• Material: Nylon thong upper
• Midsole: Durapontex EVA
• Weight:2.6 oz (Approximate weight of one shoe)

Flip flops are a highly-debated item of footwear. You either love them or you hate them. Generally, people that hate them hang out with people that wear them, for the sound that is the shoe's namesake, which is made when walking.

Approaches
I happen to love them. My first pair of Teva Mush flip flops were bought to simply take on cragging weekends, so I could protect my feet on the approach trails and boulders, but then have this terribly lightweight shoe clip easily to a biner, and onto the back of my harness for walk-outs where rapells were not possible.

Acclimatization
Winter came to New England, and I kept walking around my hood in Manhattan, in the cold and ice, with my Teva's, exposed toes and all. I had this odd thought that I could acclimatize my feet for my regular ice climbing trips throughout northeastern New England and random alpine trips by keeping my feet used to the cold. It seemed to work, and while I got odd looks on the street, New Yorkers were generally full of smiles and questions about my footwear selection.

Ice and Snow
My second pair of Teva Mush flip flops went with me to Antarctica. I wore them all over Ushuaia, Argentina, on the research vessel out of doors and in on the trip across Drakes Passage (the other passengers all have photos of me in flops on deck at night, during the day, in wind and cold). And for the sake of it, I brought them to shore once or twice to wear wandering around on the ice, but generally, shore entailed my double boots and crampons.

Trekking
My third were finally given to my by Teva, which I took off to the Himalayas. I wore these trekking up to 13,000 feet. Given my companions were all in heavy, sturdy hiking boots, I was generally out front in complete comfort while they were getting blisters and other foot pains. I figured if I could hike up similar terrain cragging, I could do so in Nepal with the Teva flip flops, then have them for around camp as well. When we got high, I switched into warmer boots.

You can also use them to sit on as a piece of padding. Love that. And when they invariably get wet, they dry incredibly fast, although, don't start hiking when they are wet as the footbed is quite slippery. I have had my feet slide out and it's possible to twist your ankle.

But their performance in comfort, durability, washability and versatility is unrivaled. Wear them on a plane, on a trail, on a boat, in Kathmandu, in Manhattan, they are still completely comfortable and highly stylish.