last year they sent my Zamberlans to Vancouver to have a repair done on the rand - I dropped them off at the TO store and they shipped them back to me at home - at no cost to me. Exceptional customer service.
> ...



P.P.S. (I hesitated to make a "plug" for a commercial enterprise, however ... since this information is readily available via Google ... Novelty is where I had my first pair done, it's close to Moss Park Armoury, and I'd agree - good service - by comparison, the Vibram soles I got from Petawawa aren't as good ... which is a shame, since it was the taxpayers' money ... whereas I paid out of my own pocket when I originally went to Novelty back in 1981 ...)


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## Jarnhamar (12 Sep 2005)

In pembroke theres a guy right across from east side marios (bertrands?) who will do combat boots, it comes out to $75 a pair.

I got my first pair done and 2000 and after wearing them, i went out and got my second paid done.  I just exchanced my boots this summer and took them in right away to get them done again.

Honestly guys, the difference these make is simply amazing. Once you try them out I promise you'll never put up with the old combat boot soles again.

If your worried about a chit go to a medic and ask them to write you a chit saying you can wear the soles and they will let you.  I've never heard of wearing vibram soles being a problem in the reg force but in the reserves sometimes they make you have a chit.

You CAN get the army to pay for them but it's a big headache, lots of paperwork and hey, if you don't medically need them and just want the army to pay for them, well your lying and it might come back to bite you in the ass. 

Buck up and pay the $75 for the soles.


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## MikeM (12 Sep 2005)

Just a question..

I'm about to be replacing my current pair, and the model of the sole seems to have slipped my memory. I need to know the model of sole so that the guy at the store can order it for me.

Thanks


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## Redeye (12 Sep 2005)

Most CF Members have the Kletterlift model.


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## MikeM (12 Sep 2005)

Ahh yes, I thought it was the Kletterlift, thanks for clarifying Redeye.

Cheers.


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## armyvern (18 Sep 2005)

Thinking of re-soling your cbt boots with a vibram sole? My advice...get the required medical chit prior to doing so. MIR gives you the chit..take it to clothing stores and they will send your boots out to get them resoled at no cost to you. There is a National contract for re-soling CF footwear so if you are doing it on your own (ie without authorization) you are not only acting in breach of a Federal contract, you are also acting in contradiction to CF policy which expressly forbids you from willfully modifying or destructing taxpayers property...a chargeable offense. Doing it the proper way allows you to have a chit in your pocket (for when the RSM asks you why you have vibram soles on-CYA-no extras etc) and allows you to have a copy on your clothing docs so you do not have to fill out a Stores Loss and Damage Report explaining how you broke the rules and will now have to re-imburse the Crown for your combat boots when you release/component transfer etc because you willfully modified them. On a better note, there is now a review going on to have all boots coming into the system standard with vibram soles, finally. But from a Sup Tech point of view....we agree with you all that the kit could use improvements. Please don't complain to us because we don't decide. Better yet, use what is already officially in the CF to suggest improvements to your kit. This would be the UCR. (Unsatisfactory Condition Report). Do a DIN search and you will find this form electronically, fill it out and e-mail to the IM and LCMM, this is the way to effect change. PS, did you know that for the amount of pers who want to re-sole their boots to vibrams....NDHQ has never...neverreceived a UCR from a single person recommending this change? I saw it on an earlier thread that the pers buying us the kit had no clue what we needed or what the problems with it were....well that's why the UCR exists. It is the soldier's tool to effect change, change can only happen if pers use the resources already available to them.


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## Pikache (18 Sep 2005)

A source tells me that a CANFORGEN in 2004 states that soldiers can wear vibrams and only require a chit if member wants CF to pay for it. True?


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## armyvern (18 Sep 2005)

Well, I will check out the CANFORGEN's but I don't remember it crossing my desk at clothing since I've been there (Feb 04). I do recall a msg onthat authorized pers proceeding to Holland as part of Op Nijmegan teams to re-sole their boots for non-medical reasons if they wanted to at their own expense. Here in Gagetown, those Nijmegan pers brought their boots into clothing and we had them re-soled IAW the federal contract, they then re-imbursed the Crown the costs. I will check it out though.


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## Scoobie Newbie (18 Sep 2005)

"NDHQ has never...neverreceived a UCR from a single person recommending this change?"
That is probably because it has been lost in the burocratic shuffle.


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## Fishbone Jones (20 Sep 2005)

armyvern said:
			
		

> PS, did you know that for the amount of pers who want to re-sole their boots to vibrams....NDHQ has never...neverreceived a UCR from a single person recommending this change?









You're ass is sucking wind! That's been a pretty sheltered 18 years.


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## stewy (17 Jan 2006)

So in the reserves in the GTA, who would I see to get a chit to get the insoles, I have terrible knees from a sever break when I was younger and the mkIII's are killing me.  Do i have to see an army medic, if so where, or can I get a note from my GP and simply hand it to my Coy ??


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## Infanteer101 (26 Jan 2006)

swanita said:
			
		

> Hi everyone!!
> 
> Does anybody know where I can get vibrum (spelling?) soles put on my combat boots? Preferably around the Toronto or GTA area.   Also the cost involved.... Thanks!



Yes, there are several locations in TO to get the Vibram soles put on. I just got my first pair done by power of the medical chit given to me by one of the MOs at the MIR at ASU Toronto (where you should be going to get it presuming that you are a member of a unit in 32 CBG). I got 'em after I had surgery done on my knee for an ACL repair and a medial meniscus tear and I tell ya, it is a thing of beauty to have those on the black caddies after recovery. Reg Force members get 'em paid for, dunno about Reservists. The place they directed me to go was a shop at Fairview Mall (Sheppard & Donmills) called Sole Proprietor (97 bucks a pair taxes in). Cheers!


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## MPSHIELD (1 Feb 2006)

> 97 bucks a pair taxes in



WOW, I must have gotten a deal. Mine were just $70 after taxes.


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## deh (1 Feb 2006)

If you have the good sense and good fortune to live in Montreal there is a place in NDG that will do an amazing job, and fix them up for the life of your boot, even when the sole starts peeling off.  Taxes in will cost you $55.


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## COBRA-6 (1 Feb 2006)

tech79 said:
			
		

> So in the reserves in the GTA, who would I see to get a chit to get the insoles, I have terrible knees from a sever break when I was younger and the mkIII's are killing me.  Do i have to see an army medic, if so where, or can I get a note from my GP and simply hand it to my Coy ??



tech79, are you on class B? 

BTW this topic has been discussed extensively. Try "vibram" in the advance search function.


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## chrisf (1 Feb 2006)

I paid $60 after tax per pair when I had mine done in Kingston (Had a med-chit, but was told I had to pay for them myself as I was on a short term B contract)

Our local shoe maker will do it for $40 + taxes, so shop around.


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