I've been in the market for some time for some nice water shoes, as the ones I used until now have been cheap water shoes that you would pick up for the family trip to the water park, or my flip-flops. I had not found anything that I liked, and wanted to spend the extra money on. Then I found a deal on some Teva® “Fuse-Ion” shoes.

The first thing that I noticed about them was the “cool” factor. One of the things that Teva says about this shoe is, “We spend an awful lot of time around people that live for adventure. When we asked them for the biggest problem with high-performance shoes, we kept hearing the same one: "I can't wear them to the bar." So, what'd we do? We designed a shoe that they would gladly wear to the bar, then we figured out a way to make it the highest performing water shoe we have ever built.” With the cool factor, the price, and my need for a shoe that would protect my feet around rocks and oysters, I made the purchase.

The Teva® Fuse-Ions introduce T.I.D.E. Hydro, an Ion-Mask technology to keep your shoes dry, and a T.I.D.E. Grip Jstep and Spider Rubber outsole that will stick to just about anything. They also incorporate T.I.D.E. Comfort, a collapsible heel that allows you to slip in and out easily. The shoes, including the laces, seem to repel water. When they do get wet, they dry very quickly. However, the drainage of the shoe could be better. They do drain fairly well, but a little slowly. I noticed that I needed to sit in the kayak and lift my feet to get all the water to drain out before putting my feet back in the boat, or I would have a good bit of water inside while my scupper holes were plugged. Also, very fine rocks and sand can get into the shoe, but have a hard time getting back out. However, that is not too big of an issue since you can easily get in and out of the shoe fast.

The shoes are pretty comfortable, with one flaw that I could see and feel. They are very low cut, and the heel of the shoe can become a pain after wearing them a while. If you wear socks with the shoe, this is not a problem at all. I don’t usually wear socks, so I definitely noticed that the back of the shoe really started to irritate me, as it felt like it was rubbing pretty hard against my skin. It may be something that takes time to break in, but so far, I haven’t noticed a difference in that. Socks would fix this problem.

The soles of the Fuse-Ions are great; the bottom of the shoes are like glue. I have walked on sand, rocks, oysters, boat ramps, etc., and I have not had any issues with slipping at all. The last thing you want to do is slip while unloading a kayak off your roof top. I feel very safe standing on just about any surface with these, including in a kayak.

The “cool” factor was really one of reasons I purchased this shoe. Could I wear them out just like any other normal shoe? I got ready for work, slipped on some khaki pants, and put on my Teva® shoes. No one really noticed them, so I asked a few people I work with what they thought. The answers were all positive. No one knew they were a water shoe. Most people thought they looked more like a skate shoe, which is what I wear to work anyways. Could you wear these out after your fishing trip? I’d say definitely.