EXODUS sandals….who’s in?

@Richard – thank you for the kind words and glad they are working in the surf! Let me know if you run into any issues.

@Karen – thanks for the confirmation and can't wait to hear about how they work on your trip.

@Spelt – thank you very much for taking the time to write such an honest in depth review. I think you are being quite modest ;) but need the constructive criticism! I am indeed already planning a thicker sole option and will likely be getting materials very soon for testing. Regarding the water testing on the pack raft trip ( which sounds super sweet BTW), I may be able to help you and will follow-up via email. I made myself a pair of XO Amphibs just prior to my trip up north and have been swapping between the two pair…smaller cut footbed and minimal stretch tubular poly have made a huge difference. We can chat.

Thanks again!
Ryan

Ok. I've been using mine for a few weeks now and I have to say I simply adore these shoes! I am uber picky about my footwear; I have very high arches, narrow and stiff feet and I generally have a difficult time finding shoes that I enjoy wearing. I was intrigued by these because of their similarity to Chacos, which work very well for my feet but good lord they're heavy.

My major criticism would be that it took quite a while to actually adjust them to my feet properly. I tried following the directions, but my heels are so narrow that I found I just kept sliding around without enough purchase. But I kept at it and with pretty much constant tweaking over the past few weeks I can now say I have the perfect sandal!

I actually took them with me on a 5-day trip through the porcupine mountains in the UP of MI over July 4th…the first time in more than 2 years I took "camp" shoes. And I will probably throw them into my pack for the JMT as well simply because I like them so much and don't want to go three weeks without wearing them!

Anyway, great job Ryan! My mom wants a pair now, so when you're ready for more orders let me know :)

First of all, thank you to Ryan for making such a quality product at a great price. The workmanship, his website, even the tag that came with the sandals–all are top notch and really show a flair for business/service.

After getting the sandals in the mail I got them adjusted and wore them around a bit, but due to holidays/traveling my first chance to get the sandals outside wasn't until today. I took them on the dirty/rocky trail that is the approach to a local crag, with a tad of class 2-3.

On the way up they felt great, secure, and the subtle upturned edges really helped keep the edges from catching. On the way down however they felt significantly sloppier, and my feet were shifting forward off the heel strap (but not out). I need to tighten them up a bit I guess!

So, nothing but praise for the quality of the product, but I still need to do a bit of work to get the fit dialed in. I will update again when I get a chance.

@Jennifer – Wow! Thank you for the feedback! I would have to agree that from the limited feedback I have received, adjustment seems to be difficult. I will try to work on a better tutorial with photos or even video to try and help. I tried several different buckle designs and sewn loops before this design and determined on a lot of wear that although somewhat difficult to dial in once fitted it shouldn't move. Thanks again and glad to hear you are enjoying them!

@Brad – thanks for the feedback! Sorry they didn't work well on the way down…let me know if you have difficulty adjusting them and I can walk you though it over the phone or via email or text (exodussandals.com/submit for contact info)

Thanks BPLers…keep it comin'…

Ryan

Hello all!

I am happy to announce to all who have been waiting patiently that the beta build is over and the order age on our site is now live!

Now, in order to keep things simple and as possible, I decided to adapt the current site accept orders. There are several reasons but two main points : 1) I want to keep the focus on the photos and eventually your photos and experience in the sandals and this platform is simply the best way to do that IMHO, the site sort of gets out of the way and let's the media be the focus. 2) I am not a programmer. Everything on the site has been designed by me but mostly by slowly making my way through it until I get it to where I'm satisfied.

So with that, here it is:

http://exodussandals.com/store

PLEASE let me know if things work well or not, I tested it but want to make sure it isn't painful for those who order. And on the site, there is now a contact page with phone, text and email as well!

Thanks again and let us know if there are any questions!

Thanks,
Ryan

Hello again,

After reading through some of the other MYOG posts, I realized that I owe it to all who have followed this endeavor to shed some light on the TLC that goes into each pair of sandals I've shipped. If nothing else, hopefully this will add value and quench the interest of those who have considered it…

1. Receive initial order, file contact info, payment info & foot tracings electronically (for safe keeping at future orders), scale and print foot tracings – 5 mins

2. Cut-out tracing, transfer tracing to rubber (including strap locations)making sure to add enough material to accommodate hand-molding, cut-out rubber sole and repeat for second foot – 15 mins

3. Confirm stamped hole locations, punch holes for first foot, confirm second foot hole location using first stamped sandal foot-bed and punch holes for second foot. After, drill countersunk hole for plug on both sandals (to protect strap) – 7 mins

4. Heat each section of sandal and hand mold the sole around the full perimeter of the sandal, making sure stamped hole locations are molded higher than the bottom plane of the sole (to protect straps from ground) and repeat on second sandal. – 15 mins

5. Measure and cut webbing, burn edges to ensure no fraying and feed into initial hole between the toe area to prep for plug – 5 mins

6. Burn countersunk plug and form to ensure proper fit into countersunk hole – 7 mins

7. String sandals with nylon (or polyester) webbing, taking time to properly string through the three buckles found on the sandal, clean & inspect sandal – 15 mins

8. cut, rubber stamp, sign & serialize hang-tag and tie around sandals, update spreadsheet – 5 mins

9. create shipping label and pack for USPS – 5 mins

Total = 79 mins per pair not including transit time to shipping location! Hopefully this helps shed some light and show how much TLC goes into each pair….but we think it'w worth it!

Thanks,
Ryan

Hello everyone,

Just wanted to check-in to see how people and their sandals are faring? I know it has been a busy summer for us so far (as I would expect with you guys and gals as well), but would love to hear some feedback/criticisms from those who have had some time in their XO's.

Also, for those who haven't followed along on twitter or our site, I am prototyping a couple of other options to add to our collection for possible future purchase as well as discussing the future of EXODUS with some interested adventurers. So, I'd love to know how these things are working for you!

Thanks,
Ryan

P.S. a couple of teasers…

current prototype I have been wearing for running (thicker but almost identical in weight)

and an additional prototype just created over the weekend out of curiosity and for fun!

Hello everyone…it's been busy and we are working on several things to try and get more XO's out to everyone interested.

A couple of big updates…

1. we are working on the development of standard sizes (don't worry, we will always offer a custom option if you like the custom fit!) … it's off to a slow start but I want to make sure each size fits EXACTLY as you would expect these to fit

2. we are officially developing an online store and a launch! what this means for all of us (including me) is we will hopefully have a little more resource for R&D which = continuous improvement. Ultimately, this is where exodussandals.com will take you, with our blog/social site becoming weareEXOD.US ! This is exciting but is taking time so bare with us.

Also, I have purposely slowed things down since our initial beta BPL build to get more feedback from you all! Good, bad or indifferent … please, please, please let us know what you think and how they have held up over the past few months. We have other materials (read some thicker but lighter material options) that we would like to push out as well but again, would love to have the feedback on the originals!

That's it for now…let us know what you would like to see from EXODUS.

Thanks,
Ryan