Reviews > Footwear > Sandals > Chaco Z2 Sandals > Owner Review by Rick Allnutt

Chaco Z2 Terreno Sandals
Owner Review by Rick Allnutt

PERSONAL BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Rick Allnutt
50 Year old male
6' 0'' (183 cm) in height
198 lb (90 kg) in weight
Email address: ra1 (at) imrisk (dot) com
I live in Dayton, Ohio

BACKPACKING BACKGROUND
Over the last 18 months, I have gone from being a heavyweight (2 Duluth Pack) canoe camper to a three-season base pack weight of about 9 lb (4 kg) and skin out weight of 20 lb (9 kg). I have completed 6 ultralight section hikes on the Appalachian Trail (AT) with a total mileage of over 200 miles (322 km). I am an ultralight hiker, a gearhead, a hammock camper, and make much of my own equipment.  I have worn sandals on all but 40 mi (64 km) of my AT section hikes.

PRODUCT INFORMATION
Manufacturer: Chaco, Inc.
Year Manufactured: 2003
Manufacturer's Link: Chaco
Size: 11 (US)
Listed Weight: NA
Measured Weight of pair: 2 lb 6 oz (1.1 kg)
Review Date: 29 March 2004

REVIEW
I really like these sandals!  They allow me to backpack in almost every condition without foot pain and without blisters.  

I have always had problems with blisters when hiking.  My feet feel hot inside boots, even in the winter.  As I began to do some reading about the cause of blisters in 2002, I became convinced that the cause of my blisters could be the combination of friction and wet skin inside my shoes.  I became obsessed with finding a way to keep my feet dry while hiking.  I learned that the two choices I had were frequent stops to dry my feet or wearing sandals.  

I first noticed the use of Chaco sandals by long distance hikers when I backpacked in the White Mountains in July of 2003.  I was impressed with the number of thru-hikers wearing Chacos.  If these hikers, with 1800 miles of trail behind them, were extolling the virtues of the sandals, Chacos were worth another look on my part.  

I obtained a pair of Chaco Z2s (actually I ordered Z1s, but Z2s were delivered) from an Internet company.  My sandals have the Terreno sole, a moderate Vibram® sole.  They came hours before I was to start a 56 mi (90 km) AT section hike in southern Virginia.  The Chaco sandals have a single strap that cleverly can be pulled through tunnels in the sole of the sandal to adjust to different shaped feet.  Z1 sandals do not have a separate loop for the great toe.  The Z2 sandals do have a loop for the great toe.  I had read that the Z2s can be set up just like the Z1s by pulling the toe loop flat to the sole of the sandal and taking up the slack at an adjusting Ladderloc.  I decided to try that and keep the Z2s.  I used a piece of electrical tape to hold the extra strap and keep it from flopping with each step. This strategy has worked well. 

The sole of the sandal grips all sorts of rock and dirt very well.  The rubber is sticky enough that it holds as well as any other footwear I have ever tried.  The sandal's foot bed is a non-absorptive rubber covering with some texture.  It has not  irritated my foot.  The surface is mildly sculpted in the factory.  It fits the shape of my sole and feels comfortable.  The straps are of a non-absorptive webbing that dries very quickly after wading through a stream.  

I have always worn the Z2s as though they were Z1s.  I am not comfortable with the strap rubbing on the inside of my great toe, and this also makes it impossible to use standard socks with the sandals.  (Socks can be modified to wear with a toe loop.) I have had zero problems with the webbing pulled flat on the foot bed under my great toe. 

I have mainly worn very light nylon liner socks when hiking with these sandals.  The purpose of the socks is twofold, first to act as a friction barrier, and second to keep my heels from cracking.  This has worked very well.  In the 90 AT mi (145 km) I have put on the sandals, I have had no blisters at all.  I have begun using some oil on my foot calluses once a day to additionally protect my skin from cracking in the sandals.  Without use of oil on my feet, I also find that almost all socks creep under my foot and gather between my foot and the foot bed of the sandal.  This seems to be due to the sock sticking to the sandpaper like callus on the edges of my foot and to the rolling nature of stepping on uneven surfaces while hiking.  This kind of sock creep is virtually eliminated when I use some petroleum jelly or cooking oil on the callus each day.  

Whenever I wear sandals hiking, little bits of sticks and small stones get between my sandal and me.  That is the way of sandal hiking.  I find it very easy to kick out a small pebble or stick almost every time this happens.  Occasionally, it is necessary to lift the foot and separate my sole from the sandal foot bed.  This allows the piece of debris to fall out without having to take the sandal off.  

I have used the sandals with waterproof, breathable, insulated socks.  For winter hiking, especially when crossing ice cold streams, this is the cat's meow!  The sandals allow the outside of the sock to breathe and evaporate moisture from my foot.  Vapor permeable membranes depend on an environment where the body part inside the membrane is moist and warm compared with cooler temperatures outside.  There is no better footgear to promote passage of water vapor than the sandal.  

I have tried using the sandals and waterproof socks in snow.  This has not worked well.  The snow quickly cakes between my foot and the sandal in irregular lumps.  Even a walk as short as a quarter hour in deep snow is very unpleasant.  For the minimal snow in the picture that begins this report, the sandals are quite comfortable, with or without socks.  

Maintaining the sandals is very simple.  They can be washed with soap to remove all traces of mud or grime from the straps and foot bed.  Usually, fording an occasional stream does this perfectly well for hiking purposes, washing my feet off at the same time.  The only time I ever needed to do more cleaning was after walking and swimming on a beach.  Sand had worked its way into the strap's tunnels in the footbed.  I needed to gently pull the straps back and forth through the tunnel with the sandal underwater to work the sand out of the tunnel. 

Adjustments to size are very easy to accomplish by adjusting the Ladderloc.  Then a pull here or there on one or another of the straps brings the sandal into adjustment everywhere.  The final tweaking is automatic as my foot pulls on the straps.  I occasionally find that my feet are a little more swollen at the end of a long day than at the beginning.  It is nice to be able to adjust size so easily.  Similar adjustments in the sandal's size make using Sealskinz socks more comfortable, removing any feeling of tightness I have felt with other footwear. 

TEST CONDITIONS
I have used the sandals on several section hikes of the AT, in rain, heat, and cold.  I have forded countless streams, sat with my feet in cool streams, worn the sandals on long beach hikes, and generally worn them everywhere (including semi-formal places like church) for the last 9 months. They continue to look great and have given me no problems at all. Temperatures have ranged from below freezing to temperatures that would burn my skin if I were not wearing the sandals.  I have worn them on sand, dirt, mud, gravel, rock, concrete, asphalt, wood, and grass.  I have worn them on steep ascents and descents.  I have worn them while swimming.  They work everywhere.

LIKES and DISLIKES

Best: No blisters, no not one!
Worst: I find it hard to list anything to complain of, save that these sandals are the single heaviest piece of kit in my whole caboodle.

Reviews > Footwear > Sandals > Chaco Z2 Sandals > Owner Review by Rick Allnutt