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Superfeet vs. Sole insoles?

Which do you prefer, Sole Insoles or Superfeet? For ski boot footbeds, which insoles do you like better, Superfeet insoles or Sole insoles?



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I would definitely recommend SOLE Insoles. For backcountry skiing and hiking, I want as much padding and arch support as I can get comfortably in my boot for my high arches with added protection for my feet.  

If you have High Arches, you'll probably like Sole Insoles better. Not only do they have much better support for a foot with a high arch, but you can also heat mold them to your foot, by sticking them in the oven for 2-3 minutes.

I started using the SOLE Insulated Ultra Footbeds in my Dynafit Mercury Alpine Touring ski boot. This insole is High Volume and has a lot of padding (3mm), is softer as compared to other SOLE insoles I have, and has Thinsulate insulation on the bottom, which I actually do believe has helped to keep my feet warmer.  However, they have so much padding that it was painful to tour in for long periods of time in Dynafit Mercury boots, since the took up so much room in the toe box and instep.  I've since switched to using the SOLE Insulated Response footbed in my Dynafit Mercury Alpine Touring boots and the low volume SOLE Chris Davenport Low Volume footbed in my HEAD Raptor B2 RD alpine race boots.

I also have SOLE Ed Viesturs Signature Series insoles that are also a High Volume footbed, but is a harder footbed than the SOLE Insulated Ultra Footbeds. I've used this in my touring boots, Asolo hiking boots (which is a tight fit) and my old Lange alpine ski boots.  I pretty much kept them in my Lange boots for the whole season.

If you're in a tight fitting ski race boot or trail shoe, I would try either the SOLE Chris Davenport Low Volume footbed (the Davenport insoles will take up the least amount of room in your trail shoe or ski boot). If you have more room in your boot to work with, try the SOLE Insulated Response footbed that has a 1.6mm layer.  The SOLE Dean Karnazes Medium Volume footbed might be another option.

A season ago, I started using the red SOLE Softec Response footbed in my HEAD Raptor B2 RD (93 last) plug race ski boot. It was definitely a really tight fit, but after some break in time, it worked somewhat well.  But I would have been better off (and have since switched to) using the SOLE Chris Davenport Low Volume footbed for my tight fitting race boots, which fit great. I use the SOLE Softec Response footbeds in my Five10 mountain bike shoes.

I've used the merinoGREY Insole from Superfeet for a full backcountry / ski season, but overall I'm not a fan of the hard plastic on the heel of Superfeet insole, especially when used in a ski boot. They also don't have as much arch support and have very little padding in the forefoot area. Lastly, you can't heat mold most of the Superfeet insoles you buy off the rack to the shape of your foot. However, if you have low arches and don't want a high volume footbed, Superfeet may work better for you than SOLE insoles, but Superfeet insoles just don't work well for my feet.

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