Teva Men's Original Universal Urban Sandal, Black, 10 M US Review

I've had these sandals for about 3 years now and feel like I can give them an honest review. They're thin. Almost flip-flop thin. But that's understandable and a good thing for me. The very first Teva sandals were flip-flops with 2 watch bands attached to secure the sandals to the inventor's feet. So the name of these sandals say it all. The compact size is great for a light packer, like me, taking up very little space in my bag. The EVA footbed is squishy and comfortable. The raised waffle pattern helps keep my feet dry & comfortable. And the microban treatment keeps the sandals smelling like new. Teva's Durabrasion rubber sole feels like it'll last quite a long time. I use my sandals for light to medium walking; walking on resort property and around the city. I don't go hiking in these (would you hike in flip-flops?). Now for the bad news. The toe strap on the left sandal digs into my pinky toe. This seems to be a common problem with some people. My solution was to loosen the toe strap until it stopped digging into my toe. Of course I had to adjust the right sandal to match. The ankle straps are fairly snug to prevent the sandals from slipping off my feet. The length is about a 1/2" too long for my feet. I wear an 8.5-9, depending on the manufacturer, and I bought these in size 9. Most Teva sandals can be adjusted behind the heel, but not these. There are only 2 adjustment points, the toes and the ankles. So after my adjustments there is about 3/4" behind my heels and my toes are almost to the front edge. Another small peeve I have is that the Velcro straps feel like Velcro tape, very thin. Overall though, I like these sandals because they're light and comfortable, have a bit of arch support, have rubber soles for traction & durability, and perform well enough for my purposes all in a compact size.

I am very happy with these. I had initially bought Chacos, buying into the hype of the strapping system and the durability. Unfortunately, the molded heel bed for Chacos do not fit my feet at all and hurt a lot. I returned those and went with the main competitors, Teva. I'm very glad I did.These fit my feet much better. They have a somewhat molded foot bed, but the material is softer and compresses under my weight more. The velcro on the straps is a bit annoying, but I find these easier to get on and off than Chacos. The heel strap sits more across my heel than my Achilles tendon and it feels very secure. I have run around in these without them slipping off. The strap that goes around the front of my ankle sits a bit high, making them feel secure around the ankle. The only problem I had, as other reviewers noted, was the plastic triangle where the three straps near the toes meet. Only on my right foot it caused pressure on the protruding joint near my small toe. But, since the triangles are not equilateral, I was able to rotate the one causing pain and have not had an issue since.Comparing these against standard Chacos, they are obviously not as durable. If you need something as durable as Chacos, I'm sure Teva makes a closer competitor that will be equally as durable (and expensive). The footbed is a relatively soft EVA material, which is comfortable to walk on out of the box. The outsole is a little bit stiffer rubber, but nothing like the Vibram/Chacogrip outsoles on Chaco that can be resoled and are highly durable.My typical uses for these outside of day to day wear is hiking and biking. I will wear these for only the mildest of trails, whereas I would trust the Chacos more for rugged terrain, but they will give my feet some rest if I've been wearing my hiking shoes a lot. That said, these weigh significantly less than Chacos, so using these as camp shoes isn't as arduous as hauling around a pair of 1lb sandals. I've been biking to and from work in these, and they work great. They certainly aren't high performance, stiff soled shoes, but they work better than running shoes and my feet don't slide around on the pedals with these on.

I wear these pretty much every day, and they are quite nice.They replaced a pair of wal-mart sandals that I liked so much I kept wearing them after I wore a hole through one of the soles. (So of course they discontinued the model!)These fit quite well. I generally wear a men's 12 in sandals, and these are right in line with that. I have pretty flat arches, and these are just right, which is to say not much arch support.I've been wearing them daily for about 7 months, and have probably walked at least 2 miles every day in them, and there is still plenty of tread left on the soles. So they seem quite durable.The velcro in the straps still holds well, but there is a little fraying in places. Also one minor complaint: there is a little cloth part on the end of the straps which seems like it would be a tab to make it easy to grab the end...but the velcro extends onto the cloth part...so the end result is it actually makes it even harder to undo the straps. It's become a bit easier over time, and not a huge deal. Much better than having them come undone too easily.

These are pretty much the sandals that Michael Fay used to walk across the Congo Basin. They are simple, rugged, strap on well and are comfortable, with one exception. If you are walking on a street with pebbles there is a high probability of picking up a pebble between your foot and the sole, and the shape of the sandal means it goes right under your heel. I have gotten good at swiping the pebble out with a finger. I wore one pair for several years and 5-6 miles of walking every day, and am on a second pair. These are good basic sandals that can take a lot of miles. If you need arch support these aren't for you as they are flat.

My son generally wears flip flops as much as he can, basically refusing to wear shoes at all when it is warm weather. We were heading to Rome for a week and I knew that we would be walking a lot every day on cobblestones and sometimes in crowds so he definitely needed something more stable and supportive than flip flops. He wore these sandals every day and we walked 8-10 miles or more each day and he said that they were very comfortable.