Open Toe or Closed Toe Sport Sandals?

Summer to me is about casual comfort. Usually that means open toe sandals, usually with a single strap, because when its hot "less is more".

However, there are times, when choosing what to wear, when you gotta think "gear" not just "comfort" because footwear isn't just attire. Footwear is also gear and I sometimes forget that at my peril.

Footwear has to perform. Most times I measure performance by the "comfort standard", i.e., just how good does it feel when I put it on? While I'm a comfort-seeker by nature painful experience has taught me to choose the right gear for the occasion.

Open toe sandals are great for casual walking, walking on sandy surfaces or grass, strolling on sidewalks. "Open toes for open roads", you might say. Open toe sandals or footwear performs wonderfully when the demands are low, like the demands of pure comfort or style.

But what about when your toes will be exposed to uneven surfaces, when there's rocks, roots, anything that might imperil your toes or grab hold of your toenails? Like when your moving from yard work (on the grass) to working in the garage (where I never quite put everything away). What about moving from yard work to visiting Home Depot? (A store where I lost a toenail to a manly effort to help an elderly woman move a lumber cart.)

When is it time to ditch the open toe sandals to for a closed toe sports sandal? When the benefit of comfort is seriously outweighed by the environmental risks to your toes. That can be more times and places than you realized, so stop and think before putting your naked toes in harm's way. Just like it's wise to put a helmet on your head your toes, too, sometimes appreciate a little extra cushioning or cover.

So be nice to your feet and get them both open toe and closed toe sandals and plan to wear the right one for the occasion.

Remember: Open toes for open roads. Closed toes for off-road. But if it's summer it's sandals all the time . . . 'cept when it's sneakers. ;)