Boat Shoes that Grip

[JLR]

I have been wearing Sperry's since I was in college, now more than forty years ago. Lately, every pair I have bought loose their grip and become downright dangerous after just one year. Does anyone have a favorite choice that maintain their grip on a wet deck any longer than one year? I am ready for a change. Thanks.

[MadHatter53]

I have a pair of sperry water shoes and I could skate on our wood docks they are so slick.

[bigbill]

last pair i bought was magellan from academy. pretty darn pleased with them. about a year now and they are still good. 1/3 of the price of sperry.

[Cricket]

Just take some 80 grit sandpaper to the bottoms every once in awhile, seems like the bottoms get hard hence slick, like getting new shoes.

[SEVEN]

x2 on the sandpaper. Works wonders.

[BugsJim]

"x2 on the sandpaper. Works wonders."

Nice! Will be keeping this in mind.

[Holiday]

You are right. I've noticed a change in Topsiders too. I bought my first pair as a college freshman in 1974 and have worn them ever since. I'm fortunate to live a fairly casual lifestyle and have the opportunity to wear Topsiders almost every day, so I always have several pair ranging in condition from newer ones that "look nice" to my older "grungy work" shoes.

Topsiders used to last forever but I've experienced the same slip & slide effect when walking downhill across grass or pine straw in my older ones. You can bust your tail real quick. The rubber soles on the older, more grungy ones look like they age differently and get hard and lose their pliability. I always thought is was a chemical reaction to something I stepped in like gasoline, deck stain, lawn chemicals, etc. but maybe not.

I have worn the soles clean off many a pair of Topsiders but for the last few years I've noticed that is not the case anymore. The soles get so slippery I throw them away before they wear out.

But I still love the old classic brown Topsiders.

[Cricket]

Something must have changed in the make up of "rubber" soles, not just Sperry, Cole Haan, Docksiders, various sneaker brands, even Southern Tide flip flops get brittle. The question is if it's baked in so people purchase new shoes before they're actually worn out because they're slippery.

[jim rosenthal]

DuBarrys are probably better, but they are also more expensive.

[JLR]

I tried the 80 grit today. Some improvement but not enough to stop me from looking for replacements. I went to four stores today to find replacements. Only one carried Sperry's but I did not care for their pricing. While it's not a lot of money, I just hate paying $100 for boat shoes that are only good for a year. Just seems wrong to me when the old versions lasted for many years. While I probably should not advertise this, I have a pair of loafers that I bought in law school, forty years ago. New soles added many times but the quality held up and I still wear them. It used to be you get what you paid for, in a good way, but no longer in boat shoes.