Water shoes

“I have a project for some of you ultra-light, ultra-cheap gear nuts. If you can make a a pepsi stove this should be a snap.

Take a pair of synthetic socks and put them on your feet. Get some Shoe Goo and coat the soles of the socks. Put your feet up and watch an I LOVE LUCY rerun. When the goo dries you should have a form fitting water shoe for creek crossings.

I have not made one, but it seems simple enough. Please report your results. Also include any hints that might help such as optimal thickness, application techniques, skin irritation, intense burning sensations, etc.

If you perfect the technique you shall be known as 'shoe goo guy plan.'”

“lol..i'll hop right on that bacpac..by the way who is lucy?”

“All joking aside, I think this will work.”

“I can imagine the goo soaking through the sock and really mucking up ones feet. You try first bacpac,”

“So wrap your feet in saran wrap and wear two pairs of socks, sissy.”

“you seem to have thought this through pretty thoroughly.”

“So what if the shoo goo has an interesting chemical reaction with the synthetic sock and hardens into a form fitting foot shaped rock?”

“I would do it, but I can't stand, "I LOVE LUCY" reruns.”

“so turn on ER”

“i'd say if that happened hywy, you would nee to order larger shoes in the future.”

“Doesn't sound like a cost saving plan if it causes me to buy another pair of boots.”

“You might want to call your wholesaler and put in a double order for nylon socks and shoe goo.

I gotta a feeling this is gonna be a hit.”

“Should work! But I cheated and bought a pair at the outfitters in Ponca AR! YO bear!”

“I'm wondering how much of the tube you will need to completely cover the sock several times. At $6 a tube it seems cheaper to just buy a $5 pair of water shoes at walmart. Then there is the 4-6 hour dry time between coats.”

“I estimate one shoe goo water shoe would weigh 3oz. A pair maybe 6 oz. If jerbear weighs his I am certain they will weigh at least a pound and a half.

I won't sacrifice weight for comfort, but this may be a win, win situation.

Someone will try it and hopefully report back.”

“Waldies work just as well and weigh less then 10 ounces a pair”

“While I have never used a pair of waldies. They look like clogs.

I am sure they are comfy around camp, but I doubt that they would work for crossing a rain swollen stream in the winter.

How much do a men's size 11 weigh? How much do they cost? How much pack space do they require?

Can you send me a pair for evaluation?”

“bacpac-email me”

“LOL! Now this is a funny thread! I prefer to wear my water buckets on my feet for river crossings...ya know, Walmart bags.

The Waldies are great. They have holes in them so you can attach them to the outside of your pack.

Seriously though, the great thing about wearing running shoes is that I don't need river crossing shoes. I just keep my runners on and march right accross. Half mile later they are as dry as they were before I came to the stream. Of course you could do like the old school old farts do and wear leather boots and have to carry extra shoes because leather never dries out.”

“I've used the waldies in the smokies in a creek that had a pretty good current and was about hip deep. They stayed on fine and allowed the water to pass through the shoes creating less resistance.

Weight: 11.5 oz with string to hook to your pack.

Cost: 17.95”

“I think "goop" (shoo-goo, sportsmans goop) is really good stuff, but would rather bring my very old pair of water shoes with me. I tend to believe shoes grip better & give my feet better protection from sharp objects.”

“Shoe goo is very versatile. It's like a gelatonous (sp?) duct tape. It's also great on toast.”

“OK, we made it to the weekend.

Surely someone will pick up a tube of shoe goo with their twelve pack and experiment.”

“LOL! I'm enjoying this, bacpac setting up weird, "ultralight" backpacking experiments.

What's next??



Oh yeah, I have "Waldie" water shoes. Very, very lightweight (sorry, no scale to weigh). They look like sleek track shoes. Bad point: Not much grip on bottom and I haven't actually tried in a stream.

LOL!!! But I expect good things.

:-)”

“I've actually been thinking of making some socks out of spandura with a DWR coating, seam sealing them, and using shoe goo to make a sole for them just as you describe. I think they'd make good camp shoes as well as stream crossing shoes. Like a water resistent moccasin.

I'll have the spandura spare from making a pair of low gaitors later this month. I'll make them then and let you know how they work out.”

“Thanks, skullcap. You make the guys on this site look like sissies.


I might make a pair this weekend as well.”

“Well bacpac I’m using Shoe Goo this weekend, but only to repair a pair of shoes that has a sole that’s starting to separate. Unfortunately I won’t have enough left to make a pair of your shoes.”

“i just use the cheapest walmart flip flops with an ankle strap. they weigh nothing.

bear, we were at ponca this weekend too.”

“http://www.sprintaquatics.com/prodinfo.asp?number=901

I found the lightest commercially made water shoe in the world and they are under five bucks. They are like a footy with a sole and they really do weight 2 oz. for the pair. Not extremely durable, but would survive several uses. At under $5.00 you can get a couple pair.”