When you need Foot Orthotics, you need them. When you don’t need foot orthotics, you don’t need them. Its that simple. However, there are times when you need them and they can not be accommodated in the footwear that is compatible with the lifestyle at the point in time when you need to wear them.

It is for that reason that I am quite a fan of the Archies flip flops (we call them ‘thongs’ in Australia) which are a flip flop that has an arch support built into them which is about the same size and shape of some of the typical prefabricated foot orthotics. This makes them useful as an adjunct to the use of foot orthotics when footwear may be an issue. I would probably not use them as an alternative to foot orthotics except perhaps for the relatively minor cases.

We stock the Archies at our clinic in Melbourne and they sell well. What we find is that pretty much everyone who tries on a pair buys them. They are now available in really big sizes and soon will be available in kids sizes. I have also answered more than a few questions on them in social media.

The other reason that I like them is that they can be modified somewhat with a grinders and gluing on bits of EVA to make them a little bit more customized. I did a video on what I called the Archie’s MOSI modification:

Another use of the Archies footwear is recovery footwear for athlete to use after a hard workout to give the foot a rest and some comfort.