Reddit reviews SoleTech 9 Iron Black Herringbone Rubber Soling Sheet

Wouldn't recommend buying a sheet of rubber really, unless you're looking to do this more than a few times. Sheets can cost more than just buying the fullsoles on Amazon.

You just need to trim the sole then, rather than cut from a sheet. I see a lot of Vibram Newporters going on Chaco sandals. We also use this one, which I've always seen as Aquastealth. Soletech also sells the full sheets,
notably Herringbone, which I like for leather soled sandals, would likely be fine on flipflops. Another cheap 4mm sheets. Soletech isn't really well regarded in the shoe repair industry, so I wouldn't use recommend them. But for a home project, probably not a big deal.

well hey I've spent the last month or so obsessively researching shoe soles looks like this is my moment to SHINE

halfsoles.com sells half soles (duh), meaning a heal piece and a forefoot piece. They've got several varieties of Vibram sole, some with pretty aggressive lugs. If you go that route, the middle of the boot will be uncovered, which will make it flexible to walk on. You could glue some vibram protania protective rubber sheeting (1mm thick, halfsoles or amazon) to the middle to protect it. Or, you could find a sheet of smooth rubber at whatever thickness (google rubber soling sheet), cut it to size, and glue it to the bottom, then glue on a front and heel half sole.

Or, you can buy a full vibram lugged sole. Southern Leather Co has a bunch. The logger sole I believe has a raised heel, and the montagna block unit sole.

You can also buy soles or sole sheets on ebay, I've found a bunch there. You can even get a sole that has tread on the front, but smooth on the back (see the montagna full sole on the page I linked), and glue on a separate heel unit with the height you want. You can also build up layers of rubber between the heel piece and sole with heeling sheets.

Also, you can get a sheet of smooth soling rubber, glue it to the bottom, build up the heel to the height you want, and then glue on a textured rubber sheet with some traction, like soletech herringbone (4mm thick, IIRC) or vibram cherry (comes in 4mm or 6mm).

If you buy a sole unit, get a few sizes to large so you can trim it to fit the shape of your boots.

Another idea is to find a pair of boots at a thrift store that have a sole like you want (and is big enough), cut the sole off, grind the surface to remove the crap, cut to size and glue that on. Might be harder to get right, but cheaper.

As to how, the answer is really toxic glue. halfsoles has good instructions on how to attach soles to shoes. They also sell Barge cement, which is a great glue. Shoegoo works, too. If you get Barge, make sure you get the ORIGINAL formula in the yellow can. The new stuff lacks toluene, which means it won't kill you brain if you huff it, but by all accounts it works about as well as craft glue. (halfsoles sells the original formula, as well as the new one in a smaller package).

Keys to using cements like barge and shoegoo:

-roughen the surfaces (sand the leather of your boot)

-spread a THIN layer on both sides

-LET THE LAYER DRY for abut 10-15 minutes, until tacky. THEN press firmly together, rolling it on from one end (don't mess up as it's hard to remove at this stage). Bang it with a mallet all over if you can. Then, tie the sole on with a fuckton of string to keep pressure on it, and let it dry for a few days.

Make sure you glue in a well ventilated area- next to a window with a fan facing out and a crossbreeze going, or outside. Otherwise you're going to be loopy by the end of it. Toluene is good for shoes but not for brain.

Other links I have sitting around that you may find useful:

http://www.leatherandgrindery.com/Shoe-Repair-Materials-shoe-repair-wholesalers-shoe-repair-supplies

a shop in the UK with a good selection of soles and soling sheets

http://stores.ebay.com/Nordshoe

ebay shop with lots of soles, sheets, tools, and miscellaneous stuff

http://www.diyfootwear.com/

sells some sheets, the wrong kind of glue, and has instructions for gluing soles on, and removing old soles.

Or, if you're super lazy and have the money, you can take them to a cobbler or shoe repair place and have them stick on a sole of your choice. Vibram also has a mail-in sole repair service with a decent catalog of soles. Not sure if they would put soles on a shoe that never had them in the first place, but I don't see why not.