Cheap Sandals

It is approaching summer, and in the mornings I prefer to walk my dog with sandals. In the past, I have been a huge Birkenstock fan. They are wide (and since I have 11.5 EEE feet that is good) with great arch support, and they are just super comfortable.

The downside is that because I walk about 3 miles A DAY, they wear out pretty fast. Like in 4 - 5 months. Sure, I can get them resoled, and I have in the past, but by the third resole, they are pretty shagged out.

The other downside is that they are $110 - $130 a pair (depending on the footbed, the $130 ones are cushioned, and super comfortable).

I thought I would save a few bucks and buy a pair of Teva's. They are about $70, they can't be resoled, but they are pretty durable. Probably get 1.5X the Birks life out of a pair, so a pretty good trade off.

So, when I was browsing for them, I saw some $17 knock-offs on Amazon. They looked like Teva's, so why not, $17 is noise.

I ordered them, and alas they are really cheap. Like flip-flop quality soles, and just cheesy. I knew they wouldn't last, but hell, $17, I will just wear them until they fall apart.

I got about a week ago, then they turned evil on me. They decided to chew up my toe, so bad that it bled for almost a whole day.

Fuck that, they are getting donated to the Salvation Army, and I ordered another pair of Birkenstocks. The Birk's arrive on Monday, and I probably got another month before I need to send in my current pair for a re-soling.

Long ago, I learnt that one doesn't save money with foot ware. That remains true to this day.