8000 Kicks Explorer & Sunslide Shoes Review: High-Quality, Eco-Friendly Footwear
Why, Oh Why, Did We Quit Hemp?
It’s been a little while since I’ve done a product review, so I felt like, what with the rainy season coming up, now would be a good time to talk about 8000 Kicks, who are the self-proclaimed #1 maker of waterproof hemp shoes. Like most of the things I test out, I heard about them via Instagram advertising, and after reading some TrustPilot reviews, I decided to buy a pair about… I want to say 2-3 years ago.
The Pitch
Up front, while I’m not sure it’s the best advertising campaign to say that your shoes aren’t cheap because they’re good quality and durable, I do genuinely appreciate the honesty, and that goes a lot farther with me than glamorous advertising that downplays costs.
But, I’m not your average consumer and I do care a lot about who gets my money and why these days. So to have someone say, straight-away, “our shoes are expensive, but that’s because they’re high quality and should last you way longer than other shoes,” to me shows a lot of integrity.
About Hemp
I do recall reading about how the clothing industry took a steep nosedive when they abandoned hemp as a material sometime around the industrial revolution. Hemp was always known for being much more durable than cotton or wool when made into fabric, so it’s truly awful that the war on drugs meant that people stopped producing a lot of hemp products (fun fact: hemp is also way better for making paper than trees are).
If you don’t know much about hemp—which seems to be the case for a lot of people, based off the company needing to include a “can you smoke these shoes” in their FAQ—yes, it is the same plant from whence cannabis comes, but they aren’t related beyond that. Hemp comes from the pulp made from the plant, mainly the stems, whereas the psychoactive components of cannabis come from the crystals that form on the flower buds.
Furthermore, not all hemp plants are even psychoactive (CBD strains, for example, are used as over-the-counter medication, effective for anxiety and body stress). So right up-front, no, you cannot smoke these shoes, and I’ll keep the sarcastic remarks for people who would consider it to myself. However, I did have a chuckle when I came across a shoe on their site called the Weedo, which is actually made out of CBD buds, so if you want a very limited edition shoe that you could smoke, I guess check out the site on 4/20 and maybe they’ll have more (to be clear, these shoes are meant to be a piece of art—the buds will dry out after a while).
Are the Shoes Good?
Now, on to the shoes. The main thing I’m sure people want to know is obvious: are they really waterproof and as good as the makers claim? I am happy to answer with a resounding yes!
Straight-up, I had these sneakers at Kosmos Festival this summer and it rained oppressively for most of the festival, turning the forest paths into a massive pit of mud… and my feet were bone dry all weekend. Sure, they got dirty, but it was easy to clean them afterwards and they dried out really quickly after I washed the mud off.
Explorers
I love the Explorer sneakers (shown in the bottom photo), which were my first purchase. They’re comfortable and they fit my feet nicely (as a size 36 EU, which is about a 7 NA if I recall correctly); I have been having a tough time in recent years finding shoes that fit me, because in reality, I’m probably closer to a 36.5. This means that a lot of shoes are really narrow on my wee little feet, crushing my toes and making me ache over regular use, but these have been treating me very well, as they are wide enough to give me space but not so wide that my feet are loose inside.
I have noticed that, if I don’t keep my big toenails pretty short (which is how I like them anyways), they might press into the tips of my shoes and cause some mild annoyance, but on the whole I’ve been very happy with the fit and feel. If I have any complaint, I just wish that it didn’t have such flat treads, as they can be a bit slippery.
Sunslides
Since I enjoyed the Explorer so much, when the Sunslide shoes were announced, my partner and I each decided to order a pair. My partner loves his brown shoes, they’re his main pair these days. They fit tightly and comfortably around his feet, they’re lightweight, and they keep him dry.
I will say that I personally wasn’t perhaps as impressed with the look of the shoes when they arrived, because the Explorers were such a perfectly executed design; with the Sunslides, there are a lot of thread ends visible, so the shoe might have benefited from a little more final polish. That’s a pretty minor complaint overall though, they’re still functioning exactly as they’re meant to, and I love the way they’re designed with a flexible seam around the heels so that you can step onto the back of the shoe, converting them to a slip-on, without breaking it over time, so they will surely last longer than your average shoe, whose heel you squash down when slipping in.
Other Styles
8000 Kicks also offer a few other items that I haven’t tried, like the Seeker sneakers or the Crossover women’s rain shoes; I didn’t end up getting the former because I think I already had my Explorers when I learned that they exist, and I didn’t get the Crossovers because of both the price and because shoes with that particular design have irritated my ankles and my soles in the past. I would like to try them, but the cost is even higher, so I have yet to justify it.
They also offer a few other products like backpacks and other baggies; I’ve had my eyes on their backpacks for a while, so whenever I decide that my current backpack has run its course, you can rest assured that I’ll be trying one of theirs, especially after getting to see one IRL recently.
So, if the Explorer or Sunslide shoes aren’t your style, there are more options to consider!
The Downside of Natural Dyes
If there’s one issue with 8000 Kicks in general—and this is really not an issue of anything besides aesthetics—it’s that natural dyes don’t always last very long. I got the dark green sneakers and they’re currently closer to a softer grey-green than their original color. I don’t really mind this, myself, but those were the main complaints that I was seeing on TrustPilot when I initially looked up the company, so it seems that some people were disappointed by this. Myself, not so much, but it’s worth mentioning.
The Website
If I do have one actual complaint, it’s not about their shoes, but their website. There’s a new trend lately where companies are not listing color variants under one product type anymore and I cannot, for the life of me, understand why they would do this. Personally, I do not enjoy having to scroll through a ton of color variants to find a different style of shoe. If I have a recommendation for the company, it’s to list different styles and have color options available from within, as has been webshop-standard in the past.
Customer Service
One last thing: I haven’t had much reason to be in touch with their customer service, but after leaving a review on TrustPilot, I was contacted by customer service to see if they could help me. In this incident, they had misunderstood what I had written and were trying to be helpful, so I do actually appreciate them for getting in touch and making sure I was satisfied with my shoes. They’re quite communicative (at least at the time of writing this, which is 2024), so if you have issues for any reason, I’m sure you could get in touch and sort things out.
Final Thoughts
On the whole, both my partner and I really like these shoes. The fit is comfortable in both styles, they look nice, they keep us dry, and thus far they seem quite durable (no holes after 2-3 years in my Explorers at least, and I send them to a lot of festivals).
There are a handful of minor nit-picks but on the whole, I think it’s definitely been worth it. Also, worth mentioning that if you’re on the fence, keep an eye on their socials. They have discount runs a few times a year, so if you’re a low-budget income person like me and if you’re not in a rush, you might be able to test them for a little bit less cost.
Overall though, these shoes get my stamp of approval!
Would you like to read about a world where hemp isn’t just a fabric, but an integral part of life? Escape to a world where it’s recognized for what it is: one of the most versatile, sustainable, and valuable plants in existence. Woven into tools, clothes, medicine, and daily life, it’s not a talking point, it’s a necessity.
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