guess i need to buy something after all

[bubblingbeebles]

i think my sandals are bad for distance walking. we walked for an hour and a half today and my feet were complaining; other incidents this summer involving sandals and walking have had similar results. my feet are not generally that weak.

my alternative choice is the heavy snowproof hiking boots, which have worked but are a bit inconvenient. or

Comments

[edanaher]

Huh... I've done all my warm-weather walking in sandals, and really only had issues on West Virginia walks. Specifically, on the first WV walk (when I had Tevas), I got a few nasty blisters on the soles of my feet and irritated a few other spots where the straps rubbed. This year, in my generally much less irritating Chacos, I only got a couple blisters on the lower sides of my feet and one on the Achilles tendon area where the strap rubbed

[litebrite3e8]

I have friends who swear by these: http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/products/index.cfm

[bubblingbeebles]

i have seen those, and like them, but don't really want to dump a lot of money on such a thing.

[dreaminventor]

I much prefer http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/ especially when you consider what you're getting for the price and how well protected your feet are. Plus, Five-finger shoes can be used for rock-climbing.

[dreaminventor]

...I feel silly :P But considering that you can get five-fingers for $65 with free shipping and the shoes you're looking at are $55 dollars... it makes more sense to go with the five-fingers.

[bubblingbeebles]

i would not be paying $55 for a pair of those to begin with...

[feis]

My 2c on the fivefingers:

I have a pair, and while they're an awesome concept, they fall short in one major area (for me): breathability. I always feel my feet getting uncomfortably moist when i weat them for too long. also @ the climbing thing, I tried that once, and at least for me I found myself having to put all my weight on my big toe (not comfortable and made climbing harder). I would try on a pair yourself before seriously considering them.

As for an alternative, can't really speak to the type of sandals you wear, but I've had good flip-flop experience with Reef's, and you might consider a lightweight athletic shoe (theyre mostly mesh on the top and give great circulation)

[bubblingbeebles]

that is good to know. cpride has climbed successfully with five-fingers, but i have tried climbing barefoot, imagined it to be similar, and don't find it agreeable.

[dreaminventor]

Thanks for the warning about the rock-climbing thing :/ Disappointing though. The five-fingers I tried on and considered getting were http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/products/products_performa_f.cfm which didn't feel like they would have had the breath-ability issue, but I guess I can see it.

If you're going for sandals I love my pair of Tevas and Reef makes good ones too. I found the Tevas for under $20 on sale because they're an older style that's on clearance. (I think I payed $10.98?)

The biggest challenge I see with finding sandals is finding ones that will not break and are really comfortable for walking long distances. The Tevas have worked great for that.