I feel like I’ve tried everything available in all the stores, at the shoe stores, I’ve bought the “good” ones off Amazon, the DUBEFWEE style brands too.
They all break or deform within a year, I can’t take it
Get a new one. Go to a shoe cobbler, also to a good shoe store. Then show them your technique. I found it odd that you are bending them so soon. Have them watch you use it. Maybe it’s your technique.
Get a steel one
is it possible that you’ve been buying the wrong sized shoes?
The shoe horns are fine, there’s something funny about your technique.
I can’t wait to discover that OP is a space marine and utterly despairing at the lack of suitable shoe horns for his 50 kg power armour boots
Definitely this. OP should try to position the shoehorn alongside his leg. If you use it in a wider angle over and over, not only makes it the process harder and more uncomfortable, it also bends the metal after some time.
Ooooor, OPs feet are a freaky affront to nature.
We have the long steel ones from IKEA. Solid. Never had any problems with them.
Really? You are asking this?
When I search “shoehorn” literally the first hit is a steel shoehorn.But as many here write, maybe your technique put more stress on the horn than necessary.
The further put the shoehorn down the shoe, the more you stress the shoehorn.
Try to use the horn more just on the edge of the shoe.I got a stainless steel one on Amazon, it’s relatively thick steel, I have no idea how you’d be able to break it with only your hands and feet. I agree the plastic ones are shit.
Edit: The brand was apparently “NINEMAX”. (Not a sponsor lol)
Have you considered you may simply just have freaky strong feet?
Perhaps the technique is off. Never broken a shoehorn.
I wonder if he destroys the back of his shoes too
No. I just have large feet. All my shoes are in great condition and the reason I use a shoehorn is to protect the backs.
HULK FEET SMASH PUNY SHOEHORN
I’m surprised so many people here use them. I remember seeing one in my grandparents house in the 80s and thinking it was a relic then.
From dress shoes to hiking boots to sneakers to you name it, I’ve never needed assistance getting a shoe on or off. What is their purpose?
Help you keep the shape when sliding the foot in, especially in nicer shoes.
Huh. Never had an issue even with nice shoes. I guess I just have slippery feet.
I actually do have some joint hyper mobility so maybe that’s why I don’t see the utility of it? Dunno.
Less of an issue if you take the time to properly untie your shoes, I usually pull two rows of laces out as much as I can when taking them off and putting my feet in is basically as easy as in my Crocs
There’s metal shoehorns which are nearly indestructible.
You probably can’t order from this shop wherever you’re from, but my parents have this model: https://shop.wenko.de/Wohnen/Zubehoer/Schuhloeffel-Extra-Lang-58-5-cm-rostfreier-Edelstahl
And yeah, that very much feels like you could repurpose it as a makeshift katana in some fictional zombie outbreak…Nearly?!? I mean sure a furnace or a steam roller or a nuclear blast might do it but….putting on shoes?
Well, you do have a pretty big lever there. If your shoes are rather tight and you really gotta work your way in there, then you’re gonna exert quite a bit of force…
I find it weird that nobody mentioned this. If you don’t have back problems and you’re tired of shoe horns breaking, in addition to reconsidering your technique, get a short metal one.
My ex GF bought me those and they were great for the first 12 months then they both deformed.
I know women get the solid steel ones from Amazon, but I’m sorry that probably doesn’t help you. Good luck.
Ikea OMTÄNKSAM
I used the OMSORG, the ikea one with a cute lil face on the holding end. Shoe horns don’t break in my experience but I always put on nice shoes slowly with them, rushing might cause me to step on the shoe horn and deform or snap it…
Just wondering, how wide is the lace gap on your shoes when you’re laced up? I’ve never needed a shoe horn unless I was trying to get my foot into a shoe that was too small.
i still have a brass one from the 80s that works like a charm, try brass ones maybe