These Waterproof Hiking Sandals Are Ugly. I Love Them Anyway.

The draw of a traditional sporty sandal, such as a Teva or Chaco sandal, is that the shoe is comfy and walkable but still allows your feet to breathe. But such designs often sacrifice protection. The Keen Newport H2 doesn’t make you choose between comfort and safety.

The Newport H2 sandals have a wide toe box, allowing the toes to remain splayed out, rather than cramped. The foot has space to sit in a natural position, without any pressure on the little toes or big toes, so even after a long day of wear, I don’t feel that overwhelming sense of relief taking them off as I might with ballet flats or loafers.

At the tip of the toe box, you’ll see a fat rubber block, a feature the company calls the Toe Bumper. Visually, this put me off at first, especially its hazard-symbol detail, but after my first experience wading into a rocky lake with these shoes on, I grew to appreciate its functionality. Hidden rocks and spiky plants on the ocean floor are no match for the strong rubber toe. Even in an urban environment, the Toe Bumper adds protection, namely from the oftentimes gross items on the streets of New York City (trash, chewed gum).

Adding more comfort is the footbed, which is made of molded ethylene-vinyl acetate foam. As Will Schuch, Keen’s global director of product and merchandising, explained in an interview, the EVA foam is designed to be a “balance of lightweight, shock-absorbing, and durable.”

In place of traditional laces or Velcro straps, these sandals use a bungee cord, for both functionality and fashion reasons. I thought it was ugly at first — but it grew on me quickly. When you slip the fastening clip down, it holds strong, and this gives you true control over how tight you want the sandals to fit at that moment. For everyday wear, I personally keep the bungee cord pretty loose, but I pull it tighter for hiking or slippery situations, which adds a layer of security. The cord also tucks nicely into itself, so you aren’t left with flapping laces.

The Keen sandals allow for airflow without sacrificing grip, living up to the “part water sandal, part hiker” claims on the Keen website. The outsole has lugs (raised rubber tabs) running in different directions and razor siping (slits within the rubber surface), which, according to the Keen website, adds traction for walking on damp surfaces. That shoe jargon translates to a pretty great experience: hiking without slipping, even when the ground is wet.

When I first purchased the shoes, I tested this out, embarking on a waterfall hike in Northern California where the terrain was mainly smooth, wet rocks, a perfect recipe for disaster. But with these sandals on my feet, I comfortably hiked to and even past the waterfall without a slip.

Technically you can wear socks with most sandals, but these are particularly well fit for the pairing. I’ve worn them with all kinds of socks, including more slippery fabrics like cashmere. Thanks to the grippy soles, my feet always feel stable, with no slipping or sliding around in the sandals. Plus, the extra coverage on the top helps my socks stay mostly clean.

I wear socks with these sandals only on occasions such as a crisp morning in the mountains or an early spring day in the city, though you certainly could pair socks with these shoes for hiking.

If you do, Trey French, writer of our guide to the best hiking socks, suggests investing in a pair of specialized hiking socks for the best experience. He specifically recommends the Darn Tough Light Hiker Micro Crew Lightweight Hiking Socks for these shoes, as they are “a great match for breathable footwear.” The socks have light padding, which helps to prevent blisters by cushioning the feet against the sandals’ footbed during hikes, and the micro-crew length offers added protection against lower-leg scratches, he says.

Whether it’s campsite dust or wet ocean sand, these shoes clean up in no time. You have no laces to remove; just leave the bungee cinch as is while you clean. I typically rinse them with water, either at an outdoor water spigot or in my shower when I get home from a trip. However, they are also machine-washable.

The Keen website suggests placing them in the washing machine on a gentle cycle with a small amount of detergent. Once they’re done, lay them out to air-dry.

Whether you rinse them or machine-wash them, they dry impressively quickly. Schuch explained in an interview that the shoe is made with a “quick-drying polyester lining” coupled with a core made from styrene-butadiene rubber. The mesh is meant to be hydrophobic, he said, quickly pushing away water. The SBR core helps to keep the shoe cushioned and comfortable, “similar to a wetsuit.” Just lay them somewhere with open air to dry out. In my experience, they go from wet to dry in only a few hours, if that.

And the rubber is notably non-marking. Schuch told me that this feature is especially important to Keen fans who use the shoes on a boat. “Rubber, especially wet-grip-specific options, can leave nasty marks on floors and boat decks, so we ensure we use a rubber that is both grippy and won’t mark up your home or boat.”

While these sandals certainly aren’t fit for every occasion, their once-cringe appearance has grown on me over the years, and I would buy them again if I were to go back in time. Their $130 price isn’t exactly cheap, but considering that these sandals feel as good as new two years and many hikes later, I consider it money well spent.

So are these sandals an excellent summer shoe for outdoor and city adventures alike? Yes, absolutely. But are they stylish? Well, that’s up to you.

This article was edited by Hannah Rimm and Maxine Builder.