My Favorite Thru Hiking Camp Shoe: The Walmart Special All Foam Flip Flop
- Updated: July 20, 2025
- Post By: Matthew Hengst
The search for the perfect backpacking camp shoe is one of those topics that seems to generate a fair amount of online postings. Some folks proudly do without or just run around in loosened trail runners while others justify various specialized (and usually expensive) options from vendors like Xeros or ZPacks.
After trying a number of different solutions this is what currently works best for me: $5 -ish Walmart foam and cloth flip flops.
One could argue I shouldn't bother with camp shoes since it's rare for me to spend any significant time around camp when I'm not in my tent / sleeping bag. But while I have friends who swear by just loosening their trail runners I find using every opportunity to air out my feet contributes significantly to my ability to minimize time spent off trail.
After trying a number of different solutions this is what currently works best for me: $5 -ish Walmart foam and cloth flip flops.
Camp Shoes: Who Even Needs Them?
For me the idea behind camp shoes specifically when thru hiking is that after a long day of hiking it feels amazing to air out my feet and it's useful to have something more comfortable to walk around town in.One could argue I shouldn't bother with camp shoes since it's rare for me to spend any significant time around camp when I'm not in my tent / sleeping bag. But while I have friends who swear by just loosening their trail runners I find using every opportunity to air out my feet contributes significantly to my ability to minimize time spent off trail.
Also when I am in town I like to have something other than the same wet dirty shoes I've been wearing day in day out. Partially for comfort and again to give my feet the best chance to recover.
Even when I'm in dryer climates out west I find they help as I'll often struggle with the amount of dust that makes it through and can cause abrasions.
They are an extra piece of gear that isn't strictly necessary and as such they are always on the potential chopping block. But the minimal weight combined with the fact they pack flat and can be tossed in on the top of my main pack compartment make it a minimal tradeoff.
My All Time Best Solution: Walmart $5-8 All Foam Flip Flops
These are my current goto solution because they are light, they don't take up very much space in my pack, offer enough protection I don't have to worry about rocks or thorns sticking through them. And of course they are actually wide enough for my freakishly wide feet.
What makes these particular ones special vs most other cheap flip flops I've come across is how light they are thanks to the lack of a rubber sole and the fact they don't have any hard plastic.
Jen for example is less picky and usually uses this style. They have the lighter all foam bottoms but the plastic thong I find uncomfortable and later on I start to feel the plastic tab on the bottom hitting the ball of my foot. They do have the advantage of being much easier to find than the all cloth type I prefer.
The brand names have changed over time but in general I look for the following features:An light all foam sole aka no heavy rubber layer on the bottom
A foam thong
Something that fits my wide feet
The biggest downside I've found is that Walmart doesn't seem consistently carry the lighter style in favor of the rubber bottomed type more useful around town and when they do they often don't have many of the size 13+. And since I find I wear out a pair every 6 months or so when thru hiking I'm constantly looking for replacements.
If anyone knows anything that matches this and is generally available from a retailer like Amazon please let me know as I'd love to have a more reliable source / better color options.
I went through somewhat of an evolution over time with the biggest change being when I switched more to thru hiking vs just weekend backpacking. Because it's a lot easier to justify non ideal heavier gear when you're just going out for a few days at a time.
Croc Classic Clogs
What makes these particular ones special vs most other cheap flip flops I've come across is how light they are thanks to the lack of a rubber sole and the fact they don't have any hard plastic.
Jen for example is less picky and usually uses this style. They have the lighter all foam bottoms but the plastic thong I find uncomfortable and later on I start to feel the plastic tab on the bottom hitting the ball of my foot. They do have the advantage of being much easier to find than the all cloth type I prefer.
The brand names have changed over time but in general I look for the following features:An light all foam sole aka no heavy rubber layer on the bottom
A foam thong
Something that fits my wide feet
The biggest downside I've found is that Walmart doesn't seem consistently carry the lighter style in favor of the rubber bottomed type more useful around town and when they do they often don't have many of the size 13+. And since I find I wear out a pair every 6 months or so when thru hiking I'm constantly looking for replacements.
If anyone knows anything that matches this and is generally available from a retailer like Amazon please let me know as I'd love to have a more reliable source / better color options.
Other Things I've Tried Over The Years
I went through somewhat of an evolution over time with the biggest change being when I switched more to thru hiking vs just weekend backpacking. Because it's a lot easier to justify non ideal heavier gear when you're just going out for a few days at a time.
Croc Classic Clogs
Back in my Sierra Club weekend warrior heyday I always carried a pair of crocs on the back of my pack. They weren't the lightest but they had the advantage of being comfortable, offered a fair amount of stream crossing grip and protection, and were almost indestructible. In fact the only time I was ever forced to replace a pair was when I managed to loose one after switching shoes on my front bumper at the trailhead.
In addition they can can be worn with socks if it's colder or your dealing with mosquitos. Also they provide reasonable grip and protection for stream crossings if you're into the whole wasting time taking off your boots to cross thing. Which I personally had beaten out of me by the Florida Trail a number of years back.
I even used them to hike in for about 50 miles during out Buckskin Gulch hike combined with waterproof socks. Though in all honesty if / when we do that again I'll probably just use my light hikers + regular socks like I do when thru hiking since it would avoid the issue of getting little rocks inside.
And of course crocs are quite fashionable and have the best color selection of anything out there.
Unfortunately they are also comparatively heavy and bulky. My Walmart specials are 5.8 oz while my Crocs were 14+oz and they don't pack flat like the flip flops. I do still use them quite a bit for paddling where I find they are easy to keep on in the mud
TLDR: A solid option if a bit heavy and bulky for my tastes.
When going through a gear lightening exercise ahead of my 2020 PCT thru hike I found a description online about making DIY slippers from an old foam sleeping pad and promptly sacrificed one of Jen's old pads in the name of science.
These made me feel quite clever and crafty right up until the point where I tried to use them in the field and realized just how little protection they offered. The foam let thorns and sharp rocks pass through making them pretty much worthless on anything but clean dirt that I could basically have walked around on barefoot. And so after that single trip I tossed them and ended up going with the Walmart flip flop option to great success.
TLDR: McGuyver was full of sh*t.
Another thing I've seen posted about more recently are the so called barefoot socks that have something akin to sticky rubber on the bottom. I've yet to see anyone actually use these on a serious thru hike but at least the ones I've looked at I feel like the protection for the bottom of the foot wouldn't be sufficient for rocks and such plus they tend to be a bit heavy due to the rubber.
I even used them to hike in for about 50 miles during out Buckskin Gulch hike combined with waterproof socks. Though in all honesty if / when we do that again I'll probably just use my light hikers + regular socks like I do when thru hiking since it would avoid the issue of getting little rocks inside.
And of course crocs are quite fashionable and have the best color selection of anything out there.
Unfortunately they are also comparatively heavy and bulky. My Walmart specials are 5.8 oz while my Crocs were 14+oz and they don't pack flat like the flip flops. I do still use them quite a bit for paddling where I find they are easy to keep on in the mud
TLDR: A solid option if a bit heavy and bulky for my tastes.
DIY Slippers
When going through a gear lightening exercise ahead of my 2020 PCT thru hike I found a description online about making DIY slippers from an old foam sleeping pad and promptly sacrificed one of Jen's old pads in the name of science.
These made me feel quite clever and crafty right up until the point where I tried to use them in the field and realized just how little protection they offered. The foam let thorns and sharp rocks pass through making them pretty much worthless on anything but clean dirt that I could basically have walked around on barefoot. And so after that single trip I tossed them and ended up going with the Walmart flip flop option to great success.
TLDR: McGuyver was full of sh*t.
Other Discarded Options
Another thing I've seen posted about more recently are the so called barefoot socks that have something akin to sticky rubber on the bottom. I've yet to see anyone actually use these on a serious thru hike but at least the ones I've looked at I feel like the protection for the bottom of the foot wouldn't be sufficient for rocks and such plus they tend to be a bit heavy due to the rubber.
0 comments