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Review
Comments:
 Overview:
I purchased my pair of Crocs Beach shoes as camp shoes
and for water crossings and so will focus this review primarily from that
aspect. It does appear that they are marketed with a range of uses which
extend beyond my use.
I am not sure how one describes a Croc Beach. My best
shot would be to call them a "plastic" sandal, but they are not really
plastic, they are made of a "Croslite PCCR material" according to Crocs.
They are two piece moulded sandal with the substantive part of the sandal
being one moulded piece. The ankle strap is the second part and this
attached by rivets.
Paraphrasing Crocs, the Beach are a buoyant orthotic
[sic] footbed sandal with a toe-box ventilation system. The soles are
slip-resistant and the footbed anti-microbial and odor resistant. The big
thing I noticed about the Beach when I purchased them is that the toe-box is
quite roomy given the size of the sandal. That is a sandal the right length
has a larger toe-box area than what I expected with a normal shoe or sandal.
This aspect did take me awhile to get used to.
Field Conditions:
As I mentioned early I purchased the Crocs Beach sandals
with the intention of using them as camp shoes and for river and stream
crossings where I didn't want to wear my trail shoes or boots. I have had
the Crocs since March 2006 and have used them on my eight day walk of the
Fitzgerald River National Park as camp shoes, on weekend backpacks in the
Yanchep National Park and St John's Brook Conservation Park, on geocaching
trips where I anticipated having to cross flowing creeks or wade the edges
of rivers and at the beach.
This has seen the Crocs used in very sandy conditions
(camps on beaches), camps in bush (easy to pick up sticks etc); walking on
rocks (limestone included) and hanging out the beach playing cricket.
Field Experience:
As I alluded to early my primary purpose for purchasing
the Crocs was to use them as camp shoes and for creek and river crossings.
What attracted me was their weight. At 360 g (13 oz) this seemed a good
weight compared to my
Bite Trail Low sandals which I had been using. I also liked the look of
the Crocs in respect to the ventilation which I expected would let the water
flow through easily and that there was nothing to soak up water.
 Okay
so how have they gone in this regard? Well I have mixed feelings about my
usage of the Crocs. I do like them, they are comfortable, they are great at
the beach, they are quite good around camp and in creeks and rivers but they
are bulky and a pain to get into a backpack, particularly on the Fitzgerald
River National Park bushwalk where we started out with eight days of food
and on some days had to carry up to nine litres (9.50 US Quarts) and so
space was at a premium. It is this aspect more than anything that has me
continuing to look for a replacement camp shoe.
In terms of wearing them. At the end of a long days walk,
with my feet closed up in my trail shoes I found it a relief to get the
Crocs on. The wide toe-boxes really came into their own here, in that they let
my feet spread out and relax. So great from this perspective and I have
found they have survived camp life okay so far. No damage from sticks poking
them for example. I also find they are quite effective at protecting my feet
from sticks and stones despite the ventilation holes.
However those same ventilation holes are really good at
letting in sand. This was quite noticeable at the sandy campsites and on one
particularly geocaching trip which involved wading up the Swan River here in
Perth. The Swan River is tidal, so with the tide flowing I found I was
quickly picking up sand from the river bed in the Crocs. On the positive
side a quick removal and rinse and the Crocs are clear of derbis.
Where I have used them as my walking shoe, e.g., wading
up the Swan River and clambering over the rocks whilst carrying a light day
pack, again I have found the Crocs quite effective as foot protection. In
light of this experience I will continue to use them in these circumstances particularly on
short geocaching trips.
So in summary I am pretty happy with the Crocs and will
continue to use them for water related activities but will continue to look
for a better solution as a camp shoe.
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