Fixing the Sole of a Pair of Vibram FiveFingers

I wore my Vibram FiveFingers nearly every day for two years (excepting the cold wintery days) and eventually wore a hole through the sole. I decided to try fixing them with a bicycle tube patch kit.

1) Vibram FiveFingers
- I had a pair of KSOs
2) Bicycle tube repair kit

Apply the rubber cement from your patch kit to the area surrounding the hole. Then place the patch(es) over the hole. This works better with a single patch as the overlapping patches I used for this repair resulted in an uncomfortable spot where they overlapped. Follow the instructions with your patch kit on how long to wait to pull the plastic off the patch.

I let the patch dry for a couple days, but it probably wasn't necessary. I wanted to make sure I wouldn't get a bunch of debris sticking to the bottom of my shoe, however.

This particular patch was done overtop a previous one (with a single larger patch) that lasted approximately one month before peeling on the edge and folding onto itself. The other shoe is still fine (I previously patched both), so I would say this will get you by for short while at least.

Update: After a few more months of wear, the patches wore through but got me through one more summer with my FiveFingers. I eventually gave up on this pair and tossed them as they were also developing a rather... unique odor. Cutting a piece of soling material the shape of the hole and then covering it with the tube patches along with using a more robust adhesive (maybe contact cement) may have improved the longevity. Either way, this should get you at least one more season out of your own FiveFingers before you have to give up on them.