I know, I know. Why write a gear review on a pair of flip flops? I’ll tell you why. These aren’t your standard discount slides from Old Navy. I never intended on waxing poetic about these shoes, but after a summer of not taking them off I felt I had to share.
The Montrail Molokini is a substantial flip flop. They are thicker and heavier than most flip flops but for this reason, provide pretty substantial support and cushioning. In fact, I have heard they are popular house shoes for those suffering from plantar fasciitis. I spent many many hours in these flip flops and never felt any discomfort.
The sole is “thermo-moldable”. Basically this means you bake them. Yep, take them out of the box, pop them into a warm oven for a few minutes, immediately step into these toasty thongs and voila, they mold to your unique foot. The great part about this is your spouse or children are less likely to steal them! Plus, who doesn’t like baking shoes? On a serious note, despite my concern, there were no fumes from the baking process. You use a pretty low heat setting.
Montrail has borrowed from their trail shoes for the Molokini outsole. It has a reinforced grid that provides good traction even on the slippery pool decks I frequented this summer. And even though the soles are black, they never seemed to heat up in the sun and burn my feet. Mind you, did we ever really have a day hot enough this summer to do that?
For years I refused to wear flip flops. They aren’t exactly the most fashion forward footwear. They make that flapping sound. They made my toes hurt. The Molokinis have converted me. The toe post is slender enough that I can barely tell its there. However, with respect to noise, they do indeed make that flapping sound as well as another equally annoying sound. When wet, these flip flops make a horrible squeaking squelching sound with every step. This almost made me stop wearing them to the pool and yet I didn’t. In spite of the sound, they were just that much more comfortable than my old pool flip flops.
So if you are in the market for comfortable, bakeable, squeaky flip flops, the Molokinis are for you!
As a footnote, if you are wondering what a Molokini is, it’s this cute little Hawaiian islet, a crescent-shaped, partially submerged volcanic crater:
