With all this social distancing time, I’m catching up with long overdue product reviews. I’ve been wearing the Columbia PFG Fish Flip “sandal” (slippers to us locals), and the Columbia Grixen Oxford shoe for more than a year after catching a good sale.
The Grixen Oxfords look good enough for work and going out, and are waterproof with a grippy sole. Just checked though, and looks like they are discontinued. Shucks, it’s hard to find durable, decent looking shoes that can be used for pretty much all occasions.
The PFG (Performance Fishing Gear) Fish Flip has an anatomically contoured midsole and a grippy rubber sole. The sandals keep their shape, hold your feet in place and are made to wear wet.
Why do I care about grippy footwear? Well a few days before going to the Fred Hall Show in Long Beach, I slipped on a wet vinyl sided cardboard sheet in the rain, wearing rubba slippas. My back foot slid back, like a reverse lunge, and I ripped my middle toe nail completely off! My other toes were sliced up too. My first thought was whether I could still walk around the Show for 5 hrs. Thank God the antibacterial gel prevented infection and the Grixen shoes had extra room up front for band-aids!
I haven’t worn the offending rubba slippas since, and the Fish Flips have keep me planted, even when I swept out our flooded garage. If you don’t mind embroidered fish on the band of your slippers, I highly recommend the Fish Flips. And if you can find a pair of the discontinued Grixen Oxfords, jump on them. Look for sales, the Columbia products are often deeply discounted.
An Oxford boat shoes, that’s interesting! I’m definitely more a slippers guy, the shoes only come out for work lol. For holoholo and casual fishing I like the Sanuk Beer Cozys. On my third pair now. They’re pretty grippy but I really like soft, squishy feel. I also have a pair of leather olukais as my “nice” slippers. On my last vacation I was doing about 15k steps per day before the blisters forced me to switch to shoes on the 4th day lol.
Hey Jason,
Do the Beer Cozys soak up water if left in the rain on the porch? Heard some of the Sanuks are made from a material similar to a yoga mat.
Robert has the Grixen Oxford shoes too and wears them for outdoor site inspections in the mud. Waterproof – just spray ’em off!
-scott
They don’t seem to soak up water. It’s made of a foam material similar to a beer cozy. Real soft and easy in the feet.
Low maintenance and easy to clean is a real plus. Crocs are also really good in department. The few times I went fly fishing from a boat they were perfect, nice and grippy and easy to clean.
Ah, my wife was warned that a Sanuk she was looking at was made out of a yoga mat material and would soak up water. I thought the Beer Koozie ones were of the same material. Good to know! Thanks.