Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Hiking sandals

I'm considering purchasing some sandals for hiking. I have many sandals but not all of them work.


I have some Teva Dozers. What I don't like about them is they are too soft on the bottom so after a while my feet get sore from the rocks. Also they give me a blister on the top of my foot. And the style, while being protective of your feet, lets in a lot of pebbles that then won't come out again. What is good about them is the traction of the sole.


I have some Chacos Z2s. I like how the toe strap keeps your foot stable when hiking but it also hurts. My foot feels too clamped onto the shoe and it gives me blisters on top of my feet. I have since flattened the toe loop so I can have the Z1 style without the toe loop. I don't think the tread is very grippy, either and the arch support sometimes feels way too high. But of the sandals I have, I think they work best for hiking.


ALP Sandals
I have some old ALP sandals that I bought 20 years ago at a craft fair. I think they eventually became either Tevas or Chacos because I remember that the idea of sport sandals was new and soon after I bought them sport sandals with similar lacing patterns using nylon webbing appeared in gear shops. After all these years the footbeds are molded to my feet. But the soles are almost completely worn through and there is no traction. It would cost as much to get new sandals as to have them resoled.


I have some Keen Newports H2 sandals. I can't believe people recommend these for hiking. Thanks to these I fell into a Spanish Bayonet yucca bush and stabbed myself in multiple places. No traction at all and little pebbles don't ever come out.


Native EarthI was thinking about getting some of these. They are from a company called Native Earth that makes footwear and other things for people who dress up for renaissance fairs. I like that you can order them with a real lugged sole. Also they do not have anything between the toes. They claim that the leather holds up well in water.


Piper SandalsI was also considering these handmade sandals. They are from a company called Piper Sandals. The thing that keeps me from ordering them is that they don't come with a lugged sole. So they would basically be less grippy, less archy and more hippy-style versions of my Chacos.


But maybe what I should do is hike around in my Chacos and ALPs for a while and think if I really do need new sandals since I already have quite a few.

6 comments:

  1. Chacos can be resoled. Just take them to a shoe place, pick out what kind of sole you want, and have them resoled.

    I paid like 50 dollars to have Chaco resole mine but I've heard that if you take them to a cobbler you can get them resoled for like 25 dollars.

    My old Chacos had a vibram boot sole on them.

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  2. That's a good idea. The cobbler downtown wanted $70 to resole my ALPs.

    Do you hike in Chacos?

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  3. Yeah I love Chacos. I hiked from Tampa to Maine--3000 miles--- in exclusively Chacos. But when it snowed I was worried for my feet and uncomfortable.

    Now I carry both Chacos and running shoes and switch on and off all day long.

    I'm thinking of switching to a very light weight boot and maybe a aquasock. When on steep snow I miss not having shoes I can edge with.

    I can walk 5 miles pretty easily barefoot, on rocky ground, but I'm not sure if I could keep it up all day long.

    I messed up my feet on my first thru-hike of the PCT and Chacos are what got me hiking again.

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  4. That is good to hear because my feet are pretty messed up from the PCT. The high arch sometimes bothers me, though. I wish they were more flat.

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  5. Deandra,
    I think I accidentally clicked reject instead of publish. Or else it takes a while before comments show up. The answer to your question is, like most Americans I'm sure I don't get enough Omega 3. I'm looking forward to summer when there's more fresh stuff at the farmer's market.

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  6. Hi Diane,
    The comment is where is should be in the previous thread. Btw, hemp oil, has the ratio of Omega 6: Omega 3 matching the balance required by humans. A favorite drink is almond milk + tsp of cocoa (limit of 7g per day) + cap full of Hemp Oil. Check out iherb.com for reasonable price of hemp oil or hemp shelled seed.

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