Uniform Shoe

[MiniSopGuy]

What uniform marching shoes have you worn and what are your thoughts of the shoes?

Mine:

MTX -

Pros: comfort; traction.

Cons: Sizing not standard (I wear a 12.5 but had to get size 14 to fit); top lace hole and grommet have torn out on every pair when laced snug enough to stay on my foot; could use a little higher arch support.

Your thoughts?

[MiniSopGuy]

BTW, I did try to do a search to find previous threads on this topic but "Marching shoes" came up with all sorts of threads about marching band, and "shoes" or "uniform shoes" came up with threads about uniform changes and shoes to wear for rehearsal.

[general_tsos_chicken2]

last time there was a thread like this it seemed I was the only one who hated MTX's. They feel very 'clompy' to me .... like bowling shoes...

my favorite's were the cheapo ones my HS band wore.... very soft , you can bend the shoe and make the toe touch the heel... I liked that because it was almost like not wearing any shoes, , light on the feet. ... BUT I was in the minority

[markdewine]

Well, when I first started marching shoes hadn't been invented yet, so we used to wrap animal skins on our feet, tied on with thin leather strips.

Then, around 300 B.C. (before corps) we marched in those sandals with the pointy curled-up toes. But when we tried to crab at 180 bpm, it was just a chariot-wreck!

Somewhere around the middle ages, about the time that herald trumpets appeard, came the advent of Dinkles. If you look closely in some of those old tapestries you'll see the famed white marching shoe, with the black soles. These were extremely comfortable, but they didn't stay on the feet very well, as shoelaces had not yet been invented.

About the time of the American Civil War, we started to see a distinct "left shoe" and a "right shoe." The down side was polishing the shoes so they would pass inspection. (Told ya I was OLD!) So, for many years rookies were forced to shine the shoes of the more seasoned veterans in drum corps. Problem was.....corps were buying up all the shoe polish! Hence the great shoe polish drought of the '70's.

But, leave it to the members of drum corps to adapt and overcome! A young unknown rookie, invented "patent-leather". I would have liked to thank him, but his name is lost to the ages.

Guess I got a little side-tracked. I wear DSI Showstoppers. Comfy, shiny, not too much dollars.

[Dave]

Of the shoes I've had experience with:

Bucks: (Well, Bates, but everyone knows them as bucks): Can't beat 'em. Solid, comfortable, durable, and they look great.

MTX: I like these as well. My first pair was comfortable but sort of fell apart, but my second pair was a lot better made and stuck it out past the end of my age-out to serve as my dress shoes into my first year of grad school.

Dinkles: No, thank you. Uncomfortable and, in my opinion, rather ugly.

I like shoes that are solid. You don't want to be out there with shoes that don't protect and reinforce your feet. You are going to be stepping on all sorts of stuff in them, including a lot of stuff that can injure you pretty badly, and I'd rather have a solid shoe that protects me rather than a flimsy one that results in me getting cut or worse.

[soccerguy315]

I wore drillmasters in HS and dinkles in DCI... I didn't like either of them.

Had to get a 2nd pair of dinkles in DCI b/c the bottom was coming off the right one (that foot I was using for 99% of placements on direction changes)

[skeptic]

Speedsters- Hated them. narrow fit and not very much support.

MTX- they are ok, a little "clunky" feeling.

[dugada]

What I wore in the 80's? Have no idea the brand. Hard leather, hard sole, don't even think about doing anything but going forward or backwards.

Original Drillmasters. Durability was good but I found the soul to be too thin without any arch or ankle support. Stability like a bare foot which I guess would be an advantage to some. Sleek profile.

MTX. Very durable shoe. I wore them several season and found them to be quite comfortable with good arch and ankle support. A bit on the heavy side but not too bad. Provided solid marching performance.

The new Super Drillmasters by System Blue. (Disclaimer, I'm involved with the Blue Devils so take this advice appropriately).

This new shoe was designed with input from the Blue Devils for the System Blue Product line. I purchased a pair this month for Renegades use and have worn them for several days at a performance and at work. My previous Drillmasters were not to my liking so I was skeptic. The shoes have a more substantial look and include good ankle support. The removable inserts are well constructed with very comfortable padding and arch support. At first I thought the sole may be a little thin but after putting them in to use I found them to be light weight, very flexible with a good feeling of the terrain but enough padding to protect the foot. Side to side stability is significantly improved. I believe these shoes are designed beyond the demands that I would use them for but cannot help think that these provide an excellent cross between a dance shoe and a marching shoe which matches the current status of our activity. I am looking forward to upcoming season in my SuperD's!!

[UNTdrummer11]

i think vipers are better than any other shoe out there, they have great support for arches (if youre flat-footed like me) and the curved heel helps out tremendously.

[76strad]

Personally all i've ever marched with at my high school is MTX, (some of our rivals march with dinkles) I'm not a huge fan, I have narrow feet and high arches. The traction is good, but it always feels like I have a bit of space that shouldn't be there. I tried on a womans pair at one time (No i'm not a cross dresser) just to see if the narrowness was any better, and it was to much. Personally I would like to have MTX make a shoe that is a bit more narrower in mens, and perhaps a bit more arch. Compared to the Dinkles I like the MTX better, it's just that it doesn't fit my foot as well as I would prefer, and staying in them for longer than an hour causes lots of pain in my arches, any inserts cause my foot to no longer be "inside" the shoe. So that's what I would like to see out of MTX, but our band won't switch away from them.