Skinners Arvostelua 

Nice but exy and box is a waste!

I was initially interested after seeing an additional on FB for these as I'm pretty keen on traveling/adventure holidays etc. Which require a range of gear for a wide variety of activities all squeezed into one bag and these looked like a compact, light weight, versatile bit of footwear.

The price was a bit steep and intially I hunted for a discount code without any joy, then as it was just after Christmas emailed asking if there was a January sale coming up... there wasn't....I asked if there was a deal if I bought 4 pairs (me and the wife, plus a brother that's into hiking and climing and sister who's into diving) but the best they could offer was free shipping if I bought 5 pairs. I decided not to bother at this point.

6 months later and a bit of unexpected cash came in just before a 3 week trip round Australia, plenty of diving, hiking, paddling about on the beach etc. So I picked up a pair for me and the wife.

When the arrived the box was very high end thick card and clearly meant to convey a premium product....I immediately threw it in the bin....nice as it was, I was hardly going to keep it as a piece of display art. All the product information could easily have been provided on a sheet of recycled paper, lowering the cost of the product and it's environmental impact, which could be popped into the included carry bag.

Now the bag itself was pretty handy, made from a nice material which seemed to keep the moisture from seeping out into the rest of your kit, whilst also being breathable enough to let the Skinner's dry. However the lace ties were not properly sealed so started to fray and they also weren't tied up well so almost immediately unthreaded themselves and got lost! A proper cord lock would have gone a long way here. In fact I believe the product should be delivered just in it's bag, not the pointless box, if it had a proper cord lock.

The product itself we used a fair bit, though it was very much a great bonus to have rather than a couldn't survive without it. Ideal for swimming when the water access was rocky; or what was also handy was when it was muddy or sandy you could get out and back to your clothes to change and didn't have to dirty up your towel trying to get your feet clean before putting shoes back on.

The protection level was a nice layer compared to barefoot but you definitely felt it if you stepped on an isolated sharp pebble on a hard surface for instance, therefore they are not suitable for running on all surfaces.

They do take a while to dry, but are comfortable when wet.

I spent about 5 hours wadding in shallow water in these in a mud/sand mix (the wife loved them when we hit muddy bits where you feet sank in the slime) and by the end I did feel a bit of rubbing on the top of my left toes where there is a slight seam. When I took them off there was a red patch, but the skin was not broken or blisterd. Still I was Slightly disappointed by this to be honest.

Sadly in the final days of the holiday I left them on the parcel shelf of a rental car to dry on the drive to the airport and in the rush to drop off the car (we were running a bit late) left them behind. I was pretty upset actually, they had been great to have, and we bought them for a special trip so they had a lot of great memories, plus I felt we had paid quite a lot for them. I have flipped and flopped about whether to replace them, but at the moment can't see it happening. Whilst I was pretty happy with them and after I had paid for them thought "well they are an investment, they should last and we will get plenty of use out of them" you can get by without them and they are just too expensive. Maybe I'll get them again if they have a sale on...and if it's good enough discount, a pair for my brother and sister two, they look cool and would make a nice gift for an active outdoorsy individual.