Bought those $90 'ultralight' camp shoes and they ripped on day 2

I was hiking the Rae Lakes Loop in Kings Canyon last month and brought a pair of those fancy camp shoes everyone talks about. After one short walk to filter water, the strap broke clean off near the heel. $90 down the drain and I ended up hiking barefoot around camp the rest of the trip. Anyone else had bad luck with ultralight camp footwear?

3 comments

3 Comments

jennybailey6d ago

You know what gets me about those $90 camp shoes... they're designed for people who already have $400 trail runners and $500 down jackets. I saw a guy at a REI garage sale selling the exact same model with the strap torn in the same spot. It's like they make them for that one Instagram photo by the tent, not for actually walking to the creek. My old $20 croc knockoffs have lasted three seasons and they weigh maybe 2 ounces more. Sometimes lighter just means cheaper materials dressed up as engineering.

kimblack6d ago

Those $90 camp shoes work fine if you actually read the instructions and don't try to use them as day hikers. I wore the same pair on a 200 mile stretch of the PCT last year and they held up through rock scrambles to get water and late night bathroom runs. The strap breaking on day two sounds more like a bad batch or user error than a design flaw. My buddy has put over 500 miles on his pair and they're still going strong. Sometimes paying for lighter gear means knowing how to treat it right.

adam1866d ago

Right after reading this I looked down at my own pair and realized I've been tightening the velcro wrong for six months. That's probably why my left heel keeps sliding out when I'm half asleep stumbling to the privy at 2 AM. Not saying this excuses the strap issues but definitely explains some of the dumb stuff I've put mine through.