The Unshoes Pah Tempe 2.0 are lightweight, durable, and comfortable minimalist sandals. They’re handmade in the USA with an 8-millimeter PU rubber sole and high-quality 1-inch tubular nylon webbing straps. They have a zig-zag strap design that doesn’t go between your toes, making them more comfortable and versatile.
Product Overview
Unshoes Pah Tempe 2.0
Price: $80
✅ Nothing between your toes
✅ More comfortable and larger straps
✅ Lightweight
✅ Flexible
❌ Large buckles
❌ Sole isn’t as grippy
KEY SPECS
- Weight: 12.5 oz
- Thickness: 8 mm
- Heel Drop: Zero
- Material: Tubular nylon webbing, Rubber sole
The Unshoes Pah Tempe 2.0 minimalist sandals are an excellent choice for comfort, durability, and versatility in minimalist footwear. These sandals work well for hiking, running, and on the water, but they also look good enough to wear in more casual settings. They aren’t the highest-performing minimalist sandal, but they perform well enough, and their casual look makes up for their performance limitations.
They feature a zig-zag strap design that goes across the top of your foot, not in between your toes like huarache-style sandals. They have a burly 1-inch tubular nylon webbing and an 8-millimeter thick hard rubber sole that won’t wear out as quickly. A pair of these sandals weigh 12.5 ounces, which is pretty light compared to many sandals available.
These are some of the most comfortable sandals I’ve worn. The thicker nylon webbing doesn’t create hotspots like the thinner laces. The footbed is comfortable on bare feet, too. The straps don’t go between your toes, so you can wear them with socks as camp shoes and for chilly nights sitting around the campfire.
If you’re looking for sandals that you can do everything in that won’t stick out like a huarache sandal, these are a great option. However, better options are available if you plan to hike long days in wet conditions. But these work as well as other sandals with a similar strap system in wet conditions. And their lightweight, minimalist design and extremely durable materials make the Pah Tempe 2.0 stand out among minimalist sandals.
To see reviews on other minimalist sandals, see our post on the best minimalist sandals.
Performance Test Results
What We Tested:
How We Tested:
I tested the Unshoes Pah Tempe 2.0 sandals in the Utah desert during late spring and early summer. I wore them while hiking, carried them as camp shoes while backpacking, and wore them on the river during a rafting trip. The weather was generally hot, with highs in the 90s and lows in the 50s.
Weight: 9/10
The Unshoes Pah Tempe 2.0 is a very lightweight sandal. A pair of these weighs 12.5 ounces, which is 6.2 ounces for a single sandal. This is light enough that I barely notice them on my feet. These aren’t the lightest minimalist sandals out there, but they’re close to the lightest. I’ve used them for hiking and as a camp shoe, and they’re good enough for either of these applications.
They have a large 1-inch tubular nylon webbing strap system. That 1-inch webbing requires a large buckle to adjust, too. These sandals would certainly be lighter if they used thinner webbing or laces. However, this thicker webbing makes them more comfortable. They have an 8-millimeter-thick sole as well. This isn’t the thinnest sole, but it’s thin enough to be lightweight and flexible. If the sole were thinner, it would make the sandals weigh less but they wouldn’t be as durable.
Considering the thicker webbing and thin-but-not-too-thin sole, these sandals are competitively weighted. They’re light enough to carry as a camp shoe while backpacking but not too light so that they don’t protect the bottoms of your feet as you hike. You could get lighter sandals with thinner laces than these, but the thicker webbing makes them more comfortable and less prone to chaffing than ultra-thin lacing found on some minimalist sandals.
The Pah Tempe 2.0 sandal is incredibly light weighing 12.5 ounces per pair.
Price: 10/10
The Pah Tempe 2.0 sandals are extremely affordable. They offer excellent value for the price overall; with all the features you’d want in a minimalist sandal without extras that would make them more expensive. At $80, these minimalist sandals are significantly less expensive than most other minimalist sandals. Some minimalist sandals cost well over $100, which makes the Pah Tempe 2.0 seem like an absolute steal.
They’re handmade in the USA of high-quality materials. And, the straps don’t wrap under the bottom of the sole, so they’ll last significantly longer than some huarache-style minimalist sandals. For a made-in-USA sandal, you’d be hard-pressed to beat these in price.
These sandals are fully adjustable and very durable. The straps are made of simple and comfortable tubular nylon webbing—the same stuff you’d use for hanging a hammock or climbing. The soles are custom-molded PU rubber, and the straps wrap under the footbed but aren’t exposed to the ground, unlike some minimalist sandals that cost more than these.
The rubber outsole on these sandals isn’t the grippiest, and I’d love to see these made with stickier rubber-like Vibram MegaGrip. However, if these sandals used a MegaGrip sole they’d be more expensive. So, I can live with the less expensive rubber compound.
At $80, these sandals are perfect for those who want a minimalist sandal that doesn't break the bank.
Comfort: 8/10
The Pah Tempe 2.0 are very comfortable overall. They’re highly flexible, so your foot can move naturally. I didn’t experience any chafing or blisters on my feet after extended use, and I found them to be just thick enough to move over rough terrain without hurting the bottoms of my feet.
They have soft webbing straps that spread the load across a larger area than many minimalist sandals with thinner straps. This thinner webbing saves weight but can cause discomfort. The ⅝-inch or thinner webbing found on other sandals can have sharp edges that cause chaffing or blisters. This thinner webbing also can’t be tightened as much before feeling too tight.
On the other hand, the 1-inch tubular webbing on the Pah Tempe 2.0 has no sharp edges and spreads the pressure across a wider surface area. This makes these sandals considerably more comfortable than the competitors.
The strap length is pretty long on these sandals. I found the extra strap material flopping across my foot was too much, so I trimmed it two inches shorter and melted the edges, so the webbing doesn’t fray. This isn’t a problem since it allows for a wider range of foot volumes, but you might have to do this yourself if you don’t want the extra webbing to hit your opposite ankle with every step.
The footbed on these sandals is also very comfortable. It’s slightly textured to prevent your foot from sliding but smooth enough that it’s comfortable on your bare feet. The 8 millimeters of thickness underfoot is comfortable when walking on rocky terrain. This sole isn’t the most comfortable on rocky terrain, but it balances comfort with a minimal, lightweight design.
The sole is also flexible enough to roll up with your hands. This means your foot can move naturally, unlike sandals with thicker soles. They don’t provide the most support, like a sandal with arch support and a stiffer sole would, but that’s the tradeoff you have to make to get a truly minimalist sandal that allows your foot to bend and flex as it would when barefoot.
Walking on difficult terrain is comfortable thanks to the 8mm underfoot thickness.
Stability & Versatility: 7/10
The Unshoes Pah Tempe 2.0 is relatively stable and versatile. I’ve worn these sandals hiking, scrambling, and running short distances. I also used them as river sandals. They work well for all these applications, though they aren’t the best for running. They aren’t designed for running, so I wasn’t surprised when they didn’t excel here.
They’re fully waterproof and dry quickly. The thicker tubular webbing has more material, so they don’t dry quite as fast as some minimalist sandals. But this webbing still dries quickly. The soles don’t absorb any water, either.
They are stable enough to support your foot over harsh terrain. The zig-zag strap design prevents your foot from sliding laterally when hiking on off-camber trails and up hills. They don’t prevent your foot from sliding forward and back as well as sandals with straps that sit between your toes. But I’m pleased with the amount of stability they provide for a sandal with zig-zag straps.
The Pah Tempe 2.0 sandals dry rapidly and are completely waterproof.
Since these don’t have a strap that goes between your toes, you can wear any socks with these sandals. This makes them considerably more versatile than sandals you can only wear with toe socks. Toe socks tend to be less durable than socks without individual toes and are only made by a few select manufacturers. With the Pah Tempe 2.0, you can wear any socks you want.
In wet terrain, these sandals are average. When climbing on a slick rock in wet conditions, I noticed that they don’t grip as well as the grippiest sandals, but if you’re careful they’re grippy enough. I wouldn’t want to rely on these when scrambling over wet rocks for extended periods, but they are adequately grippy in wet conditions for flatter surfaces.
Compared to other minimalist sandals, these are more versatile than many when considering the variety of socks, you can wear with them. They aren’t as versatile as minimalist sandals with a strap that goes between your toes for running. But again, this simple crisscross strap design makes them more versatile in other ways.
Adjustability: 6/10
The Pah Tempe 2.0 secures your foot in place with a zig-zag strap system that adjusts in two places. Overall, I think this strap system works well enough. The one-inch tubular webbing straps don’t lock your foot in place as much as sandals with a strap that fits between your toes, but they work well when hiking in dry conditions.
The strap system attaches to the sole near your big toe, then crosses the top of your foot, slides through a tri-glide buckle, and runs back across your foot to the side-release buckle. The side release buckle sits on the top of your foot just below your ankle and attaches to both sides of another webbing that wraps around your heel.
The side release buckle is what you use to put on or take off the sandals. This side release buckle attaches the heel strap webbing loop to the forefoot zig-zag webbing. The forefoot webbing also has a tri-glide buckle near the toes, where you can adjust the tightness of the strap that crosses your forefoot. This strap system is relatively easy to slip into. When putting these sandals on, I often found the heel strap twisted, though. It’s not very difficult to orient the strap correctly, but you will probably have a few head-scratching moments when you’re getting used to putting these sandals on.
The straps don’t hold your foot in place as well as some sandals. No matter how tight I made the straps, I could never lock the front of my foot in place as well as some other minimalist sandals. This is especially the case when the sandals are wet. I’m able to consistently curl my toes under my foot in these sandals, even after wrenching on the front strap to make it as tight as possible. When hiking, I often stopped to tighten the straps more, but I could never get that foot-locked-in-place feel.
If these sandals had a strap that went between your toes, I imagine they would do a better job of locking your foot in place. However, the zig-zag strap design allows you to wear these with any socks, not just the toe socks you need to wear with huarache-style sandals. And the zig-zag strap doesn’t stand out as much in casual situations. I wear these in casual settings more often than other minimalist sandals.
If these sandals were adjustable in the heel, they would do a better job of anchoring your foot in one spot on the footbed. When I slid my foot forward slightly, the front strap did a better job of holding my forefoot in place. I could push my foot farther forward if the heel strap were adjustable. For this reason, I recommend sizing down if you’re between sizes. Better yet, print out the sizing template for your shoe size before purchasing these sandals.
The zig-zag strap system functions effectively in securing your foot in place.
Material: 8/10
The Pah Tempe 2.0 is made of 1-inch tubular nylon webbing and an 8-millimeter thick rubber footbed. They also have three nylon buckles – a side release buckle and two tri-glide buckles. The footbed feels soft yet firm underneath my feet. It is slightly textured with a topo map pattern, which helps with grip without feeling too textured so that it’s uncomfortable.
The tubular nylon webbing straps are wider than most minimalist sandals. Since they’re tubular webbing, there are no sharp edges that can chafe or cause blisters. This makes the straps more comfortable than most minimalist sandals I’ve worn.
In the water, the footbed doesn’t absorb water. The webbing absorbs some water, and it stretches when wet. When wearing these in the water, I found that the footbed slides under my foot more than I’d want. And the outsole isn’t very grippy on wet rocks. While portaging a large raft wearing these sandals, they didn’t inspire confidence when walking across a section of wet rocks. They do dry quickly in the sun after they get wet, though.
These sandals use similar materials to most other competing products. Some minimalist sandals use a stickier rubber footbed, though. I think these sandals would be greatly improved if the footbed gripped better in wet conditions.
If the footbed in these sandals have a stronger grip in wet circumstances, they would be a lot better.
Durability: 8/10
The Pah Tempe 2.0 sandals are relatively durable overall. I think they’re more durable than many minimalist sandals, but they aren’t the most durable sandals out there, either. The thick tubular webbing is strong and won’t break, and the rubber sole won’t wear out as quickly as sandals with a softer rubber sole.
If your sandals break down within the first year due to a manufacturing defect or other error, you can return them for repair or replacement free of charge. You can also have your Pah Tempe 2.0’s re-soled, as long they’re made with the newer sole material that’s found on the 2.0.
650-Calorie Fuel
