Suggestions for ultralight camp shoes under 4 ounces.

So my wife just got back from having her toenails done, and they give her these little "sandals" to wear while you walk around the store. I have been using crocs (8.7oz!!) for a long time, and once I found this forum I switched to homoemade blue foamy sandals (1.4oz) (not nearly as comfortable as crocs, and useless fording streams)

Anyway, I am secure enough in my masculinitly I tried on her nail/spa sandals and whoa! they are more comfortable than my blue foamy sandals and they weigh .4 oz!! That's the same as my car key man.. Also they are perfectly flat so they won't take up much space.

I'll probably get 2 or 3 and ship them to myself when I do resupplys and see. I will miss the crocs though, as I use them when I shower at night before bed in usually freezing streams, but no way is that worth a half pound.

-Satchel

http://www.sprintaquatics.com/prodinfo.asp?number=901

I was tipped on these by people on this great site. My size 11 weighs 1.9 oz and cost $4 plus shipping. Tested them recently and loved them. Won't last forever but secure with and without socks and mesh is small enough to keep leaves out but let feet dry. Super minimalist, these make Vibram 5 Fingers look like a mountaineering boots.

Hope this helps,
Jeff

wo

Hi Jeff,

I heard about the sprint aquatics and will check out the website. Also checked out the zemgear.com site Justin, the shoes look great but are a little pricey. Thanks, any more suggestions out there.

>And i assume they start to fail at the strap/sole corners..?

Nah, the heel wears down. I suppose you could put some duct tape or some sort of stronger material on the bottom of the heel, but that would add weight.

These are the "pool shoes" that I've been using for two seasons now. Mine have held up fine. It's true that you can feel river rocks beneath them, but it's a lot better than crossing a river barefoot. The soles are so thin that a stray Ponderosa pine cone prickle has occasionally poked through, but not enough to ever wound me. For the weight I think these are great. But the myog sleeping pad shoes may just be the cat's meow. I wonder how slick they would be for river crossings?

Russell, do you have a link to the nail/spa sandals you mentioned?

The nail/spa foam sandals can be found in dollar stores too. Be careful about size because they may be typically made for women's size feet.

those are called "10 step sandals" for a reason, good luck ;)
ultralight, cheap, durable. pick any two.

Jeff,

Are those shoes 1.9 oz. per shoe or per pair? I couldn't find a mention of weight on the web site.

Thanks.

my sprint aquatics are 1.7oz for the pair in size 6

Turns out these slippers are awesome although I don't suggest wearing them around fox tails because they become magnets for them. but they keep your toes quite warm. I will be bringing them on my trip this weekend for my trip.

i havent tried it yet, but Ive been thinking its possible to significantly reduce the weight of a pair of cheap knock off crocs , while retaining closed toe protection and a fair amount of durability.

Just FYI for everyone, I tried to order more of the sprint aquatics pool shoes and received an email from customer service saying they are now discontinued :(

So sad. Instead I ordered a set of these "croc liners" mentioned in another thread. I hope they are just as good.

Got mine in the mail (very quick shipping I might add)
They are basically neoprene socks. They do keep your feet warm and somewhat protected, however they don't have a sole. So no protection against really sharp rocks and not a ton of grip. But, they are certainly better than nothing, and they are cheap.

I got in the buy as well. I am considering adding silicone dots on the bottom to add some minor minor grip and durability.

Ordered Zem booties from an outfit called Steptuit recently and later found that the email address on PayPal was invalid, and got no response to calls to the telephone number. Needless to say, no booties after 3 weeks, and no help from PayPal. After 30 days will write to my credit card company, but that seldom works. Guess I will be sticking with textured sole low cut neoprene dive sox, which aren't too bad, and are under 4 oz for the pair. I've been burned a few times recently ordering on line from small unknown outfits on Google searches. No more. If I don't have a physical address and can't reach them by phone, forget it.

Check out http://www.steptuit.com/

STepTuit Footwear and Accessories
4473 Holiday Drive
Chesapeake Beach , MD 20732
(301) 802-6780
customercare@steptuit.com

Goosefeet's shell booties are under 2oz.

Those wishing to try Zem booties may be glad to know that about a week following my earlier post, a call came from Steptuit, followed by the booties, which arrived today.

They weigh 4.9 oz, compared to 3.9 oz for my Deep See ankle height dive sox with textured soles. However, they have a much more rigid sole, more comfortable to wear in camp, with projections that are not cleats, but will grip much better than the textured sole. Their only drawbacks, by comparison, are that the dive sox are about 1.5" higher at the ankle and made of much thicker neoprene. Conclusion: The Zems are probably better for camp wear over sox or thinsulate booties; the Deep Sees are probably better for very cold weather, or very cold streams during fording. Both fold to about the same size. Am leaning toward the Zems, for trekking in the summer anyway.

The Steptuit proprietor was most apologetic, and it appears, did receive my email inquiry about the order, even though it was returned with a message stating the address was invalid. Those more schooled in IT may understand how such things occur. Glad they eventually got back to me and filled the order.

Thanks to Ken Larson for posting the info about Steptuit.

Try these.. not much grip but i trail run in them no problem in dry conditions. They rock to be honest i just love them and cant say enough good things about them. I am nursing a few injuries but i did a barefoot/Hittory run walk routine on a rubber track in them the last two days in row. But like i said i have run trails in them up to fifteen miles at a clip.

http://www.saucony.com/store/SiteController/saucony/searchresults?pageSize=20&pageNo=1&trail=SRCH%3Ahattori&question=hattori&sort=highestPrice&changedFacetValue=&CID=google_saucony_hattori

I got mine tonight in the mail. US size 9.5. They fit me like a glove, oh so nice. They are my first pair of minimalist shoes and I love them already, went for a walk and light jog, and they are so much easier to forefoot run in (I did a great course last year by some expert running physios here and they showed us correct running technique for minimising injury, but its so hard to do in my normal runners).

Weight on my scales for both shoes is 120grams. I could definitely see myself trail running in them and with a little bit of training hiking with light loads.

I have tried both of these for fit, and have found that the Sockwa booties fit my feet much better, and are more secure to walk on. The Zem shoes the sole is exceedingly narrow, and the ridge between the uppers and sole runs under the edge of my foot. The Sockwa booties are slightly heavier (4.9oz women's), but the sole cups my foot, provides a little protection for stubbing toes, and just is generally more comfortable.

I've done the soft overbooties over the down socks routine, and the lack of traction around here makes that a horrible option, especially when searching out a spot in the middle of the night for cat-holing.

This summer's trek involved a lot of fording, and carrying two shelties across one at a time. The light slip-ons discussed on this thread did not provide enough protection from slipping on stream bottoms in a strong current. After a few tries in some Zems, for safety's sake, I went back to just using my regular hiking wear – in this case Keen Targhee II's, and Lorpen Coolmax Expedition sox. After wringing out the sox and swabbing the boot inners, they both dried out with continued hiking. Fortunately, the fording was on sunny days in open country in Colorado.

While a number of the slip-ons are probably fine for camp shoes, I don't think they address the need for something sturdier for fording.

I saw them in a CNN Money article today…
http://www.paper-feet.com/