Flip-Flops
 

OK bit of background, bare with me:

I've been travelling since the end of the 70's. Hitchiked for six years non-stop, then bicycle multi-month tours and long long snorkelling trips to tropical islands.

My gear is finely tuned and I adapt it for different kinds of travelling depending on season and climate. I keep it minimal but not ultralight, depending on what I plan to do

When hitchhiking I went mainly barefoot until stepping on a beer bottle in the grass one day.
In the tropics flip-flops are a must. But darn me if I can't decide whether or not to take them on bike tour/camping trips!

In camp they're great, if it's hot for walking, in grubby showers, to keep mud out of the tent...
Even so, I get by with just a pair of running shoes for riding with toe-clips and general use.

Still, can I justify the weight/bulk of flip-flops?
Seriously, this is the only bit of gear I am truly ambivalent about - maybe a mini-hammock too, but I'll have to start a different thread/rant about that ;)

So, help me with your never-ending wisdom guys...

Oh my Gawd! Am I on that slippery path to my first pair of sandles? Ever!!!

Oh Noooooo!!!!!!!

I've never seen the need for an extra pair of footwear on a bike tour, but that's just me. I am a minimalist. I also wear running shoes with toe clips and that's always worked just fine. I am not susceptible to foot fungi so communal showers have never bothered me.

PS: Is the typo in your first line intended to be a pun?

Flip-Flops
 

Haha, no, no pun intended, couldn't remember if it was "bare" or "bear" with me...

oh, c'mon. spend the 99 cents at the dollar general and git yerself a pair of flip-flops!
your dogs need air after a long day on the bike; nasty showers at truckstops can be contagious.

the weight? a couple ounces. the bulk? none, if strapped under your rear rack.

if you really really need to justify it, i'm sure you can devise a clever mounting system
where the flip-flops can act as fenders on your bike during the ride. hmm, a couple
little metal z-mounts and some binder clips. yep, that's the ticket!

Flip-Flops
 

lol! I do have flip-flops, three pairs at least. I always bring back a pair from Thailand, the generic blue and white ones (elephant in a star brand) are my absolute favourites.

Love the idea about turning them into fender mud flaps!!! :D

Strapping them under the rack is a great idea!

edit: nope, not enough clearance between rack and fender. Quite thick rubber soles on these, they actually weigh 400g, yikes!! that's 14 oz!
Maybe I should confer with the ultralight gang!

:beer:

Flip-Flops
 

To be honest I never realised they were THAT heavy :eek:

Well, if you're not a native English speaker, your English is excellent--better than many natives, actually.

That's the value of a gram scale. It's amazing how the things that weigh "practically nothing" add up when you actually weigh them.

I've heard of some hikers making home-made flip flops out of a pair of stock insoles from running shoes and a few bits of string.

Thats a great idea!

Well thank you Sir, most kind of you to say so, but I must confess to have been born and raised in London town.

My spoken english is somewhat rusty and tainted with various european accents, as well as having been stuck, through misuse, with a number of 70's slang expressions which at times have caused great amusement to others. Once my sister had to translate "magic" as meaning "wicked" to my young nephew! :50:

30 years on, My feet still like Birkenstocks,

Flip-Flops
 

^^ damnit, I just knew this would lead to something like that!
Don't tell me... Wool socks and Sealskinz?

[QUOTE=andrewclaus;15489460
That's the value of a gram scale. It's amazing how the things that weigh "practically nothing" add up when you actually weigh them.[/QUOTE]

... and then you end up like Nun! :D

I've always brought some flipflops or something similar, except on SUL trips. regular UL trips, absolutely.

although the new Teva Mush shoes and their clones are giving flipflops a run for the money in lightweight footwear. I'm not one for the Crocs.

what we have here is a failure to communicate!

when i says flip-flops (thongs to downunderlings), i mean really light, really thin
cheap plastic footwear. should be more like 100 grams a pair. no more'n 1cm thick.
if ya pay more'n a dollar, ya paid too much.

***see here: http://www.cbc.ca/shift/flip-flop.jpg

you be talking 'bout sandals or tevas or (shudder) biiiiiiiiirkenstocks.

these shoes are a few hundred grams, and what i went for as a lightweight touring shoe.

10 ounces for the pair.

Sierra trading post - teva-mush-frio-canvas-shoes-slip-ons-for-men

A friend of mine has ridden several thousand miles on a Cannondale Rush in flip flops. No fancy shoes, running shoes or light weight gear. He claims it is the only way to ride.

One option might be to just take touring sandals. Unfortunately these seem to be gravitating towards a form where they are virtually the same as the touring shoes they replace. I love my sandals and consider them ideal for all weather, with the right accessories.

I do, however, carry crocs also. I carried them before they were a fad, and I continue to carry them. A pair with the straps and hardware, size 12 weighs in at 320 grams, so I have to figure you can find some lighter flip flops. Unless you are into some kind of competition, I see no harm carrying an extra pound for an item you just like. It is only a problem when your end up doubling the weight of everything you carry for some idiosyncratic reason.


My Daughter has contributed to the stats that show that FFs are the cause of many serious accidents, though in her case, something just shifted onto her toe. With 35 years in FFs, you must have the survival protocol dialed!

Here is some bespoke flip-flop tutorial goodness:

http://shoesandcraft.com/2012/01/17/...flop-tutorial/

The weight and bulk of flip flops? Seriously? You have Bob Lanier-size dogs?

I got your flip flops right here. Pack space taken up=none. Weight=less than half a bottle of water.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=310226

On 10-day Euro-tours I only take old=style running shoes (hi tec silver shadow) and toe clips.
On my first big tour I also took some Teva sandals. My feet really appreciated the change in footwear and they did toughen my feet up a lot. Towards the end of the tour in Sept in Norway my feet were wet for many days and I got a really painful trenchfoot type conditions. Sandals were the best footwear to use off-bike even in colder conditions.
Some form of alt footwear is useful and a flip flop is fine if you like that style.
Some ultralight DIY flipflops.

If you're counting grams and a DIY kind of person, I've seen ultra lite backpackers make camp shoes out of a Walmart blue foam sleeping pad and supposedly they come in supposedly at only 1 ounce for the pair.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=310256

you just need to find some foam flip flops, they weigh nearly nothing. Not the rubberized or leather ones, nothing with an over the foot strap and they'll be thin enough to fit in the sleeve in an orlieb. Airwalks, 15 bucks at payless and have arch support, if you don't need that, 3 dollar wallyworld ones are fine.