Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Instead of talking like a Pirate, I'll do a scuba diver's review of Crocs foam shoes..


Today is "talk like a pirate day", but I'm not very good at it... but I do wear Crocs. Non-diving post today.

For those of you who aren't familiar with them, Crocs are a foam rubber shoe that are hugely popular over here, and apparently in many areas with watersports. There are a few other Crocs style shoes out there (Holey Holes, Shaka Shoes to name a couple) that are essentially the same in appearance.

A few notes...

These are great shoes for the active person who spends a lot of time in and out of the water.

They are comfortable, but it did take me a week to get used to wearing clog style footwear. My first worry was they would be too hot, being rubber and all and having worn nothing but sandals for 6 years, and there was some noticeable warmth the first couple of days, but nothing major. I have no major issues with these shoes. A lot of the hospital employees here wear them, so they must be comfy.

They don't hold up forever, it looks as though I'll go through about 4 pairs a year. I've had varying results with sandals holding up and have only found one good one (Gurkees dive sandals) that would routinely give me around a year's use - can't find them anywhere in Kona anymore, bummer.

They are odor free. This can be very important. We see a lot of very stinky sandals and shoes on the dive boat.

They claim to be nonskid, but I've found slick boat ramps to break that claim. The fist time I was walking lightly for two weeks - tailbone, ouch. The traction does seem to wear off pretty quickly with these shoes.

The toes are protected in most styles.. great for us people who don't pay attention and kick things a lot.

They now come in several styles. The original style and the "heavy duty" style are shown. They have several other styles. I just picked up the heavier model and they are great, but I suddenly came down with some athlete's foot, I'm wondering if the lack of holes in the toe area contributed. Some Crocs stores sell little buttons that will go in the holes... I've got some dive flags so they don't get confused with other sets of blue Crocs that come on the boat. I've seen all sorts of buttons available for those who want to "customize" their Crocs.

Sorry for the non-diving post, but a lot of people actually ask about them when they see them.

Aloha,

Steve

3 comments:

KrisinHawaii said...

My crocs are the only thing that gets me comfortably over the trail to Makalawena. As soon as I get visitors here, they all want their own Crocs. I can't tell you how many people I have sent down to the Crocs store. They are great for kids, and because of the price, everyone is more careful about not losing theirs.

Anonymous said...

Does Pat know you stuck your dirty ole shoes on the dining room table? - Kate

PS. I love my crocs, but I did get a couple of nasty thorns that poked all the way through to my feet while I was in Hawaii. I think mine are wearing out - I have to be more careful about where I wear them.

Steve said...

They are good walking shoes. Pat will probably find out they were up on the nice table if she ever reads the blog. Those thorns are likely Kiawe tree thorns - the missionaries apparently planted them all along the coast to get the Hawaiians to wear shoes and other clothing. I've had those thorns go through most types of sandals and shoes.. not just a crocs affliction.