Good Geta, but here’s what I’ve learned.
So I’ve had these for about 3 weeks now and I’ve learned a few things.
- With a little practice, they can be worn almost anywhere. The surfaces that gave me the most trouble however, were wood decks where the shoes slip, and gravel which bites into the wooden teeth and damages them. Rocks on the beach were also difficult but manageable with practice, but sand isn’t much of an issue. If you wear these on a gravel path, you’ll have rocks get stuck in the bottom of the teeth, so you should take care to remove them before walking on delicate surfaces. Unfortunately, these geta do get damaged somewhat easily, but they’re not fragile.
- If you’re wet from a swim, or out on a walk on a misty morning, beware inclined paths. Any dampness on the top of the shoes will almost certainly cause you to slip around in them, potentially causing injury or damaging the geta thong. This is because the wood has been given a coating, so consider sanding the top before you do much walking.
- Due to slips, I’ve had to repair them once or twice. When I slip badly I tend to put too much weight on the thong, pulling it out and loosening the fit. It’s not difficult to repair, but it might become a normal occurrence since the thin rope that runs through the thong to anchor it isn’t very strong. I suggest swapping it out with a sturdier line. Thanks to the thong cover you could even use modern polypropylene line and it wouldn’t be too noticeable. If you walk on uneven surfaces often, you might crush the metal cap that covers the toe anchor for the thong underneath the front of the geta. This isn’t too difficult to fix: gently wedge it off with a screwdriver, and hammer it back into shape using a ball-peen hammer or any sturdy round surface in your workshop.
- Walking with these on some surfaces makes a lot of noise, so be conscious of this if you don’t want to anger your neighbours who will curse you and your shoes.
- To those who’ve never worn geta, they will force you to walk differently and use different muscles to walk. This can be challenging at first, but keep at it. After only 3 weeks of sporadically wearing them around the property, I feel I could run a mile in these shoes.
