A few months ago, before the Covid outbreak, I was recovering from my first knee replacement surgery. I was attending physical therapy three times a week and often had interesting conversations with my physical therapist about biomechanics and gait. 

We were having a long conversation one day about arch support, the calcaneal shelf, flex point and a bunch of other related topics. The conversation was ripe with science, experience, and hypothesis. And suddenly, my PT hour was done, but our conversation wasn’t. We decided to meet up after work at Bridger Brewing here in Bozeman, located on the edge of Montana State University. (Good beer and decent pizza, that is if you aren’t from New York…I like to call pizza in Montana flat bread with stuff on it). Anyway, we ordered a pitcher and a pie (a word not used here in Montana when referring to round, flat bread with stuff on it) and continued our conversation. I, of course, came prepared with my Brannock device, an outsole package, and a skeleton foot.

There we were, in the middle of the brewery, talking shop and geeking out on how the foot moves inside of a shoe and where exactly the arch should fit to support the calcaneal shelf, and how some pronation is good, but overpronation (when your foot rolls inward from the outer edge as you walk/run) is not. We were waving the skeleton foot around like a flag, and at one point we were measuring each other's feet with the Brannock device, all the while completely oblivious to the customers around us.

The waiter came to the table to ask if we needed anything else. I noticed his eyes kept drifting from us to the table as he awkwardly stood waiting for our response. I followed his gaze to the bones that were next to the pizza and realized his discomfort. I wanted to make a wise crack about that being the foot of waiter from competitor Bozeman Brewing across town, but I sensed it would not go well. The waiter left us our check and hurried away. 

The takeaway here is that we at Oboz really do want to know all we can to ensure a great fit. We love to reiterate the importance of being measured by an expert with a Brannock device, in order to find boots or shoes that are supportive, comfortable and support your arch properly, and to ensure there is no slip in the heel or forward slide in the toe box.