I have two, one upstairs and one down. Nice metal ones. I can certainly get shoes on without them, but it’s easier with, and it’s easier on the shoes.
I don’t use them with sandals, of course; but I don’t all that often wear sandals, because I don’t want my toes getting banged up in the fields. We have a lot of rocks.
I have a telescoping shoehorn I bought at a dollar store. I use it often when I have a new pair of shoes and rarely once my shoes have been broken in.
That probably averages somewhere between “weekly” and “a few times a year”.
Since I’ve aged, and my knees are becoming arthritic (due to years of jogging), I need a shoe horn for closed back and closed toe shoes. I got a longish metal one that’s just long enough and strong enough to be completely useful.
I also have a couple of vintage shoe horns from my youth…one from The Broadway department store.
I’d have to buy shoes first to use one. Years of living on the Gulf Coast, Florida and Hawaii convinced me of one thing…shoes suck. Sandals and slippas all the way. For the longest time I didn’t own a pair of long pants, socks or even a jacket. Even when it would snow in Albuquerque, sandals and wool socks worked fine on my bike.
Switch to biking. I saw so many people get joint problems from running and jogging. At 71 I ride my eBike for an hour or an hour and a half every day if the weather cooperates. Knees are fine, back is good, it’s a lot easier on your body and you still get a good workout.
Too late.
Well, everyone is different. My wife had to stop using her exercise bike because she would get terrible knee pain after using it. Her doctor recommended she switch to walking on a treadmill, which she’s been doing without any problems.
I used to use one, 40 years ago, for work shoes. The benefit is that it protects the back of the shoe. I have one I got from my father-in-law which has a long handle. A bunch are sitting in the drawer of my bedside table, but I haven’t used one for a long time.