Our Story

It all began on our second deployment in the Middle East when we were unable to run as much as we wanted in preparation for upcoming ultramarathons due to the extreme heat and lack of space. We needed to find an alternative to start strengthening our feet and ankles for the upcoming abuse they would inevitably endure during these long ultramarathon treks. That’s when we started to look into the footwear we were wearing on a daily basis. We mainly relied on a popular rigid cork insoled sandal with high arch support. We found these sandals acted as more of a cast for our feet, preventing natural foot movement. Anyone who has ever broken a bone knows that when you put that limb into a cast it atrophies over time causing it to become weak and injury prone.  This is when the idea was born: turn our sandals into a tool to strengthen our feet rather than weaken them.

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About myself 

I started making sandals out of the upstairs room in my house for some friends, really trying to dial in the design and gaining valuable honest feedback from them. Most of my free time went into tweaking the design, trying out new techniques and materials, and trying to build something that felt like a second skin on your foot. Word started spreading and more people became interested. I began selling sandals to people in my local area, continuing to fine tune the design and making process. With all the good feedback, I only recently decided to expand the shop from our local market into the online space and even internationally.

Right now, I make each and every sandal by hand myself with help from a few close friends and my girlfriend for sizing and shipping. I sketch the designs, hand-cut every piece of leather, stitch each buckle, and carefully finish and polish each sandal. I am currently in the U.S. Navy stationed in Virginia. That means all of the sandal making happens during my free time. I am often required to travel for training which can extend lead times for the sandal production and deployments will cause me to shut down the shop for months at a time. Since the production is mainly just myself hand making the sandals from start to finish, I thank you for being patient with me. I take my time on each and every pair of sandals and don’t cut corners to increase production. I work very hard during my time off to make each pair of sandals up to the highest quality standards that our customers deserve. Having irregular and flat feet myself, I love to work directly with customers if you need custom designs to give you the most comfortable sandal for your specific feet as everyone varies so much.

We created all of this based on an idea and then the customers have molded it into what it is today. A big part of our business is listening to our customers. I value feedback from all of you as I continually strive to perfect these sandals and make the best footwear I possibly can. Thanks for sticking with us and thank you for the continued support along the way!

 - Nate