In camp, take off your shoes and socks, remove the insoles. Dry your feet with the tops of your spare socks, put those socks on, then put your shoes back on. Without the insoles, the fit is comfortably loose and sloppy just like houseshoes.

Thanks for that, Joe. I never thought of that. I've been spinning my wheels on whether or not to buy camp shoes. That's a great idea.

good idea, thanks!

Hey, I'll give that a shot!

On that same note, the Sprint Nylon Mesh Shoes that Mike W. turned me on to came in while I was hiking last weekend, so I didn't get to try them out.

Edited by Thangfish on 04/29/2009 15:53:02 MDT.

What about pulling your insoles out and useing those as camp shoes. A rubber band or a bandana could hold them on to each foot. More open and airy.

I recently made camp sandals out of old insoles and some Kelty Triptease line. The pair weighs 1.4 oz total. You can see pictures in the photo gallery in the first few pictures of the Hetch Hetchy trip from a couple of weeks ago. I used two straps over the top so they could be worn with socks. I'm considering adding a heel strap or tightening the straps to avoid slippage, but overall they worked pretty well around camp. Slippage was only a problem when I wandered a ways from camp. Still playing around with the idea.

Well, yes... why not?

I've made (and worn out) several pairs of flip-flops from WalMart blue closed cell foam sleep pad and aircore. They weigh only about 9g each, but they last for only one weekend trip before they get so flat that holly leaves and stuff pokes through into your feet.

I have walked up to about a half mile in some like this... slowly, like to get water or something, from camp.





I see no reason why you couldn't have some pre-cut holes in your insoles, and some pre-tied pieces of aircore spectra that you could just pop in with a little stick so they don't pull out. Would only take a minute or two to make super comfy and weightless camp shoes.

I like it! Dual use indeed!

Edited by Thangfish on 04/29/2009 19:04:37 MDT.

Jeremy, I checked out the pictures from your trip.

Beautiful area. Wow.

Ya'll were living large!
Beer and shrimp?? WTF! I gotta go with a crew like that!
Quite a gear demo too... man. Like a fashion show.

Oh, yes... back on topic... the insole-camp shoes looked to be reasonable too. I'll try that next trip.

Chris mentioned the Sprint Nylon Mesh Shoes; I've not been using these for a while in favor of just no camp shoes, but my foot doctor put me in heavy hiking boots for a month ("think of it as a step down from a walking cast"), so I'm bringing them on a trip I'm leaving for today. My recollection of these shoes is that the soles are very thin, such that if you're a tenderfoot you might not want to walk around in them much.

In the spirit of "dual use", while I wear orthodic inserts in my shoes (now boots), I'm bringing the very light manufacturer supplied inserts for the boots for (a) to be able to switch out to reduce "tired feet", and (b) to put inside the mesh shoes to double the cushioning. Not just for in camp but for creek crossings.