Gear and equipment forum

I think I would opt for a pair of training shoes for your hiking and a pair of sandals for everything else, if you don't want to carry a second pair, maybe go for training shoes which are easy to slip on and off.

I never wear open toed footwear for a variety of reasons:

1. They don't do much to protect your feet - except for the souls. So stubbing the toe is easy to do, and the sidewalks here seem to have plenty of things to stub your toe on.
2. If you ride any kind of motorcycle (which I do every day), they are a real safety issue.
3. Mosquitos will happily munch the exposed part of your foot.

Whatever you do, don't wear socks with them. Only fashion challenged dorks do this.

"Whatever you do, don't wear socks with them. Only fashion challenged dorks do this."



Madmac, while it may be a TERRIBLE fashion faux pas to wear socks with sandals in the middle of a Laotian jungle, they do offer you some protection from mosquito bites ( and maybe even leeches)and they help prevent your feet getting scratched by undergrowth etc.

They also absorb sweat, meaning your feet are less likely to slide around in the shoes when you're going up or down hill. They'll also keep your feet a bit cleaner.

In fact, most of the advantages of closed toed shoes you mentioned can be obtained by wearing a pair of socks. Socks are useful in planes, trains and buses ... better for the circulation on long journeys than shoes and they help prevent frostbite when the A/C is set for *arctic blast* (as it often is). Socks are light and not as bulky as shoes. Socks are cheap and can be discarded when you no longer need them.

I always have at least one pair of socks with me when I'm travelling because they are USEFUL and I don't give a toss if the ex army salsa dancing expat population in Issan think I look like a bag lady!!