3D printing is something that is starting to take off in certain industries. It provides a way for you to work on creative projects that may be far more interesting and easy-to-understand than working on your computer screen might be. It also lets you create cool prototypes that can entice other people to take an interest in what you’re doing. Essentially, this form of printing allows you to use different types of materials together to make three-dimensional objects that you can design yourself.

These printers have come down in cost enough to be accessible to small and mid-sized businesses today. Wouldn’t it be neat if they eventually come down in price far enough that individual people like you and me could have these types of printers in our homes. One product that we might want to design and print could be shoes.

Believe it or not; 3D printed shoes are already being made. Students at two different leading design schools in Sweden are working on ways to create shoes out of a 3D printing technology called selective laser sintering that fuses plastic powders to create the shoe. The plan that they’re working on is that the shoe could be worn once or twice and then the material could be returned to the machine to be broken down and re-used. The idea would be that you could have really amazing new shoes every time that you went out without having to actually keep them and store them.

What do you think?

In somewhat related news, I just have to say that I loved a recent post over at Weburbanist showing off over one dozen super-weird shoe designs.

Tags: 3d printing, Fashion, shoes

I got the chance to spend some time hiking yesterday. It was beautiful out and I had a great time. But going out hiking brought up a problem that’s been plaguing me for literally years now. The problem is that I don’t have good hiking gear even though I hike frequently. Every single time I go out, I say that I’m going to get hiking boots and a good hiking backpack. And then I never actually go get either of them so the next time I go hiking I find myself once again trekking around in my tennies with a school backpack weighing me down.

I’ve finally started looking into different pairs of hiking shoes. I haven’t decided on any yet but am kind of intrigued by the Berghaus brand available through Webtogs. One of the things that caught my attention was their YouTube videos that describe their shoes really well (see the one below to get an idea of what I mean). This seems really helpful since it tells me what to look for in a hiking shoe, something that I’m not really entire sure of.

From the video below, I learned that leather is a good choice for hiking shoes since it’s durable and all-season-friendly. I learned that I want a waterproof hiking shoes (which I supposed I could’ve figured out on my own if I’d thought about it since it does seem like common sense). I want shoes that have good traction so I don’t fall when climbing. And I want a lightweight shoe that’s not going to feel heavy on my feet as I walk.

The coolest thing about this shoe is its advanced lacing system. I’m sure the video describes it better than I can so I’ll just let you watch it but suffice to say that it highlights the fact that there are a lot of great hiking shoe features that I need to take into consideration before I buy my pair. No wonder it’s taken me so long to make a decision on this!

Tags: berghaus, hiking, hiking shoes, kathryn vercillo, shoes, shopping, webtogs