My barefoot sandal journey started when one of my younger cousins pointed his feet at me and asked me, ‘Can you do this?’. He was bending his toes one by one, as one can do with their fingers. I could barely make them flex. This put a seed in my mind that I should work on the flexibility of my toes.
Then I found and read the book, “Born to Run”, which talked about the Tarahumara tribes from South America who used barebones sandals traditionally made of leather, but now also using recycled tyres. I was already into running, and making my own pair was the next step.
My very first pair was rubber flip flop, which I customised with laces and some pieces of leather. I used this for more than six months. I used to run on the empty BRTS bus tracks early in the morning and this was perfect. Only once I stepped on a nail and it went throught the soft rubber. This needs better soles, I decided.
The centerpoint for footwear related supplies in Ahmedabad is near Gheekanta Police chowki. I discovered shops selling rubber from tyres of different thickness, as well as different kinds of leather. If one is not too concerned with the color, it is possible to find enough for a pair in the scrap leather basket. Ahmedabad also has a thriving costume manufacturing industry and the odd shaped pieces of leather waste also are sold at this place.
The first designs just had laces that were knotted beneath the sole. These worked fine, once they got flat after a few days usage. Constant use would fray these knots and it would suddenly unravel, mid run. Why not make multiple grips, I wondered? Why not one between each toe? That is how the multi toes version came into being. Even if one of these broke there were three more as backup.
There was also an aesthetic issue with the knots being visible beneath the soles. They were very unsightly when sitting cross legged at a cafe, where beneath the sole was visible. Now I have a sandwich sole design where the knots are trapped between two layers of rubber.
These were also great just for casual outings. As long as you did not need to open, and then retie the laces once you wanted to put them back. This also came into picture when you visited traditional family homes, or temples. Currently I am resting out a version were there is a elastic band at the back, which makes it easy to remove and put back on. I have used a rubber tube from a excercise resistance band for these. These have been working great since the last few months as my everywhere wear.
I have not purchased footwear since last 4 years since I discovered these. With five toed socks these are perfect even for winter. I have sold these both inside India and internationally. You can order a pair here at my Etsy page with special price for India.
Or you can make your own. I am sure there are many more possibilities and this can be improved and customized even more. Making it requires basic hand tool knowledge for cutting the rubber sole. If you can cut the rubber sole, you can easily cut leather. Even if hand tool experience is less, one can do it keeping a margin for error and then filing away the excess. The ways in which it can be laced are infinite.
If you have a few people interested in making your own pair, I can come and help you. You can get your own provisions or I can get them for you. If you are interested in this, do get in touch through the chat feature or email or watsapp (in the contact page).