Home-made Huaraches, or Adventures in Cobbling...

[BarefootDevilDog]

I've been shopping around for some running sandals and I've been leaning towards the Xero shoes. However, I have to admit that the idea of making my own sandals/shoes sounds really appealing. I know I'm not the only one. Has anyone here experimented with different material for the soles besides rubber? I know for a lot of reasons, durability comes first to mind, it's the most obvious choice, but what else have you heard of being used or maybe tried yourself?

 

[Hobbit]

Hi,
you could investigate warajis: Japanese straw sandals:
http://www.shop-japan.co.jp/shop/jikatabi/how-to-wear-waraji-illust.htm
There are some tutorials on how to make them on the net.
The famous marathon monks of mount Hiei use this kind of footwear to run.
Personally I haven't tried them out yet, but they are on my to do list!

 

[NickW]

Here's an old blog post where I had used a doormat for the huaraches. The rubber from the doormat was a recycled rubber and lasted for a couple hundred miles (this is running miles, but I also wore them all the time as an everyday shoe and I wore them while backpacking in Yosemite) per huarache and I was able to get 4 or 5 out of 1 doormat. They were super cheap to work and had better ground feel than any huarache I've bought to date (Invisible Shoes(Xero Shoes), Luna Origionals, Luna Pacers, Unshoes Pah Tempe). http://thebarefootweave.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/homemade-huaraches/

 

[BarefootDevilDog]

Hi,
you could investigate warajis: Japanese straw sandals:
http://www.shop-japan.co.jp/shop/jikatabi/how-to-wear-waraji-illust.htm
There are some tutorials on how to make them on the net.
The famous marathon monks of mount Hiei use this kind of footwear to run.
Personally I haven't tried them out yet, but they are on my to do list!

Hobbit these look pretty cool. The lacing system looks like it would be very secure. I'll have to look into these more. Thanks for the tip.

 

[BarefootDevilDog]

Here's an old blog post where I had used a doormat for the huaraches. The rubber from the doormat was a recycled rubber and lasted for a couple hundred miles (this is running miles, but I also wore them all the time as an everyday shoe and I wore them while backpacking in Yosemite) per huarache and I was able to get 4 or 5 out of 1 doormat. They were super cheap to work and had better ground feel than any huarache I've bought to date (Invisible Shoes(Xero Shoes), Luna Origionals, Luna Pacers, Unshoes Pah Tempe). http://thebarefootweave.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/homemade-huaraches/

Great blogpost NickW. I actually whipped up a quick pair today like yours using some old boot laces and a rubber child's placemat. The placemat was really far too thin and smooth for anything other than walking around the house, but making them was good practice, especially where the laces were concerned. A trip to Home Depot is in my near future I think...

 

[NickW]

Great blogpost NickW. I actually whipped up a quick pair today like yours using some old boot laces and a rubber child's placemat. The placemat was really far too thin and smooth for anything other than walking around the house, but making them was good practice, especially where the laces were concerned. A trip to Home Depot is in my near future I think...

One thing, the leather that I would add for the footbed, this helped the sandal to retain it's flatness more, where just the rubber by itself would flop more. The other thing, with these doormat sandals you do have to tie them a little tighter than what you would a xero shoe or luna sandal. I really really loved my home made sandals that I am wearing in my avatar and they only got better as they aged with use.