So, I finally have something to contribute to a forum question. I don't know if it will help, but it might.
So, years ago, I used to do an event that required biking, running, swimming, watermelon eating, lots of live music and beer, and tons of heat and humidity. The swim portion of this event required jumping into a bayou that ran through New Orleans. While I don't care about the water, I was worried about what was in the mud underneath. I wanted a pair of shoes that I could use for the swim portion of the event (and wouldn't soak up too much water). Similarly, I need a pair of shoes that would work for the 1 mile race in the middle, as well as the hours and hours of heat and music and beer. At the time, I was reading Ray Jardine, who carried 2 pairs of running shoes (one as a backup or camp shoe) when backpacking. I thought, why not turn an old pair of running shoes into a sandal? I got out my knife and cut out the tongue and every panel on the shoe that might absorb water, but which didn't appear to contribute to the function of the shoe. These shoes are ugly, but they worked to run in, to swim in (and dry out relatively quickly), and to hang out in all day. You know they fit (since they're old running shoes) and are comfortable. You can use them as backups and hike in them if you other shoes were to get wet (especially if, like me, you hike in running shoes). The original pair was 11.7 oz. I imagine I cut off a few of those oz. They seemed to me to be good hiking shoes….almost.
So, last year, my buddies and I went to Coyote Gulch, which requires a lot of hiking in the creek. I brought these shoes. They made sense to me. They worked great, until the glue that holds the upper to the outer sole started to fail. Running shoes, it turns out, are not designed to go through miles of pulling on the sole while wet. Eventually, the soles pulled completely off. I improvised by tying the sole to the bottoms of the uppers with the excess shoe lace (there was so much because I cut the tongue out.) Towards the end of the trip, I got fed up with dealing with this and packed to soles in my bag. The upper with all the holes I cut into it for weight savings and drying purposes made an ideal river shoe on its own. It was light, covered my toes and the bottoms of my feet, dried quickly, and had laces (so I could cinch it tight as needed.) In an emergency, I would not be too afraid to hike in these (although I would prefer a sole on the bottom for most hiking, I think the shoes would give decent protection from hard/sharp things on the ground.) I have not weighed the shoes, but I imagine that if you soaked a pair of running shoes in water for a day or two that the sole would come right off. You could test it our for yourself.
Of course, these shoes are absurdly UGLY.
Anyway, I hope this contributes to the discussion.
