Good Earth Sandals are a well-established, family-run Hawaiian company with a storefront in Hilo, Hawaii.
This review first appeared on my Instagram page here and in video form here and here. Check out Good Earth Sandals on Instagram here and their website here.
Technical details:
- “vegetable tanned, drum dyed, and most importantly, chemical-free”
- The bottom is a single piece of thick leather and the straps are thin leather of 3 mm, from what I can tell.
- Sizing is true to size and the company has printable templates on their site.
Pros:
- The look is just the best! These sandals are a timeless look and have been produced for decades in Hawaii, by hand.
- Naturally earthing with the leather sole and lacing.
- Molds to your foot either through wear or faster if you use water to speed up the process.
Cons:
- The lacing is thin and can begin to dig, depending on your foot and sensitivity. Start with their suggested lacing style (diagram on-site and on the box they come with) or try your own. I’m utterly incorrigible, so I’ve put together my own and tried several others.
- Ground feel is so-so. There’s always a trade-off between durability and ground feel. They could go thinner and more flexible with the leather, but then it will wear out faster.
Tips:
- Any leather cording will stretch for some time with wear. This can feel annoying at first, as you have to tighten each section of your lacing, but it will stop after some wears.
- These shoes start you out slipping and sliding, but with even an hour of wear on my new pair I can already see where my foot is starting to mold them. Continued wear will shape them entirely to my foot.
- The leather will darken over time, as you can see in my second-hand older pair. It’s gorgeous!
- You can trade out the laces and you shouldn’t go thinner. I did that by mistake and that feels like razors on my feet. If you go thicker, you may need to widen the holes. TreadLightGear on Etsy has an inexpensive and long extra lacing option, but it will require hacking.
- I have these entirely for casual wear, but on their site they say that they are running-appropriate. Which probably means they’re good for some nature as well.
- With the above said, beware of slipping, especially when new. The bottom is pretty smooth!
- These are thick and make you feel like the bottom of your foot just got a lot thicker but you are walking like you are barefoot. This might feel too thin for those new to the barefoot world, but I love it.
What do you think? Have any questions? Share in the comments!
Want more reviews?
Check out All the Barefoot Shoe Reviews for more in-depth looks.