Abstract: A shoe insole element includes an upper portion and a lower portion, the upper portion having a plurality of upper projections and a plurality of voids located alongside the upper projections. The lower portion includes a plurality of lower projections which extend into the voids to resist flexing of the upper projections toward one another under the action of a wearer's foot. The lower portion can be made selectively separable from the upper portion by the wearer to release the resistance to such flexing, or the lower portion can be permanently bonded to the upper portion. The stiffness of the upper and lower projections can be mutually different. The insole element can be configured for use in different regions of a shoe, such as the heel and/or arch regions, or it can constitute the entire insole.

Abstract: A removable traction device for wearing over an article of footwear includes an outer peripheral band, a forefoot pod member disposed interior of the outer peripheral band, a heel pod member disposed interior of the outer peripheral band, and a plurality of resilient connecting strands extending between the forefoot pod member and the outer peripheral band and between the heel pod member and the outer peripheral band, thereby connecting the forefoot pod member and heel pod member to the outer peripheral band. According to one aspect of the invention, at least some of the connecting strands define a non-linear configuration According to a further aspect of the invention, the forefoot pod member and heel pod member include a ground-engaging outsole surface having a non-slip tread configuration and the forefoot pod member and heel pod member further include a footwear engaging surface having an anti-fatigue tread configuration.