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Skate shoes or skateboard shoes are a type of footwear specifically designed and manufactured for use in skateboarding. While numerous non-skaters choose to wear skate shoes, the design of the skate shoe includes many features designed especially for use in skateboarding, including a vulcanized rubber or polyurethane sole with minimal tread pattern or no pattern, a composition leather or suede upper, and double or triple stitching to extend the life of the upper material. A low, padded tongue is often included for comfort.
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Features
Skate shoe companies have integrated a number of special features into their shoes. These innovations have a number of functions, including prevention of "heel bruises" (damage to the heel area of the foot caused by harsh landings from high distances), enhancement of "skateboard feel" through increased flexibility, and increased grip action.
These include but are not limited to:
Many features of a skate shoe are designed to increase its durability. Skate shoes are subjected to the abrasiveness of a skateboard's grip tape on a regular basis when used for skateboarding. This is why skaters tend to go through shoes quickly. Super suede, action leather, and plastic underlying the toe cap help to increase the durability of a skate shoe. Lace loops and protectors are designed to prevent laces from shredding by shielding the most common areas that contact with grip tape.
Other common features include: triple stitching with thicker treads to prevent ripping, more width so that there is more contact with the board with thicker tongues and sides to compensate, and deep sole patterns for grip.