OK do gear manfactures ever go backpacking?!, would they not like something comfy to put their feet after a long bushwack? Those surf shoes weigh like a pound each[haha].
Starting with felt soles the big trick to making these is getting soles to have some grip ,someone on here was saying that felt soles had a great grip, only partly true ANd they have to be waterproof because the felt soaks up water and it ain't light no more. Plus most choices weigh a ton. My solution, Lepage polyurethane sealant thinned out w/ acetone, added 20 gms each, total 110 gms /pair.

Ziff,
Some of the diving socks are weighty, but you can get them in 2-3mm neoprene, anklet size, that are just a few ounces. They make great camp shoes, and if you must glue, then you can glue on whatever foam you want on the bottom. The Deep See ones I bought have a textured sole, keep my hiking socks dry in camp, and double as a foot warmer/protector when fording wide streams, and fold up small. One of the recent Outdoor Retailer articles suggests that they are finally catching on with trekkers.
Oh, and they are very inexpensive.

Edited by scfhome on 01/30/2011 20:50:40 MST.

Samuel: Do you have a link to the diving socks that you are talking about?

I tried mesh shoes at one point, but didn't have enough foot protection so it made my feet sore at camp. But this MYOG has got me thinking....

Not sure what these weigh...but look interesting..

http://www.zemgear.com/Products.html

I saw them mentioned somewhere on the forums recently I think.

check out this thread

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=35043&skip_to_post=306111#306111

to find some ultralight, good for stream crossings, some wandering around camp. Those tyvex ones look good, trick is the sole , no slip. I tried gluing small amounts of abrasive, various shoe goo's, wire mesh, all too heavy [mesh broke up].
These are 1/2 the weight of my last model using a 50gm orthotic + 2mm neoprene.

I like the round toe low model and here is the weight chart they emailed me.

Weights are as follows in ounces:

Ø XXS = 1.856
Ø XS = 2.016
Ø S = 2.176
Ø M = 2.336
Ø L = 2.496
Ø XL = 2.656
Ø XXL = 2.816

http://www.zemgear.com/

Sweet -- thanks for the weight chart, I've been wondering about their "shoes." They're coming out with some new models which look even more promising to my eye: especially the Zem 360 or Zem H2o ... i think the H2o will have a little thinner sole on the bottom, so might be lighter than the 360, which is going to be marketed as a minimalist running shoe. Do the current bootie designs really have any sole on them at all, or are they more like neoprene socks?

Looks like a fairly thin sole in the pick but the new stuff if near the weight will be even better for avoiding sharp stuff around the campsite and the new high boot is perfect for any river crossing.

Edited by ctracyverizon on 02/04/2011 14:39:45 MST.