Gear Review

Packing for any trip can be quite the stressful experience and packing for nine months in the forests of Madagascar was no less trying. Luckily I had a crack team of family, friends, and REI specialists to get me through the ordeal. So far, most of my purchases have stepped up to serve their duty quite well. However, others have yet to be put to the test. In my “gear review” posts, I am going to single out pieces of equipment to analyze so that other adventurers do not have to reinvent the packing of the wheel. I am not sponsored by any of these companies, but if you know anyone that works for any mentioned manufacturers, feel free to pass on my posts so that I can gather some free schwag. For my first review…shoes.

Although most Malagasy walk the world barefoot, my American baby softs can’t hack it without protection. Shoes are important for an American voyager. Keeping in mind that I am trying to pack as light as possible due to the loads of gear I am also carrying, how many and what type of shoes does one pack that will be a formidable workhorse in the wet, muddy forest and then parlay into fun, flirty shoes in the city? And then add two pre-arthritic big toes onto that. I was going to take my low-cut, waterproof Merrell’s that got me through my 2004 trip in Madagascar. Luckily, my mother and Trevor Henry convinced me that this would not be enough. To rival any South American political royalty, I now have my own entourage of footwear.

I have strappy Chaco’s for casual/fancy wear (which tells you how fancy I will be getting this year). My Merrell’s function as my casual city travelers and serve as the understudy work shoe for my fabulous Vasque hiking boots. My Vasques are kick ass! I spend a lot of time precariously perched on the side of a steep muddy hillside filming lemurs and my Vasques become the platform support that does not really exist below me. I slosh through knee high mud, wade through streams, run through thick underbrush, and my Vasques keep right up with me. Actually, it is probably more appropriate to say that I keep up with my Vasques. Although it seems that the Malagasy way of navigating barefoot is much more trustworthy on mud slicked village pathways, my Vasques are the closest thing I could have to making me Malagasy agile and tough.

I love my Vasques but the undergarments to these shoes are even more important. I have metal shanks and expensive customized insoles inserted in my shoes to keep my toes happy. I wear quality socks and I sport a pair of knee-high flesh-colored grandmother stockings under it all! No, this is not for fashionable sex appeal. And yes, I do get made fun of constantly by the researchers around me. However, I have the last laugh. My feet have been through hell and back and I have yet to have one blister to show for it. A very wise, burly and somewhat scary special forces military man once told me that his whole platoon wore women’s knee-high stockings under their socks. And when a man like that admits to something like this…you take his advice seriously. I’m not sure about his stance on thongs in the forest, but I didn’t pack any anyway.

So – plan your shoe selection carefully. Make the room necessary for the extra pair. And make sure to pack the knee-highs. You could even get a little sassy and get a colored pair…perhaps black. However, I think fishnets would be pushing it.