foot tracker broke... poor construction, advice??

[mr rone]

Has anyone else had their foot marker break? I have larger feet and every time I put the strap on my foot, i could see the foam was being stretched to the point where I was surprised it lasted me this long. less than 2 weeks into using the drums and one has already gone... using tape right now to fix it.

poor construction! anyone else had theirs break and can offer a way to build a new one that will last longer?

[Sipaliwini]

It is true that the elastic can be stretched tight on large shoes. The elastic itself and the bottom of the foam pieces are stronger than the back of the piece. It helps to over-stretch the elastic with all the fingers of both hands when you put the marker on, so that all the stress is applied to the elastic, not the foam. This will keep the elastic flat against the foam and the shoe, spreading the pressure. The opposite of that is to roll the elastic onto the foot, this will pull on the foam and twist the elastic into a thread, putting all the pressure on one point of the foam, making it more likely to break. The foot markers are covered by the warranty, I am sending you a private message.

[audionutz]

Hello All I'm brand new here and wanted to touch bases on this matter as I read this matter upon learning of Aerodrums and coming here after ordering a set on Ebay. So once I saw this post I was aware of the danger with using these foot trackers as their made with foam. Yes using all fingers to stretch it out over the shoes is what I'm doing since I just received my Aerodrums a few days ago.

So heres my ideal on the matter to help make these bad boys alot stronger and longer lasting. I was thinking about cutting out two pieces of sheet metal (once for each foot tracker) to the square size of the bottom and back sides of foam as one peice per foot tracker. Then i'll bend the sheet metal to fit and fully cover both sides perfectly again as one piece covering both sides (bottom n back). I'll spray paint the outsides of the 'sheet metal folded bottom piece' gray to match the foam color and use strong glue to mount in place. It would both protect the two sides of the foam and act as a extra backing for the stretching of the bands to place over the shoes. What is you thoughts on this ideal. Sheet metal is not very costly and would only need a small piece to bend to make the bottom and back sides. Alittle paint and glue and these foot trackers would be 100 times stronger and the foam would be housed with metal protection. Hell could even take it a step further and add side tabs on both sides to fold twice and merge into the stretch band holes to really make it stronger. If you did this the foam could never be damaged and would give this product (foor trackers) a much better pro look n feel as well.

Maybe this could be ideal for your next upgrade to this wonderful product. Once i get past my Open Gl isses.... Cheers!

[JRC]

One extremely crucial factor here, which may already have been pointed out, is the sensitivity to moisture - or sweat rather.

The foot trackers deteriorate if they are exposed to sweat (via your feet), so barefoot is a no-no. Even if you have socks on, which I currently have on our three hour long rehearsals,
the sweat will accumulate and find it's way through the socks and touch base with the foot tracker (the very surface that's resting on the top of your foot). I'm of average/slim built FYI.

So the only option for prolonging their life would be to play with shoes, but then you have the major disadvantage of:

1) playing with shoes, which many of us, dare I say, "pros" do not do. Even if Weckl likes it.
2) extending the foot tracker band further and risking breakage that way.

If this could be remedied in a not too distant future I could even take these to festivals.