BlackBear Frontier Edition - Brown Hemp

The sandals look good "out of the box" (though they got shipped with no box, but just inside an envelope - to save shipping costs I guess. I am not complaining).

The positives: The Vibram Zegama soles look burly and impressive. I did a reasonably tough hike in them already, and they hold very well - with impressive levels of grip. The hemp footbed itself is a bit meh. I should have ordered leather, maybe. Another positive is that the wide fit is extremely wide and that's a good thing. I have wide feet and these cover my feet fully, with no exposed toe hanging out.

Negatives: I have worn Luna Oso Flaco sandals for a few years, and adjusting the Toetem BlackBears was quite difficult. The pulltabs go through loops that are made of non-plastic, and it doesn't offer enough leverage to pull tight against it. I feel that I might tear the sandals if I pull harder. This makes adjusting the fit extremely difficult. Another fit problem is that the back-loop is quite low on the achilles tendon and it feels like the sandals might slip out anytime. They have not, but the fear is always lurking in my head. I cannot get them to fit me higher on the achilles tendon, and that's a shame.

Toetem Blackbear Frontier Hemp edition - not worth the money, imho.

The Frontier model with Zegama tread is fantastic for hiking and long distance walks. I have used mine daily since they arrived and am very happy with the fit, strap function and sole comfort. No issues with the soft webbing of the toe post, and the straps hold my foot well. I needed to switch out to a shorter strap due to my foot shape, and Rone was very responsive and sent the new ones promptly, just in time for my trip. Rone makes quality sandals…I hope he branches out to shoes soon too.

These are ideal for trails because of the vibram zegama outsole they are made with. The straps take a bit of working around if you have lower instep since the Velcro needs a bit of customization, what I did was cut some of the leftover Velcro from the end of the strap and used gorilla glue to attach it to the part of the strap I needed at. When you are finally done with all of this tweaking, you can adjust the straps to your ideal fit and do not need undo the strap tightening since you can slip your feet in and out of the sandal. The vibram zegama tread is ideal for walking/running on wet slippery rocks. I strongly encourage Rone and his wife to consider making clogs with the same footbed, midsole and outsole since the zegama tread make it ideal for trekking in the snow and even ice!

These are ideal for trails because of the vibram zegama outsole they are made with. The straps take a bit of working around if you have lower instep since the Velcro needs a bit of customization. What I did was cut some of the leftover Velcro from the end of the strap and used gorilla glue to attach is to the part of the strap I needed at. It was fun to get to adjust them to my liking. When you are finally done with all of this tweaking, you can adjust the steps to your ideal fit and do not need undo the strap tightening since you can slip your feet in and out of the sandal. The vibram zegama tread is ideal for walking/running on wet slippery rock and even snow/ ice! I strongly encourage Rone and his wife to consider making clogs for the fall/ winter with the same footbed, midsole and outsole since the zegama tread make it ideal for trekking in the snow and even ice! Great job, Toetem family!

I recently wore my Frontiers in Machu Picchu on some SLIPPERY steps and holy crap these saved my life multiple times! The grip on these surpassed all my friends $300+ hiking boots. I can’t recommend these enough.