Finally my hiking huaraches are dialed in

At long last my homemade hiking huaraches work.

I found these little buckles at Art from Scrap. I was able to loop one end of the buckle into the side strap piece with the leather lacing. It's at the inside, which would seem like a problem but actually isn't. Then I wrap the lacing around my ankle a few times, loop it through the front toe strap for security and buckle it in. No adjusting, no having it come untied. The buckle never touches my skin so it does not chafe and it's in the right place to give the sandal good lateral security. Feels really secure and comfortable.

I could actually cut off a lot of that extra lacing and simply slip the lacing under the front toe strap and then buckle and make these really simple. I had to order these laces and have not wanted to cut them yet in case I made a mistake and wanted them long again. Perhaps I will order another pair so I'll have a back-up in case I make a mistake.

Here's a close-up of the buckle:

These are not exactly minimalist huaraches. I purposefully used 1/4" of cushioning so that they would be more comfortable for hiking and for faster walking. In regular minimal huaraches I have to run to keep up with my friends and that gets annoying. To me the big benefit of the huaraches is no raised up heel and not having my toes be all cramped. Nobody makes shoes wide enough at the toes.

The other thing I have done is purchase a pair of Zemgear ninja booties. I usually wear my huaraches with socks when I am hiking because my skin chafes very easily at the side straps and sometimes between the toe. But socks pick up too many stickers and foxtails. The Zemgear booties are like thick spandex socks. They do add a bit more stiffness to the sole, but the idea would be to use them for backpacking. Our backpacking trails have a LOT of foxtails.

Here they are with my Zemgear nija tabis. They are sort of like thick spandex socks. There is a plastic sole on the bottom. I should have bought the indoor "wellness" version. Next time I will. So far they feel really cold when it is cold out. I hope they aren't too hot when it's warm out. I will need to see if I can wear socks with the tabi. Otherwise, they are comfortable with the sandals, feel secure like hiking boots and the plastic sole really doesn't bother me when coupled with the sandals. I even tried it with Dirty Girl gaiters and it works great. Can't wait to try these on a real hike.