Earthquake Sandals V2 - Two Week Review

Images from www.bedrocksandals.com

I've been wearing these V2 sandals for two weeks now, about as much as I possibly can. So much so that my wife is making fun of me for sitting there relaxing or reading at night with them on. But hey, I like them! As I mentioned before, I ran across them while searching for a lightweight running sandal as an alternative to the FiveFingers that didn't work for me at all. The Bedrock V2 advertises itself as a "sandal built for minimalist running, hiking, and traveling with natural barefoot feel and function. Inspired by simple ancient designs and built with high tech outdoor tested materials." Essentially, the sandal is a flat piece of 6mm Vibram cut into a curved approximation of the human foot shape. The strap system is single length of 1/2" nylon webbing run through slots cut in the sole and attached altogether in a single buckle at the top of the foot on each sandal. My initial impressions were surprise as the extreme light weight and a bit of skepticism at both the shape of the sole and the ability of the very simple strap system to snugly hold the sole in place on my foot. At first glance, the strapping system (which follows roughly the same route as the traditional huarache style) appears to be just a little more secure than a flip-flop. In reality, the strap uses the indentation of the Achilles area above the heel and the top of the foot to hold the sole tightly in place. In fact, the strapping system does such a good job at keeping the sole from moving around too much that the soles, after two weeks, have begun to mold to the arch of my foot and keep their shape when removed. It's as if they are slowly becoming custom fit. As you might expect, these sandals excel in breathe-ability and weigh in at just 3.2 ounces.

As for running, they do provide a very barefoot feel. The 6mm sole material is thin enough that you can feel just about everything beneath your feet. On the trail, even small stones, depressions, and texture changes are apparent. They grip dirt and stone nicely, on par with the FiveFingers in my opinion. The drawbacks are pretty much the ones you would logically expect - grit likes to work it's way between the foot and the sole (especially annoying on sand), little protection for your foot from potential injury from the likes of poking sticks, snakes, poison ivy, etc., and not much insulation for fall/winter wear. But come on, if you expected any of those things from a pair of sandals, your expectations might be a bit too high. The only bit of aggravation I have had with them so far is that the flat Vibram sole creates a noticeable slap when running on asphalt. You know the sound because you hear it when people walk through Walmart in flip-flops. The loudness of the slap seems to have lessened as they've broken in and taken a bit less of a flat shape, so maybe this is an annoyance that will work itself out. We'll see.

For a great summer running trail shoe, it'd be hard to go wrong with a pair of these. They are a good deal less expensive than running-styled FiveFingers, Tevas, Keens, or the like, and are about as compact and low maintenance as you can get. Running aside, I've been loving them for fishing and canoeing too. Side note, expect the requisite 'Jesus sandal' comments. It's inevitable, but on the up side, if my imitation of Christ can extend even to my footwear, I am quite okay with that.

Summary: Bedrock Earthquake V2 sandals are good.

Buy a pair here.