Freewaters was founded by two savvy product designers who have a passion for surfing. Naturally, water-friendly footwear would be the product of choice and giving back to those in need has been a core philosophy from the beginning. With that, I’ve been testing the Freewaters Scamp sandals and I’m excited to share the story behind Freewaters as well as my experience with these flip-flops.
Freewaters Scamp Sandals Features:
- STRAP: Nylon Webbing with reinforced junction points: water friendly & Vegan with soft webbing toe strap.
- FOOTBED: Therm-a-Rest TM footbed provides instant soft comfort, grip, flexibility, flushes out water and air cools the foot
- MIDSOLE: EVA foam. Assembled with Water Based Glue.
- OUTSOLE: Sponge rubber provides grip and flexibility
- Designed for heavy water exposure
- Colors: Black/Blue, Black, Brown (tested) and Olive
- MSRP: $36
Clean Drinking Water and the Comfortable Scamps
The vision upon which Freewaters was founded is fantastic. With more companies becoming increasingly socially-aware, Freewaters is taking aim at the earth’s most precious resource — drinking water. Safe drinking water is something that we take for granted, but is unavailable to billions of people worldwide. Climate change and political turmoil makes this fact even scarier.
Freewaters works with established organizations who are providing clean drinking water to the most needy communities in the world. The mission of Freewaters is best described by founders Eli Marmar and Martin Kim below:
Setting the table with that, the Freewaters Scamp sandals landed in the hopper for testing this summer. If at all possible, I’d live in flip-flops all the time. While that’s not a reality, I’ve found myself grabbing the Scamp’s quite regularly and enjoying their well-designed goodness.
These sandals are very well-designed for being just a pair of flips. Lets start with the strap. While most flip-flops will have just a simple webbing strap that requires some break-in, Freewaters designed the Scamp to be comfortable out-of-the-box. The lined straps are super-soft next to your feet and offer instant comfort.
Adding to the comfort theme, the multi-density midsole starts off with the cushy Therm-a-Rest footbed. This Ridge Rest design provides cushioning, breathability and drainage to go along with the recognizable ridged design. I found the footbed to be super-comfortable, but the heel packed out a bit (as expected). Rounding out the midsole, these have a wedged arch support (nice touch) and a thin layer of higher-density EVA foam.
The outsoles are made from an even more dense layer of sponge rubber for traction and protection. It’s got a subtle mesh layer for added grip as well.
As with any highly-flexible flip-flops, I found the toe protection lacking and many times found myself hooking the front of the sandals and nearly tripping, so keep an eye out. Aside from that, the wear is consistent with what I’d expect and while comfort has remained solid. Keep in mind that fit runs a little small, so you may need to size up.
The Good
- Love the Therm-a-Rest footbed
- Well-designed strap is comfortable
- Nice arch support
- Every pair provides drinking water to to those in need
The Bad
- Front of sandal is really flexible and can get caught
- Heel cup compressed fairly quickly
The Bottom Line
I love the mission of Freewaters and I’ve really enjoyed my pair of Scamps. The Therm-a-Rest footbed is a cool touch and provides instant recognition in the outdoors space. These are well-designed for all-day comfort.
Buy Now: Available at Freewaters.com
