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The GUBARUN flip flop is an all-rubber thong sandal with a contoured footbed, a raised arch and a lugged outsole. It’s the pair in this store with something under the arch, and the one that holds on a wet pool deck.

We haven’t travelled with this one ourselves, so what follows is the spec and what owners keep saying about it.

Rubber through, TPR midsole, sizes 7.5 to 14

The outsole, footbed and strap are rubber, with a TPR midsole doing the cushioning. Nothing in it soaks up water, so it rinses under a tap and dries in minutes. The footbed is contoured with a raised arch and a thicker heel section, and the outsole is a lugged rubber that grips wet tile. The strap is a fixed thong with no adjustment. Colours on amazon.ca are brown, khaki and black, and sizes run 7.5 to 14 with a few half sizes missing, so check that your size exists in the colour you want.

Pool deck to room, no skating

Wet tile between the pool and the elevator is where a foam flip flop goes out from under you. The lugged sole on this pair holds there. The arch is the other reason it’s here: an hour on your feet on a flat foam pair leaves them aching, and this one doesn’t. The brown and the khaki read close to leather from a few feet away.

What keeps coming up

Comfortable from the first wear, with a proper arch and grip on wet ground, and owners who wear them daily to a pool report years out of a pair. The catch is the strap. The rubber thong is firm rather than soft, so it rubs the top of the foot and the toe post on some owners, especially in the first week. The fit runs small and narrow, so go up half a size, and the sole is a stiff, heavy rubber that makes a flapping sound when you walk.