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How to compare insulating insoles?


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Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
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  • #3610077
    Christoph Blank
    BPL Member

    @chbla

    Locale: Austria

    Hi there,

    I’ve got a pair of toasty feet insoles (aerogel): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005ZUI7N2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    and a pair of these:
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DWSX3LA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    which are twice as thick. And I wonder which ones insulate better if I’m standing on snow/ice.

    How could I measure/compare this? I’ve only got a laser thermometer.

    #3610078
    Edward John M
    BPL Member

    @moondog55

    If the thicker ones have greater insulation they may not be warmer if they cramp your feet in your boots. If you already have both then I think some experimentation with fit is in order first. My Sorbothane insoles are thicker and warmer than my Superfeet ones but meant I could only wear one pair of socks in my mountain boots and also the Superfeet were less sweaty, probably due to the holes punched in them

    #3610296
    Martin D
    BPL Member

    @natlife

    I wanted to test a few insoles some years ago. What I did was simply boil a pot of water, sandwich a kitchen thermometer between the insoles, put the hot pot on the insoles with 20 pounds added on the pot and take readings for 10 minutes to see which one had the most favorable heat transfer curve. That’s not ideal as the temperature delta was quite larger than real world usage, and absolute temperatures not quite realistic, but I was satisfied it was sufficient to rank insoles relative to one another.

    #3610527
    Christoph Blank
    BPL Member

    @chbla

    Locale: Austria

    That sounds like a reasonable idea – I think I will try that!

    #3610575
    Lester Moore
    BPL Member

    @satori

    Locale: Olympic Peninsula, WA

    Also consider if the insoles have open cell foam or other water-retaining materials. Waterlogged insoles take forever to dry and likely are less warm that non-permeable insoles. For example, the Dr. Scholls Sport Gel insoles have a foam material adjacent to the foot that retains water a long time, even though the gel portion of the insoles retains no water and dries instantly.

    #3610849
    Stephen Seeber
    BPL Member

    @crashedagain

    Here is the way I did it when I was trying to chose in early 2018 when my feet were getting cold in the mountains.

    https://www.dropbox.com/s/5q3en18rqthp8me

    I never wrote this up, so you can just enjoy the images.  However, as a simple guide–colder temperatures win.  I have been using the Sole Insulated Reponse as a result of the test.

     

Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
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