Customer Reviews

Teva Men's Omnium Closed Toe Sandal

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

These are outstanding shoes/sandals. I am very hard to fit because my feet are very wide near the toes, so I always dread buying shoes. I usually have to buy shoes and extra 1/2 to 1 size too large to deal with my wide feet, but these fit perfectly in my true size. Great roomy toe space! I couldn't be happier. I'm planning to buy at least one extra pair in case they phase these out.

ADDITIONAL UPDATE: JUNE 2009. I took these as my sole shoes on a three-week trip to Greece. They're great, but the soles (on both!) started to come off! I was able to glue them, so I got by, but I was very disappointed to have that happen on these expensive shoes. HOWEVER, I'd still give 5 stars because Teva is replacing them. It only cost me the $10 it took to ship them to Teva. Great customer service rocks.

First off, very comfortable shoe. I've been wearing them almost daily for 2-3 months. But not much outdoor use, mostly to work and back. Not heavy use at all, and only a few months.
So the other day when I had to break out the hot glue gun to start gluing the heel back on in several spots, I was a little disappointed. I see another reviewer was having the same problem. If you look at the picture, the dark part of the heel on the side was coming off, along with the dark part on the side ball of the foot.
As long as the glue holds, I'll keep wearing these because they're just a nice shoe to wear. But I'll wonder a bit in the future if I go to purchase another pair.

Have had a pair of the Omniums for about a month now. I take about an 11 1/2 size and ordered the 12. Fit is great. Very adjustable from loose to snug with front & rear velcro & lace thingys. Mostly been hiking in the woods, roads, & in the stream a little. Pretty nice for jogging thanks to the cush in the heel.
Likes: Lite weight, adjustable, comfy, great traction, water resistant / quick drying, no socks needed.
Dislikes: They will pick up small rocks - I need to stop at least once an outing to empty them out. Stones get trapped & you can't get them out without taking the shoes off. They are a little funky looking also, but hey, who isn't.
Would definitely recommend.

We purchased a variety of Teva sandal models for a 15 day trip down the Grand Canyon. We wore them around the house and yard for a few weeks to break them in. The very first day in the canyon they started falling apart - the soles delaminated and I spent hours of precious canyon time trying to glue them using shoo goo, aqua seal and gorilla glue. Nothing held more than a couple days. Finally we duct taped them as best we could and hoped we didn't kill ourselves on the hikes by slipping on the duct taped soles. Another customer on the trip also had her Tevas delaminate (we had the spider rubber inserts, she had a full rubber sole). The guides previously had bad experiences with Teva and wouldn't touch them with a 10 foot pole.

Teva knew these sandals were crap, and sold them anyway instead of recalling them. I bought some of the original Teva sandals 20 years ago, but will never buy their product again.

GOOD: I love the wide forefoot of the Omnium. I can actually wear hiking socks with mine. The adjustable ankle is especially great for people like me who have small ankles. This is a solid, rugged shoe. I wear it for biking (fabulous on hot days; I wear them for long all-day trips), walking on rocks by the ocean, around the house as slippers, and general being out and about. With heavy socks these can be worn from spring through fall---they're warmer than you would imagine. I especially love to wear them around camp when car camping or kayak camping.

Much has been said about the sole delaminating. Teva has taken responsibility for this. When the sole fell off my Omniums Teva sent me a free replacement pair---even though my sandals were four years old and beaten up by lots of hard use! (If the sole hadn't fallen off they would have lasted 5 or 6 years of constant use.) Their customer service is very good. I'm told that the glue problem has been corrected.

THE BAD: Don't expect the comfort of a running shoe. There is virtually no arch support. The insole seems soft at first but it's actually a lot harder than a running shoe. This is not a shoe for walking on pavement all day. I'm going to put an insole in my replacement pair.

These are NOT a water shoe!!! "Can be worn in the water" does NOT mean "waterproof"! The fabric and neoprene parts absorb and hold buckets of water. You would NOT want to have these as your only shoe on a multi-day canoe or kayak trip, because they are VERY slow drying. The one time I got them wet it took them 48 hours to dry. On a long trip you would end up with continually wet feet, which in some seasons could be a safety issue.

Comparing the Omnium to the Churn, the Churn will dry faster but the Omnium will be more durable and rugged. The Churn feels softer inside but does support the foot as well as the Omnium.

SIZING: I advise ordering a half to a full size larger than your regular shoe size.

Bottom line: I love my Omniums. They are very versatile. But you do have to respect their limitations and not expect them to be a water shoe or a long-distance walking shoe. I think they could become a long-distance walking shoe if Teva made the insole softer and gave it an arch support. They could be a water shoe if made of a different material that doesn't absorb water.

Avoid this Teva sandal model (Teva Men's Omnium Hiking Shoe, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0017KLRWC)! A month after I started wearing the sandals both out-soles broke from the main sandal body! It seems they used paper-glue. Very surprised as I've been wearing Teva for over 6 years now and this has never been a problem. The Sandals are very poor quality.

I purchased the Teva Men's Omnium Hiking Shoe, Burnt Olive for a January 2010 trip to Thailand. I bought them about a half size smaller than I would have picked in a regular running shoe and the fit was perfect -- they are very comfortable. They are light and look good, too. Unfortunately, the first time I wore them in calm, shallow ocean water, the soles on both shoes peeled away at the top and near the heel. I stopped wearing them and returned them (Thank you Amazon!) and won't buy the Teva brand again this year. It's too bad, because I loved the look and fit of these shoes.

Omnium is fantastic. Best of ANY footwear I've ever owned. From decades of pounding athletics I've developed a broad forefoot with a comparatively narrow heel (like haveing pancake flippers for feet). I had to over compensate by buying one or two sizes larger, just to accomodate my digits in the toe box. That led to my rear foot "swimming" in an oversized cavity, making it necessary to insert hemi-orthotics in order fill the void. What a pain in the butt, feet and wallet. I was on the verge of going "custom made" for everything until I ran into these by sheer accident. Now I've got three pairs and will be ordering a couple or three more. They have a wide forefoot and very secure rearfoot, along with excellent breathabliity (heat and moisture). Even in winter (dry cold in my part of the world), just a pair of woolen socks along with these is by far more comfortable than big, heavy boots or those damn "uggs" (ugly) sheep skins. Latter two options are too bulky and the "uggs" WAY too hot, once you are on the move. NOTE TO TEVA: don't discontinue this product line until life discontinues me. "Thank you" just doesn't cut it!

It appears a large number of reviewers have had delamination issues. I haven't yet but I suppose I should expect it. That's dissapointing since I spent $65 on them (a lot to me). But I suppose I should not get paranoid about it and just wait to see if it happens to me.

From my experience so far I am very happy. I bought these specifically for a light camping trip with my family. My normal camping trips lead me to deeper woods with no facilities and quite a bit of "gun play". However, this camping trip was going to be next to a river and a lake, with more walking, biking, swimming, boating, and things like that.

My first day we didn't get to float the river as we intended, but I had worn these in anticipation of that. We wound up hiking up a steep and rocky slope to a small cliff overlooking the river, and then back down. I was impressed with the traction these afforded (not nearly as good as my hunting/hiking shoes but far exceeding my expectations). They were also pretty comfortable other than the back strap digging into my right ankle just above my heel. That turned out to be an adjustment issue on my part, I didn't have the strap tight enough.

Later we hiked a more or less flat hike along a creek, and did a little rock hopping. They were absolutely great for that. I wore them around camp, swam in them, rode bikes a little, and wore them on boats out on the lake. They were very versatile and comfortable, and surpassed my expectations.

The things I was impressed with the most were the fact that water actually drains well, unlike my cheaper water shoes. No more slogging around for an hour after you leave the water and drain your shoe until it dries. Also, you are going to pick up rocks in these. that's just how they are made. You'll pick up rocks in cheaper water shoes too. But with these, if I am in the water, I can usually just pick up my foot and shake it to get the rocks out. That didn't always work, but as a general rule the rocks were far easier to extract than with my other water shoes.

So to summarize, so far these have been great shoes. I hope they never come apart on me, especailly after short periods of time using them for their intended purpose, but we'll see. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for now.

Bought these in May 2010. Wore less than a dozen times -- walking on dry ground, no hiking, no rafting, etc. On one shoe , the sole and the black rubber on the side of the heal pulled away. I just read reviews from purchases made after mine and they report the same thing. Wish I had waited.