Whether you’re looking for cute flip-flops for a beach vacation, the best flip-flops for outdoor adventures, or just the most comfortable flip-flops to run around town, this toe-free footwear can serve multiple purposes. We know it can be hard to pick out shoes online, so our experts have rigorously tested eight styles of flip-flops for women and we have all the inside scoop to share. Our tester, Brandy Jo Hastings, is a beach-loving outdoor adventurer who lives in Florida and has worn flip-flops for 4 decades. Over the years, Brandy has tried many great ones, but just like Jimmy Buffett in M ..read more

Humanity hasn’t always needed water shoes for protection. But let’s face it: Most of us in this era will never again develop tough-as-leather feet like our shoeless ancestors, who could travel miles across nasty terrain with bare feet. Today, our feet have delicate, sensitive soles that feel every piece of gravel in the grass, every shell in the sand, every fish hook in the foot, and every tree branch in the toe. Our water shoe review covers function, but also fashion. Water shoes are a key piece of gear today for almost all environments and water sports. They protect our feet from sharp cora ..read more

Searching for the best water shoes can feel like navigating a sea of endless options and variations. But fear not — our comprehensive buyer’s guide to the best water shoes for women will steer you in the right direction. Whether floating down a river, hiking through a canyon, or on a paddleboarding adventure, we’ve got you covered. Read on to find the perfect pair of water shoes that best fit your budget and adventure of choice. Over a few months, gear tester Emma Renly tested eight different water shoes. Each shoe offered a different type of wearability. But overall, she noticed these option ..read more

You probably fell in love with running because of its simplicity. You harness a tenet of basic human locomotion — pushing off the ground to generate forward motion. In most cases, it makes your day better and puts a smile on your face. La Sportiva’s R&D Team Product Leader, Nicola Dalla Costa, has a pretty rad job — figuring out how to optimize that very basic tenet of human locomotion to make your running experience as comfortable, efficient, and enjoyable as possible. Dalla Costa and his team are the brains behind La Sportiva’s sleek new Prodigio trail running shoe, which harnesses La S ..read more

If you haven’t run in a trail super shoe yet, it’s time to get on board. Brands like Nike, HOKA, The North Face, and now adidas are making it difficult for core trail running brands to compete with a shoe you’ll not just want to race in, but do all of your training in, too. Adidas spent a lot of time tooling a trail shoe around the same qualities that make its marathon super shoes so successful. Records are falling consistently in road running, and adidas predicts its first trail super shoe will have the same cascading effect on the trail racing scene; in some way,s it already has. Maybe the ..read more

No matter the distance of your outing or the kind of terrain that you’re navigating, what you’re wearing on your feet is critically important — imagine arriving at the perfect camping spot next to an alpine lake, only to admit that the thing that’s been on your mind all day is how much your feet hurt. This doesn’t have to be you; we’ve done all the legwork to identify the best hiking shoes for women on the market right now. Read on to avoid this scenario!  If you don’t have the ideal hiking shoe, things can go sideways pretty quickly making the trip of a lifetime painful, or even worse ..read more

“I’ve been lacing shoes a special way like this for 23 years,” Brian Beckstead, Altra co-founder and de facto shoe-tying guru, told me. Beckstead, I learned, had not only made a career of perfecting how running shoes work — and fit — he’d gotten his start lacing up runners’ shoes working at the Runner’s Corner shoe store. So, this reassured me I hadn’t pulled a few strings to speak with him for no good reason. Speaking with one another over Zoom, we were both looking at something I’d come across while perusing Reddit’s /r/coolguides — a trove of DIY guides and do-life-better infographics. It ..read more

Long before I thought of myself as an outdoorsy person (or had any understanding of what that meant), I was traipsing through Aztec ruins in Mexico, swimming across jungle rivers in India, and hiking through Nepalese mountains in my trusty Chacos. In fact, I only recently learned that the company’s iconic model was called the Z Sandal. To me, they’ve always just been “Chacos,” a name I frequently heard repeated from fellow travelers with a knowing smile. “Yes, we are both in the club,” they seemed to say. But why is this classic footwear so beloved? How did a sandal made by river rafters beco ..read more

Rain boots keep your feet dry and comfortable during wet weather conditions, but they also need to be comfortable enough to wear while walking city streets, hiking muddy trails, or working outdoors. In this guide, we explore the key features to look for when shopping for the best rain boots for women. Looking at aspects like materials, durability, and traction-enhancing outsoles, we tested some of the top brands so you don’t have to.  Our lead tester, Meg Carney is no stranger to the need for rain boots. She grew up in the Midwest and spent years there working in muddy outdoor conditions ..read more

Winter means different things depending on your location. From the snowy Colorado mountains to the dry Arizona desert and the perpetually wet Pacific Northwest, we put these boots to the ultimate test. Winter hiking can either be a miserable, wet sufferfest, or a fun, dry adventure through wild terrain. Much of it boils down to the outfit you choose, from top to bottom. Soggy feet will quickly leave you with numb toes, and shoes without traction will have you slipping and flailing all over the trail. Durable, weather-resistant boots are essential for effortlessly moving through the white stuf ..read more