Pics of new Anvil Traction footwear

[Brain Fury]

All these manufacturers have got to do is to make them with a more durable rubber compound and not this lightweight crap they use, Cat that is, not sure about this make though but no doubt it'll be a similar compound.
What exactly are these Royal Mail "trials" and what do they consist of? Wear them for a month or so and tell us if you like them.
Should trial these for at least a year in various areas, ie deliveries that have "extreme" conditions for posties and then see what happens.
Worn out after about six months I bet, after doing about 10+ miles per day in them.
The trouble is though that these shoes, and most footwear in general, never ever get to see the amount of daily usage that posties put them through.

I don't know how the offices for the trial of this new footwear were chosen but it's quite common to include offices that have complained the most about equipment or which have had a specific issue. It is always difficult to decide the length of a trial. On one hand there is a desire to give them a good test, on the other there is usually pressure to introduce the new item(s) as soon as possible to solve the issues with the old kit.

It turns out that the new footwear was trialled for 6 months by 10,000 posties (5,000 of each type).

[arnold cheshire]

http://imgur.com/a/1kl2X

Haven't tried them as they were somebody elses lying in the van, the sole seems fairly flexible when I tried twisting it, not sure about the tread though, the yellow spot is a wear indicator when it disappears the shoe needs to be replaced.

ive seen better trainers in my local bargain shop

[GT85]

Any pics of the " YDS "trainer ?
Not that I care too much what they look like as long as they allow me to walk on wet surfaces without doing a bambi on ice impression.

[arnold cheshire]

Any pics of the " YDS "trainer ?
Not that I care too much what they look like as long as they allow me to walk on wet surfaces without doing a bambi on ice impression.

yes in the bargain bucket in pound land

[dtyssmshdchrb]

Any pics of the " YDS "trainer ?
Not that I care too much what they look like as long as they allow me to walk on wet surfaces without doing a bambi on ice impression.

I've had them for a fortnight now, so far I'm pretty happy with them. They have excellent grip and are about as waterproof as trainers of this sort can be! I
spent the other day walking in the rain for about 4 hours, wearing shorts and only sports socks. My feet stayed warm and were completely dry! Bout time we
had at least one part of us Gore-Tex lined!

I find the soles feel a bit thin though, they feel how CAT trainers feel towards the end of their usefulness (say 2, maybe 3 weeks? ). Thin but definitely harder wearing. I got some
double cushion insoles which help a bit but only for a couple of hours. Definitely the best shoes I've had at RM in seven years, but still always room for improvement!

Now if they could just see about ditching the "waterproof" lightweight jacket and the thick as f*%#, butt-ugly fleece in favour of a waterproof soft-shell jacket, we'd be well on
our way to having genuinely practical work attire!

[silver_fox]

Agree a lightweight waterproof jacket which has some lining would be ideal.

Just got some new YDS trainers, overall pretty good. Waterproof and a little bigger (longer) and heavier than the CATS, but much better grip (better quality rubber?). As with the cats I have taken the inner soles out as I prefer as little between my feet and the ground as possible.

[axeman]

i was recently at an office that had participated in the trial of the trainers and they couldn't wait to be able to order the Anvil Tractions. They loved them. That's the problem with providing uniform (especially footwear) for every person that likes something you'll find somebody else that doesn't.

What a surprise bri of course there perfect have you removed your blindfold and moya headphones yet

What are you talking about?

Obviously you believe the hype your told as you have no experience yourself if a shoe is crap who belter to say than those that have to plod round day after day with the cheap shi* royal fail issues
and know ,...... not fit for purpose tag is clearly applicable to them

[Brain Fury]

i was recently at an office that had participated in the trial of the trainers and they couldn't wait to be able to order the Anvil Tractions. They loved them. That's the problem with providing uniform (especially footwear) for every person that likes something you'll find somebody else that doesn't.

What a surprise bri of course there perfect have you removed your blindfold and moya headphones yet

What are you talking about?

Obviously you believe the hype your told as you have no experience yourself if a shoe is crap who belter to say than those that have to plod round day after day with the cheap shi* royal fail issues
and know ,...... not fit for purpose tag is clearly applicable to them

I still don't know what you're talking about but then maybe you don't either. So I'll repeat my point and I suggest you read this next bit really slowly.

In March, I visited a DO that is a Delivery Office. It's a building where RM employees work. Some of them deliver letters every day. Ok so far?

Some of the ones who deliver letters, you know the people who plod around in RM issue footwear all day had been asked to take part in a trial of some new footwear. That meant they were asked not to wear their normal RM issue footwear but to wear some different shoes. Not just once but every day for 6 months. Then they would be asked to write on a piece of paper to say if they liked the different shoes or not so that Royal Mail could decide whether to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on buying some for the delivery staff to wear. The shoes the delivery staff at the Delivery Office I visited had been given were called the Anvil Traction trainer. It turns out that most of them did like the new shoes - the Anvil Traction trainer. They wrote this on their pieces of paper.

When I visited, they told me about the Anvil Traction trainers and that they really liked them. The delivery staff, your colleagues had worn them as part of the 6 month trial and liked them. They liked them so much they asked me if I knew when they would be available to order. They wanted to order them. Because they had worn them and liked them and wanted to get more. That wasn't my opinion. It wasn't me believing any hype about the footwear being trialled. I hadn't heard any hype about the new footwear. I didn't know anything about the new footwear or the trial. The OPGs at the Delivery Office I visited liked the new Anvil Traction trainer and asked me when they could order more. Unfortunately I didn't know. I didn't know anything about the new shoes. Fortunately I knew a person who would know about the footwear trial. So I asked them and they told me that the new Anvil trainers could be ordered from the beginning of April. Then I told the staff at the DO I had visited when they, the posties, could order the new Anvil Traction trainers that they had tried and liked. I don't know but I expect they ordered some of the new trainers. Because they had tried them and liked them.

It turns out that the delivery staff at the Delivery Office I had visited were not the only ones who had been trying the new Anvil Traction trainer. Nearly 5,000 other posties had been trying them too. For 6 months. Apparently some, perhaps most, had liked them too so Royal Mail had decided to make them available to order.

And not only that but it turns out that at the same time 5,000 other delivery staff had been trying a completely different type of shoe . This one was made by a company called YDS. A lot of the people that tried the YDS trainers liked them and had written it on their pieces of paper. So Royal Mail had made the YDS trainer available too.

I'm sure that some people were pleased and like the new trainers. Others not so much. But that's the problem when you only provide a few different designs of footwear for over 100,000 staff. If that many people could find footwear they liked from only a few designs there wouldn't be so many designs in the shops. Plus of course and I know this might shock you but there are some people that will whinge about the uniform and particularly footwear they are given whatever the design.

[axeman]

Is this one of those delivery offices that nod the corporate tune ? you know ones you see in the courier that agree that black is white so long as you tell them ? as we know many have issues with the cheap footwear supplied by rm
I'm sure they all can't be wrong can they ? bullshi* goes a long way if repeated constantly doesn't it

[clashcityrocker]

The OPGs at the Delivery Office I visited liked the new Anvil Traction trainer and asked me when they could order more.

So are you saying they only last 6 months?
Why did they want to order new ones already?

[Brain Fury]

The OPGs at the Delivery Office I visited liked the new Anvil Traction trainer and asked me when they could order more.

So are you saying they only last 6 months?
Why did they want to order new ones already?

From what they told me at the DO the trial had been 6 months long but it had finished some time ago and they were still wearing them. Although they had heard that the trainers were going to be introduced they hadn't been told when. I don't know how much more than 6 months they had been wearing them but they showed me that for some the yellow wear indicator had more or less disappeared while for others it still had a bit to go. So I don't know how long they last in general but I was just making the point that some people obviously liked them.

Of course what I did not allow for was that for the trial RM would cunningly select the 10,000 posties that "nod the corporate tune" so we can't actually believe that they liked the footwear - thanks axeman for pointing that out.

[GT85]

yes in the bargain bucket in pound land

At least that's one up from the 99p shop then

[greengiant]

Got my Anvil tractions today (uk size 13), seem to fit well, and best of all, they take my orthotics!
Proof of the pudding will be trying them out tomorrow on my walk. Hopefully not too uncomfy!

[sussexlad]

Have been using Anvil for 2 days and my feet are killing me, never had this problem with the Cats. Find them quite heavy to walk in. Maybe the YDS are lighter?

[sophie97]

Have been using Anvil for 2 days and my feet are killing me, never had this problem with the Cats. Find them quite heavy to walk in. Maybe the YDS are lighter?

yea the balls of my feet kill after even a short shift in these!