Eqp Review -- Faded Glory "Rock Boots"

Years ago, DUI introduced the Rock Boot – a canvas high-top sneaker to be worn with drysuits that are fitted with neoprene socks. Believe it or not, it’s a concept I’ve always considered to be brilliant. (As you may know, I have a little bit of a problem with DUI. I think the quality of their products has gone steadily downhill over the years, and their customer service is completely in the crapper. But I digress ... back to the Rock Boot.)

The concept works for shore divers because we’re constantly walking over uneven rocks while carrying quite a bit of weight and it’s nice to have a sturdy sole underfoot. It’s also better than having a boot attached directly to the suit because, when the rock boot wears out, you just get a new pair, rather than having to send the whole suit in to have new boots attached.

Of course, the brilliance of DUI’s thinking pretty much ended there and they immediately began adding unnecessary features and jacking up the price (in my opinion). And it didn’t take long for me, sick of paying over $100 for what looked like a pair of Converse All Stars, to just go out and buy a pair of Converse All Stars.

They were not, of course, identical and at first I was concerned that the lack of the above-mentioned features would doom the All Stars for diving. The two big ones were the lack of finger loops on the backs of the shoes, and the lack of that plastic thingy used to secure the laces rather than tying them. Wrong on both counts. It turned out that it takes no more effort to pull on shoes that don’t have a loop, and the lack of that plastic thingy made it easier, and more practical, to tie the laces in a regular bow knot rather than cinching that thingy down and then wrapping the extra lacings around your ankles.

But even when those issues turned out to be non-issues, there was still a problem with the All Stars -- they just weren’t designed to fit a foot that was already ensconced in a neoprene sock with a thermal sock underneath. My feet are size 10/10.5 (my left foot is size 10 and my right is 10.5 -- yes, it’s a hassle) and the only way I could make a pair of All Stars fit was to buy a size 11.5, pull out the insoles, and then cut the top of the toe box out of the right shoe.

This may sound like a lot of extra work but considering that I could buy them on Ebay for $20 a pair, and I wasn’t giving any more of my money to DUI, it was all worthwhile. That’s me on the right in my All Stars with Andy Martinez. In addition to saving money, just look at how much more stylish I am in my reds than Andy is in whatever he has on his feet. But notice also how the top out of the toe box is cut out of the right shoe and how I could really only lace up the upper half of the shoes.

Still, I was happy with my All Stars -- until I saw a pair of Faded Glory sneakers at Walmart. I couldn’t help but be intrigued by their very wide toe boxes. And at $12.50 a pair, how could I go wrong.

I bought a size 11, brought them home, pulled out the insoles to make more room inside (very easy since they’re barely glued), and voila! just like that I had a perfect pair of drysuit shoes with no further alterations required.

I’m now on my second pair of Faded Glorys. They’re easy to put on and take off, and are comfortable whether I’m on the surface walking around or in the water kicking with fins on. They also take quite a beating. The photos below are of the pair I just bought and the older pair that has 125 dives on them. That’s the same amount of dives I used to get out of DUI’s Rock Boots -- at almost one-tenth the cost. As you can see, the right shoe of the old pair is more worn than the left (perhaps because of the size difference of my feet) and the tongue has ripped away from the rubber toe. That’s not really much of an issue, though, and I’ll probably get another 20 dives out these guys before switching. 

As you can also see, they are not high tops. At first I was concerned that the low back would chafe against the drysuit sock but that hasn’t happened. I also thought they might feel less secure on my feet than the high tops but that’s also not the case. If you insist, though, Faded Glory does make high tops and they cost a whopping $3 more (that’s $15.50 a pair!).

In fact, I also wear the Faded Glorys when I’m diving wet, over my wet suit boots. It makes entries and exits easier at rocky sites but, more importantly, When I switch back and forth between diving wet and diving dry, I don't need to worry about switching fins. If not, it would then just be a matter of time before I showed up at a dive with the wrong set of fins. And the Faded Glorys fit very nicely over the wetsuit boots (my wetsuit boots have very little tread on them).

The bottom line: I like the Faded Glorys a lot and will never go back to DUI’s Rock Boots. They make for a great dive shoe at a great price. My only complaint is their limited colors. They don’t come in red. Oh, well.