Mouldy feet: Hillwalkers, runners and plastic fetishists can step on up to Dublin's Great Outdoors, where staff will vacuum-pack your foot like a supermarket steak in the interests of better-fitting shoes.
Staff seat you on a throne, encase your foot in a plastic bag and pump out the air in order to mould your foot to preheated Superfeet Insoles (€79, Great Outdoors, Chatham Street, Dublin 2, www.greatoutdoors.ie). The process, which takes about 30 minutes once the store’s oven is warmed up, is like instant orthotics, with the softened sole moulding to the contours of your feet, to be slipped in and out of any pair of shoes. The soles feel harder than normal inners, and advocates swear by their ability to reduce knee and back problems.
The makers of Alpine Underwear say its figure-hugging material manages to be warmer and drier than standard thermal undergarments, thanks to merino wool around the torso and quick-wicking artificial fibres used around the sweatier parts of the body, such as underarms and back. Long tails keep it all tucked in. Prices range from £19 (€21) for briefs to £70 (€79) for a long-sleeved winter-weight crew neck top. www.mammut.ch.
Who cares if you can’t run around the block? Look the part with the Nathan Speedbelt 2 (€27), an elasticised air-mesh holster that holds two bottles of carbo-gel or fluids. Silicone grips inside the holsters stop the bottles from falling out. From Runways, Parnell Street, Dublin 1, www.runways.ie.