I decided to treat myself to a new pair of sandals this year. After wearing cheapie flip-flops for years, I wanted something more substantial that I couldn't rip the thong out of. With the arrival of my REI dividend, I ventured out to my local toy store to take a look at my options.
My mom has already been a fan of the Chaco brand for years, so they were top of my list to explore. I settled on the Chaco Zong for the backless entry (in my mind, that was going to be easy like my clogs) and the minimal style. I already have a pair of Keen watershoes, so I was not concerned about keeping them on my feet on any rafting expeditions. The "shoe guy" at REI told me they had a high arch (BONUS) so I was pretty sold.
In all fairness, my shoe guy did warn me about their tendency to clamp down on your big toe like a vice grip after a few hours of walking. Boy howdy, he wasn't kidding. They clamp down in the first 20 minutes, actually. You see, the straps on the Chacos (at least this style) are actually one big strap that weaves in and out of the footbed to let you adjust your sandals for perfection. I'm constantly re-adjusting them on one foot to give my big toe its circulation back, while amazingly the other foot stays pretty steady with the pressure distribution.
That said, I'm still on the fence about whether or not I'll take advantage of REI's generous return policy...they're easily my favourite sandals now, though I think my next Chaco purchase will be a pair that doesn't wrap around the big toe. That seems to be the only sticking point on them, as otherwise I totally love them for daily use.
Overall: I am happy with the arch support, not so happy with the tendency of the straps to move after I've tweaked them to perfection. I give the a B- ... Extra points for having a totally weird name!
PS. Not so easy in the slip-em-on category...the straps sort of prevent that. Oh well!
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