Esker Insoles - The Essentials

Esker is a company split in half between North Vancouver and Squamish, owned by a couple of folks who spend a lot of times in the woods, all year round. They make one product - insoles - in Canada, from Canadian-sourced wool and natural rubber.

They aren't inexpensive, at $80 a pair. Actually, that's only half the story because for folks that really love them, like myself, you're bound to end up owning more that one pair. They provide good support, but more importantly they bring all the benefits of wool to my footwear. They help manage moisture in the woods (sweat or wet) and in the shop, and significantly cut down on odours after a long, hot, day wrenching in the summer.

Wet, cold, or both - wool insoles are a win if you're someone who needs to manage cold hands and cold feets to have fun in the forest in the 'off-season.'

No, they won't make you breakfast, wash your bike, or babysit while you go for a ride, but these hydrophobic insoles do manage a bit of wooly magic in actually being both warmer & dryer in the winter and cooler & dryer in the summer.

I've been using them year round for a couple of years now, on the trail, in the shop, and just day-to-day living. Jac's been on them for a while now too and especially notices the benefits on the coldest wettest days. Nice Guy Geoff is using them every day in the shop for the comfort factor. Heck, my mom has a pair in the shoes she wears for her all-year-all-weather daily walk.

There's a lot of standing in the shop, and it gets properly hot up here in the summer months. The support of Esker's insoles combined with the benefits of them being wool in terms of moisture and odour management are excellent.

It's surprising these aren't on the wall of every shop in town, or maybe it's surprising that they are on the wall here at Essential given our small selection of bits and bobs, but they're a product that everyone here uses and loves - an 'Essential' if you will.

We have most of the sizes in stock most of the time if you'd like to check them out. Please always feel encouraged to fire us an e-mail or a call if you'd like us to put aside a specific size. Orders come in quick if we don't have what you need.