Bedrock sent me a pair of their Earthquake sandals over the winter, and even though I live in warm, sunny San Diego now, I had a feeling that my review would fall on deaf ears if it came out in mid-January. So I have been waiting until the springtime new-shoe-buying extravaganza to pen my review.

The Earthquake Sandal seems to be getting continually improved upon by this little shoe-making factory down in Virgina, USA. Similar to many of the other huarache sandals that you can find out in the minimalist shoe marketplace, Bedrock Sandals feature a thin Vibram rubber sole (mine is 4mm), with a slip on lacing system and adjustable buckle closure. Like many other huarache companies, Bedrock offers a great sizing system to find out which pair to get, or they can customize the size and shape of your shoe sole to the shape of your foot. This is a great thing if you’ve got a weirdly-shaped foot like I do. Bedrock did a fair job of matching my foot shape, but I have seen better.

They’ve also made some recent developments in their sandal, adding some elasticized rubber in the heel, and a new optional rubber webbing material up front to assist the ease of fit adjustment in the buckle (this feature is not on my pair).

Having tried out a few other running sandals in my day, I felt this one was probably the lightest-feeling of all of them. The rubber sole wasn’t covered with any leather like a few other brands have, so it lacks in the whole “mold to your foot” aspect that I love about my Lunas. But the Hurricane sandal’s leather-less vegan sole didn’t feel floppy or heavy, as some plain rubber soles do. That could be in part because they’re made with Vibram rubber, and Vibram is pretty good at the whole minimalist shoe thing. J Another thing I dig about the sole is its surprising grip on the trails. Upon first glance the tread seems pretty basic – it’s not all high-tech and multi-directional like a lot of trail shoes, but it got me up and down the steep trail hills near my house without any slipping. Definitely a trail runner win.

As far as the straps go, they’re not bad, not the best. I found them to be placed well enough to hold onto my foot and the buckle closure is really quite snug. I did like the addition of the elasticized rubber piece on the heel. It kept the shoe on my foot more snugly, which made it possible for me to run more miles without having to stop and make the usual adjustments to the heel. With some other huarache brands, the heel strap tends to fall off.

Once you get strapped in to the Hurricane sandal, you’re pretty much good to go, not a whole lot of loosening or movement. There is a trade-off, though: the parachute-fabric strap is really stiff and kind of uncomfortable between my toes. Every time I wear these I come away with red marks across my foot and between my toes. After ten or so wears the straps have softened up a bit, but not a whole lot.

Overall the Hurricane sandal is only a fairly good, but less expensive running huarache. I really wasn’t blown away by the shoe, but I still use it occasionally for running errands or to do hill repeats on a hot day. I recommend them if you are just getting into minimalist running and want to try a simple sandal without spending bank.