High Sierra Topix

Howdy y'all. I'm trying to find a good shoe/sandal that would be good for creek/river crossings as well as for camp. I currently use the Teva Terra F1's but they weigh a sh*t ton - more than my hiking boots.

I tried a water shoe made by Olukai but they had no support whatsoever and actually hurt my feet and legs to walk around in after a long day of hiking.
What are you guys rocking? They will need to have some decent support.

Mine are not really water shoes. They are more like water socks, so they weigh only 3 oz for the pair.

Every trip is different, and some have difficult rocky stream crossings, and others have easy sandy stream crossings. You just have to decide...

Rather than drop $75+ on Keens, etc...
I go to my local Sunday swap meet and peruse the cheap sneaker aisle. For ~$10 pick the lightest pair that fits. Sure, they only last a season but if you are like me - in and out of the water all day (fishing?), who cares?
just my 2¢

Go to Walmart and see what they have. The best pair of crossing/camp shoes I've ever owned are this pair of $10 OPs that I just grabbed on a whim one day. They've lasted for about 3 or 4 years now. Light, pack flat-ish, easy on and off, most of them have some kind of toggled bungee laces and are stretchy but can tighten up, stay on your feet with a solid purchase on rocky bottoms, dry fairly fast, comfy enough, way cheaper than Tevas and whatnot.

Something like this:

https://picclick.com/NWT-Boys-Op-Water- ... 75748.html

expensive (overpriced really) but very light and very thin, and quite comfy after a long day.
Shamma warrior sandals ultragrip, 6 ounces for the pair. It's the lightest/most compact I could find.
It's pretty much a very thin vibram sole with a "thong style" webbing. Good in water, enough grip to actually climb steep plates of granite, but these will not give you much protection.
https://shammasandals.com/collections/s ... ip-sandals

Until the last few years I've been more like Mark wrote above. Whatever tennis shoe that was light and cheap. I ran across some Salomen water shoes marked way down and love them. The main thing for me is something with at least enough sole to help protect my feet and they must have some toe protection when wading across those submerged bolling balls.

I have Crocks, a very light weight running shoe and some actual "water shoes". I like to have my toes covered, otherwise I inevitably stub them. The Crocks have good grip on wet rock, but not good for very swift water and are bulky to carry on my pack. The running shoes tie on tightly but were expensive- they are the type of shoe that are supposed to be used in one race for serious runners. The water slipper weighs same as Crocks but I have trouble getting them on, but once on they do not slip off my feet. I think they are made for kayaking. In spite of the down side of Crocks, they are the shoe I usually take when I anticipate a lot of crossings.

In any serious crossing, I will take off my socks, remove the insole, and then cross in my hiking shoes. On the other side, I dump the water out of the shoe, dry with a kerchief, put the dry insoles back, and although my feet get damp, they are not sloppy wet. I do not feel any of my water shoes are stable enough in a swift current or excessively rough bottom crossing. When I cross with my hiking shoes, I then at least have dry shoes to put on once in camp.

As for camp shoe, I find that if I bring a very thin liner sock, or simply take out the insole in my hiking shoes, I have more wiggle room so the hiking shoe is more comfortable in camp. I also have sewn a nylon slipper with Velcro tabs, and take an extra insole to put inside them. I am still experimenting. Right now they are too slippery on the bottom. Camp shoes to me are a luxury and I am trying to get away from them. If I do not anticipate a lot of wading, I do not take any extra shoes at all.

I used $5 flip flops from Walmart this year on the CDT. They last about a month before the thong broke off. I replaced one at a another Walmart the first time in Grants, NM. Second time it happened right before I reached Grand Lake, CO where it was just souvenir shops. Got a pair of Tevas I think that lasted the rest of the trail.

After 15 years of backpacking my Teva F1's finally started separating at the outsole. going to replace them with these. https://www.rei.com/product/148400/teva ... ndals-mens
$30 cheaper and a half a pound lighter. Hopefully they'll be as good as the F1's as I could hike with a full pack in them.

I have the Croc Swiftwater shoe - fabric upper so even lighter than the usual croc, and easier to stuff in a pack pocket.
https://www.crocs.com/p/mens-swiftwater ... l?&cid=22Z
Got it cheap on Amazon.