Just bought my first Chaco sandals!

[emily_in_nc]

I went to REI today with my 20% members coupon today, determined to try Keen Newports, but one look at them and I knew they would be too wide for my A-width feet (despite the fact that my Keen Commuter sandals are a great fit). I really, really needed some super comfy walking sandals for Belize that would also be easy to get sand out of, and ultimately decided that any closed-toe and more covered-up sandals would make de-sanding very difficult.

Decided to try a couple of pair of Chacos because I remembered it was a beloved brand of Knot's. :D First style I tried was too wide, straps too loose, etc. Second style was a charm. Absolutely LOVE that I can tighten down the inner straps around my narrow, low-profile foot, and the outer thong part can stay a bit loose. Love the color ("Caribbean", perfect for Belize). Love, love the feel of the footbed, the arch support, the cushy heel. These shoes rock! I think I am really going to enjoy them!

Here are the ones I got:
http://www.rei.com/product/812031/chaco-hipthong-two-ecotread-sandals-womens

[Irulan]

You can get them resoled, too.

One thing to be mindful of. I have several pairs, wear them on river trips. Your feet can get nasty raw spots when sand gets inbetween the sole of your foot and the bed of the sanda. Just be mindful of that.

[jessmarimba]

Also chiming in - it does take awhile to "wear in" the soles enough that they don't rub the soles of your feet (or maybe you wear in your feet, I'm not sure).

Also, if you got the ones with the two super-skinny woven straps, they rub a little bit more when wet than the wider strap ones.

That said, I have two pairs of their normal sandals (one wide strap with the toe loop that are 10 years old, one pair of the super-skinny two-strap with toe loop that are, oh, 5 years old?) and one pair of the flip flops. I love them. I can actually cinch them tight enough to fit. Plus once you've worn them awhile, they stay adjusted even if you don't cinch the strap (so you can slip 'em on and off).

I hope you enjoy them!!

[Blueberry]

Welcome to the Chaco cult:D:D

I've not counted how many I have - probably too many! Wish I could wear the flips - but my feet are too wide...

Those look perfect for Belize...

[KnottedYet]

If you find the straps slipping too easily (tightening at the front while walking is the painful one I notice) you can stand in water next time you're at the beach and floss some sand into the channels inside the sole.

(pull the straps in and out and drag some sand in there)

The sand increases the friction on those little boogers and they won't slip tighter on you any more.

[emily_in_nc]

Thanks for all the tips! Last year on our trips to Belize I had to change among several different pairs of sandals/thongs every time we went out walking around b/c each one rubbed me in a different place, so I am sure these will also take some breaking in, and I can certainly deal with that. But they are so much more comfy out of the box than most sandals I have now or have had in the past, I'm optimistic. They at least seem far more promising to walk in than most of what I have now.

I'll always be a multiple-sandal gal, tho, because I like them to at least kinda go with whatever I happen to be wearing that day. So, I'll still have my brown leather Tevas, a few pairs of simple thongs (I have some leather Patagonia ones I got on the cheap at STP that are really comfy), and trail runners for the more rugged stuff. Also have some little slip-on neoprene water shoes. I will probably need a decent-size duffle bag just for shoes!

[Reesha]

Congrats on the Chacos! I've had mine for 5 years now and I LOVE them. They do have a tendency to get stinky when all kinds of stuff gets embedded in the grid on the top of the sole, so I give them a good soak in a warm water and oxyclean solution once per month. Sometimes I use an old toothbrush to get the soles clean.

Have fun wearing them EVERYWHERE. You will want to :)

[KnottedYet]

When my Chacos get stinky I throw them in the washer with a pair of jeans.

That's also what I do before I send them to Chaco to be resoled. (well, actually, now they are sent to Wolverine World Wide to be resoled since Merrell bought Chaco)

[Reesha]

Haha, yeah I could do that, but the sound of thu-thunking sandals in the wash is unnerving to me :D I'll have to try it.

[badgercat]

I've been a proud Chaco owner for 4 years. I, too, went through a (brief) blister-causing breaking-in period, but I wear them more often than any other pair shoes and am pretty fond of my perpetual Z-tan (and holy cow, do I love that they're machine-washable). But, since their repair/resole services have come up in this thread, I feel compelled to share my pretty-bad resoling experience that has tested my faith in the company. :( (and by now, I've been without my sandals so long that the tan is starting to fade--unacceptable! :p)

I have a leg-length discrepancy, and had a custom shoe lift installed by a Chaco-'partnered' cobbler who is in Colorado near their original headquarters. After Chaco was bought out and moved to Michigan, they said they could take care of all repairs (even on customized sandals) in house. So, I sent them off for resoling, and when they returned, my lift had been mangled. Grooves cut into it, glue everywhere (including on the footbed and one of the straps), a split that hadn't been there before (and one that was there before was worse), and some of the height of the lift had been taken off. I was absolutely appalled that they left the plant looking this way. (I have a picture, but I'm already hijacking the thread more than enough.)

After calling Chaco, they asked me to send them back. A few days later, they call me to say "Oh, yeah, they did look pretty bad, but they had tried to fill a gap they found and the compound got a little out of hand, we've now cleaned them up with a buffer. Oh, and just FYI, this is probably the last sandal with a lift we'll work on, because we're not comfortable with the material." Nope, not good enough. I'm normally kind of a pushover, but I held my ground. They're sending me a completely new pair of shoes via the same cobbler in CO. I'm sure I won't have them for my camping trip in a week, though, and a query about whether I can have my old sandals back to wear in the mean-time has not been responded to. :(

All's well that ends well, I suppose. I don't tell this story to be a debbie-downer or to discourage people from buying Chacos, because I still get excited every time I hear someone has gotten a new pair and I am so looking forward to getting my new ones. I just want to provide fair warning that Chaco customer service may not be all it once was. I do sincerely hope that if any of you take advantage of their repair/resole services, that you have a much, much, MUCH better experience than I have.

[Blueberry]

When my Chacos get stinky I throw them in the washer with a pair of jeans.

That's also what I do before I send them to Chaco to be resoled. (well, actually, now they are sent to Wolverine World Wide to be resoled since Merrell bought Chaco)

Merrell bought Chaco:mad::mad::mad:

I really wish Chaco had stayed in the US and independently owned:(

[Blueberry]

Badger-

That stinks! Seriously. They're only as good as the worst experience anyone has with them.

I think I'll be investigating alternative places to have them re-soled.....

[Irulan]

Also chiming in - it does take awhile to "wear in" the soles enough that they don't rub the soles of your feet (or maybe you wear in your feet, I'm not sure).

Also, if you got the ones with the two super-skinny woven straps, they rub a little bit more when wet than the wider strap ones.

That said, I have two pairs of their normal sandals (one wide strap with the toe loop that are 10 years old, one pair of the super-skinny two-strap with toe loop that are, oh, 5 years old?) and one pair of the flip flops. I love them. I can actually cinch them tight enough to fit. Plus once you've worn them awhile, they stay adjusted even if you don't cinch the strap (so you can slip 'em on and off).

I hope you enjoy them!!


I've found that when you are in the sand.water day after day, at least for me, there's no such thing as wearing in but everyone's feet are different.

[KnottedYet]

I was very happy with every repair Chaco did to my sandals. (I've got a pair that is nearly 15 years old and still going strong.)

Wolverine World Wide has done 2 repairs for me. One was less than stellar, but it was an extenuating circumstance with a very abused sandal.

Dave Page Cobbler was one of the authorized repair guys for the original Chaco, and I wouldn't hesitate to send a lifted sandal to him for repair. He did lifts for Chaco in the old days. http://davepagecobbler.com/

[badgercat]

I was very happy with every repair Chaco did to my sandals. (I've got a pair that is nearly 15 years old and still going strong.)

Wolverine World Wide has done 2 repairs for me. One was less than stellar, but it was an extenuating circumstance with a very abused sandal.

Dave Page Cobbler was one of the authorized repair guys for the original Chaco, and I wouldn't hesitate to send a lifted sandal to him for repair. He did lifts for Chaco in the old days. http://davepagecobbler.com/

I'm really glad to hear you've had good experiences with the W.W.W. incarnation of Chaco. I know that if my sandals were more "typical" there probably wouldn't have been a problem in the first place... I just felt like my situation was handled badly. If they knew they couldn't do it right, they shouldn't have done it... or, they at least shouldn't have tried to pretend like nothing was wrong when it didn't turn out well.

I'll keep Dave Page in mind for future needs. :)

ETA: of course, I'm very grateful that I'm getting new sandals out of the deal. The ultimate resolution is good... I just wish I hadn't had to go through the heartache first! :o Now, I'll try to stop hijacking... let's go back to celebrating Emily's new shoes. :D

[emily_in_nc]

Merrell bought Chaco:mad::mad::mad:

I really wish Chaco had stayed in the US and independently owned:(

Bummer...I didn't know that. I saw Michigan on the box and assumed they had been made in the US, which I really liked.

I also read on the website that they could be washed in a washing machine -- I thought that was pretty darn cool! :cool:

[Blueberry]

I also read on the website that they could be washed in a washing machine -- I thought that was pretty darn cool! :cool:

It is - them mean it - and I do! I still love them:)

[emily_in_nc]

I wore them to work today for the first time (yes, I have a very casual workplace!) They will definitely take some breaking in. No blisters, but the cross straps were noticeable and rubbed somewhat, especially since I did quite a bit of walking (to the bus stop, into work, about 1/2 mile each before and after work), all over our huge building at work, etc. I still have some redness here or there on my feet where the straps hit, so I won't be wearing them tomorrow! Like any sandals, I will just have to toughen up. I still think I'll like them a lot once I do that.

One of the reasons I wore them today is because rain was in the forecast for the afternoon, and I knew they'd do fine if they got wet walking to/from the bus stop coming home. And they got soaked, but did just fine.

The footbeds are very, very comfy. When I was just standing up, but not walking, I thought they felt GREAT.

[kennaclimo]

I have a leg-length discrepancy, and had a custom shoe lift installed by a Chaco-'partnered' cobbler who is in Colorado near their original headquarters.

Hello. I'm in the same boat and wanting to get a lift installed. I've checked with a local cobbler and curious if shipping it off would be better. Do you recall the price?

Cheers!

[badgercat]

Hi Kennaclimo, I've responded to your PM!

[Kiwi Stoker]

From living two years in super hot and sweaty Singapore, my rule of thumb for avoinding blisters-

No matter how worn in or comfortable a pair of shoes NEVER wear the same pair two days in a row.

Day One- feet fine.

Day Two- they will blister.

Swap between at least 2 pairs of shoes and you shouldn't get blisters.

[Reesha]

I wore them to work today for the first time (yes, I have a very casual workplace!) They will definitely take some breaking in. No blisters, but the cross straps were noticeable and rubbed somewhat, especially since I did quite a bit of walking (to the bus stop, into work, about 1/2 mile each before and after work), all over our huge building at work, etc. I still have some redness here or there on my feet where the straps hit, so I won't be wearing them tomorrow! Like any sandals, I will just have to toughen up. I still think I'll like them a lot once I do that.

One of the reasons I wore them today is because rain was in the forecast for the afternoon, and I knew they'd do fine if they got wet walking to/from the bus stop coming home. And they got soaked, but did just fine.

The footbeds are very, very comfy. When I was just standing up, but not walking, I thought they felt GREAT.

I find that it's not that the bands need much breaking in, but more my feet needed some strategic calluses. Since I acquired those-- no problems!

[emily_in_nc]

I find that it's not that the bands need much breaking in, but more my feet needed some strategic calluses. Since I acquired those-- no problems!

I wear my Chacos all the time down here in Belize! That said, I have never been able to get really comfortable in them for longer walks; I think because the model I got does not have back of heel straps, so they flap, and I end up wasting a lot of "foot energy" clamping down with my toe. Thus I go slower and my feet get tired in time. But I wear them to ride my beach bike and then do our shopping and short jaunts around town, and they're great for that. I have very funny tan lines on my feet!

For longer walks where I need to walk faster, I still prefer my trail runners, though they are certainly hotter. Or my Tevas, since they strap around the heel so I don't waste energy clamping down with my toes.

[jessmarimba]

I think my first pair of chacos may need to be retired :(

They are about 10 years old, too worn out to re-sole, and I'm starting to get weird pain across the top of my foot when I wear them too long. But I love them too much to remember that.

[Jolt]

As much as I liked the idea of sandals that can be resoled, I ultimately decided the Chacos were way too heavy and clunky for me and bought a pair of Teva Zilch sandals this spring. If Chaco came up with a minimalist style like that and made it so the sole/straps could be replaced, I'd be first in line to get a pair! However, their current styles just aren't there.

[Irulan]

Straps can be replaced on Chacos.

[Trek420]

Straps can be replaced on Chacos.

Straps, soles, it can be remade again and again. Knott has a pair that's made the trip back several times. Eventually they can get to the point that it can't be repaired.

I'm ready to love them even more once again. They've brought back a few styles being made in the US!

http://madeinusareviews.blogspot.com/2010/07/re-made-in-usa.html

[Blueberry]

I'm ready to love them even more once again. They've brought back a few styles being made in the US!


Huh. Good to know. I had written them off.

Here (http://www.chacos.com/US/en/MyChacos) is the MyChacos site for custom made in the USA Chacos.

[jessmarimba]

So my second pair of Chacos are about 5 years old, and I noticed yesterday that the lugged part of the sole (Unaweep sole) is peeling off from the toes of both shoes. Now, at 5 years old, that could be normal wear and tear, except that the pair I have that is 10 years old (with the less-rugged Colorado soles), that I continued to wear as my favorites after I bought the second pair, are still in one piece. The soles are extremely worn, but not peeling. I know I can get them re-soled, but I sort of wonder if it's worth it now. I'm kind of unhappy about this.

[Jessicabuurman]

Great to hear about CHaco!
In my Opinion, You can get them resoled, too.

[Trek420]

Great to hear about CHaco!
In my Opinion, You can get them resoled, too.

It helps to send some chocolate to the Chaco elves in the package (wrapped securely) when you send them back.

Speaking of resoled the other thing we're getting into is Patagonia wornwear. Great prices, products and good for the environment.