Kit review: the new UNEEK sandal from KEEN

Created from two cords and a sole, KEEN have created what they call 'open air footwear', also known as the UNEEK sandal. We asked outdoor blogger Sian Lewis to put a pair to the test 

Outdoor footwear mavericks KEEN have created a rather different type of shoe and it’s very well named. The UNEEK is crafted from just two lengths of quick-drying paracord and a grippy rubber sole, making it a great companion on wild swims and rock-pooling excursions, but they look and feel the part for a stroll around the park, or a gander to the shops, too.

The two-cord design is pleasingly simple – one knots around your foot like a cage and the other draws the whole shoe tight, moulding to the shape of your foot. The adjustable fit and light, breathable materials might even trick you into feeling like you’re barefoot, while still providing plenty of support and structure. Just don’t tug the cords too tight, or you’ll end up with the ghosts of your stripy sandals imprinted on your feet.

Subtle the UNEEKs are not. They want the world to know that you are outdoorsy and different and probably know a lot about bungees and parachute cords. If you can stand strangers approaching you to discuss your interesting footwear and you love to suddenly plunge into water without warning, these could be your perfect summer kicks. 

Watch the video below for more about the invention of the UNEEK sandal - made without glue, stitches or seams, the design uses only two materials for the upper and is made to fit your feet perfectly.

UNEEK sandals, £89.99, keenfootwear.com. For more about the story behind KEEN, read our Q&A in the Ernest directory.

 

Sian Lewis is online editor of Countryfile Magazine and an award-winning outdoor blogger at thegirloutdoors.co.uk

Review: Smith The Roll Pack

Ernest editor Jo tests out the first in Millican's new Mavericks range: Smith the Roll Pack is a simple, functional bag made with lightweight weatherproof canvas. Neat enough for the city, tough enough for the great outdoors, he's a worthy companion for those who like to mix work and adventure

Ernest editor Jo testing Smith on the Isles of Scilly. Photo: Oliver Berry

I’ve been a fan of Millican bags ever since they launched back in 2009. Trusty Dave the Rucksack has accompanied me on wintery trips to Iceland and Norway, as well as wild swimming rambles in Montenegro and many a muddy festival. Along the way I’ve overstuffed him, sat on him and quite possibly used him as a pillow. I'm proud to say he's taking it all in his stride and there’s barely a scratch on him.

So having followed Millican for the past six years, I was intrigued when they previewed their new Mavericks collection in our second print edition (p106-107). Smith the Roll Pack is the first in the Mavericks line and it looks like he’s taken the makers in a new direction.

Before I introduce Smith, here's a quick introduction: Lake District based Millican use sustainable materials to make functional bags for travel and outdoor living. Their thoughtfully designed bags are made with specialist canvas fabrics, minimum plastic and recycled materials and are intended for lifelong use. They named their company after local Lake District legend Millican Dalton, who left a conventional life in the 1900s to live in a cave in Borrowdale, finding all he needed (apart from decent coffee) in nature. Oh and they name their bags after their Lakeland heroes. Dave is a local farmer and (Andy) Smith is a mountain biking creative fellow who's just taken over an abandoned carpet factory and turned it into a community space for local artists and craftspeople. A hero indeed. 

Millican has pared down their design for Smith. The bag is constructed simply, using just a few panels of lightweight and weatherproof Bionic® Canvas (57% recycled and 30% stronger than regular canvas). This modest design aims to reduce production waste, with minimal seams for maximum strength and durability. The canvas is impregnated rather than coated with weatherproof wax, to keep the weight down and the rain out, and to retain that tactile canvas feel. He also has everything else you’d expect: padded ergonomic shoulder straps, removable waist straps for cycling and a breathable back panel – as well as nice aluminum buckles. Plus, I hate to say this sort of thing, but he’s also got a rather pleasing retro feel. So, moving on…

Smith strikes a good balance between city bag and adventure pack. He’s neat enough for meetings, but tough enough for exploring. Over the past two months, I’ve taken Smith on all of my research trips for our upcoming third issue: hare spotting in the Kent Marshes, meeting makers in Margate and exploring deserted islands in Scilly. I've also used him to cart books, notes and magazines to various cafes around Bristol when I got too restless to work at my desk.

Smith's versatile design makes him ideal for this sort of trip. There’s a concealed 15” padded laptop pocket on one side and a notebook-sized pocket on the other, with space for your phone and pens. The main belly of the bag has more pockets (for magazines, iPad and other important things), but mainly a large expandable space, which was really handy when I needed to stuff in another layer, or chuck in a station-bought supper on the last train home. However, my favourite thing about Smith is the grab handle on top of the bag, which is reinforced with leather and handy for picking the bag up like a pannier when hopping on and off trains. All in all, this is a cracking bag and well recommend for those of you who like to mix work and adventure. 

Millican's Smith The Roll Pack comes as a 18 litre pack for £95 and 25 litre for £110. We tested 18 litre in Rust. For more information, visit the Millican website.

Introducing KEEN

We're proud to introduce our latest Directory member KEEN, who produce quality, durable footwear for outdoor adventures, while having their finger on the social and environmental pulse

The Newport Sandal, £79.99

Introduce us to KEEN – what do you guys do?

Based in Portland, Oregon, KEEN footwear was founded in 2003, with the mission to provide high quality products to an inclusive, outdoor community while demonstrating integrity and leadership, especially on social and environmental commitments.

What's important to you? 

Community, environment, the desire to dare to do things differently, and acting with respect and integrity. KEEN's operations and company culture reflect a stand out commitment to build a strong community and healthier planet where we can all create, play and care. In 2004 KEEN established a giving program called Hybrid, which has since donated more than €6 million in cash and resources to not-for-profit organisations around the world. Our latest initiative – the KEEN Effect II program – encourages KEEN fans and the general public to nominate non-profit organisations that align with the company’s outdoor-focused, core values for one of 10 grants. Through KEEN Effect II, KEEN is looking forward to supporting organisations that inspire responsible outdoor participation as a way towards building strong communities, creative and sustainable thinking, and introducing new audiences to the outdoors. 

What inspires you and your products?

Innovation. It's in our DNA. KEEN was launched with the industry defining Newport sandal – a product internationally renowned for its forward thinking hybrid design and patented toe protection.  This unique sandal revolutionised the sport sandal industry and provided the catalyst to launch the brand's outdoor causal and performance footwear lines. That one radical departure for sandals inspired an overriding philosophy for KEEN footwear: original hybrid products that allow consumers to connect with the outdoors in its entirety. From that break-through moment, KEEN quickly expanded to include closed-toe footwear and has continued to grow ever since. KEEN now produce eight categories of footwear incorporating men’s, women’s and children's products as well as bags and socks, that can be found online and in more than 5,000 retail locations in more than 60 countries around the world.

What should we look out for this year?

Our new UNEEK sandal epitomises KEEN's defining philosophy of innovation. Created from two cords and a sole, UNEEK has an entirely new footwear construction that challenges the convention of footwear manufacturing. KEEN started by examining the foot and redesigned every single piece of the shoe to best compliment the foot's shape. We started with one material – the cord – and built off of that – adding only what was absolutely necessary. There is beauty and elegance in its simplicity, which promises one of a kind fit, feel and comfort that is unique to UNEEK. 

Find out more in our directory or by browsing the KEEN website.

The Scott window

St Peter’s Church in Binton, Warwickshire, has a large stained-glass window commemorating Robert Falcon Scott’s fatal 1912 expedition to the South Pole. Scott was the brother-in-law of the Rector, Lloyd Bruce, who commissioned the window. It was designed by John Lisle, built by Charles Kempe & Co, and dedicated on 25 September 1915

Images: John Roberts

The window is not noticeable at first, perpendicular to the entrance. The rest of the church is fairly unremarkable, with few original features surviving a rebuild in 1875. We walked between gloomy pews holding empty biscuit tins, a giant teddy, and a frisbee saying ‘Jesus Loves You’, towards the altar, where we could turn and admire the window in full.

Four tall rectangular panes show scenes from the 1912 Scott expedition – the explorers bidding their families farewell; their disappointment at discovering the flag of Amundsen’s rival expedition from Norway; Oates’ self-sacrifice, choosing to meet death in a blizzard rather than slow the others; the cairn erected over the tent that entombed Bowers, Wilson and Scott. In smaller panes below, biblical stories are depicted – Abraham about to kill his son Isaac; Moses in the rushes; David and Goliath.

This parallel is not accidental. Rendered in the religious aesthetics of stained glass and lead, the true significance of the Scott expedition is brought out. The final sheet in the information display below the window emphasises the scientific importance of the expedition – that it wasn’t really a race to the Pole, so mustn’t be understood as a failure – but to me this is missing the point.

Papers from the diary of the local primary school in the year of the expedition tell how the children fundraised to buy a husky for the sleds. They weren’t drawn to the expedition for its scientific usefulness. Nor are the hundreds of tourists who write with awe in the visitors book now. No, the story of Scott’s last expedition fascinates us because of its audacity – and its futility.

Through this strange window, we see our own insignificance. Gazing up from the aisle of this parish church in rural Warwickshire, we glimpse the all-powerful – Antarctica, God, the indifference of the natural world to human death.

Guy Lochhead is a primary school teacher living in Bristol. He is currently gathering resources via the British Whybrary and starting Bristol's first co-op gym.

The people of paradise

"It is impossible to ignore Sri Lanka’s history. The landscape bears scars of a brutal civil war and the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, but not its people. You would be hard pressed to find a single individual not affected by the conflict, and yet you would be even more hard pressed to find one not ready to move on with their lives..."

Images: Ester Keate

Leaving behind the air conditioned coolness of Colombo airport and stepping out into the 4am pre-dawn is like going from Arctic tundra into a Swedish sauna in a single step. Your jeans stick to your legs and your shirt blooms stains in places you didn’t know you could sweat. Jet lagged after nearly 14 hours of traveling, you start to question why you are here. Then, as the cab pulls away and dawn slowly breaks, revealing the insanely decorated stalls, clinging to roads that themselves barely cling to cliffs overlooking jungles of emerald green, miniature waterfalls, tiny villages, backdropped by a stunning blue sky. Then, you understand. Sri Lanka is a truly beautiful country. Rarely will you find so many luscious jungles, golden beaches, rolling hills and jagged mountains, in such a small landmass. However, even more amazing than landscape are the people that inhabit it.

It is impossible to ignore Sri Lanka’s history. The landscape bears scars of a brutal civil war and the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, but not its people. You would be hard pressed to find a single individual not affected by the conflict, and yet you would be even more hard pressed to find one not ready to move on with their lives. Everyone you meet in Sri Lanka wants to talk, wants to help. If you walk alone along small country roads people will pull over to offer you a lift in a tuktuk already overcrowded with four people, refusing to hear any offer of payment. When passing through the colourful market places everyone wants to talk. Not in an unfriendly, pushy way, trying to sell you something. They're simply jumping at an opportunity to talk to someone new, and practice their English.

Wandering around the small towns and villages you get a sense that people have learnt from the past, to integrate, to live with each other’s religions and beliefs. If you are there over Christmas you will see extravagant nativity scenes sitting, quite happily, opposite Muslim shrines and Buddhist temples.

While each religious and ethnic group remains fiercely loyal to their backgrounds, all do so within the context of a wider society. In the words of a young barman: “Yes, I am Tamil but mostly I am Sri Lankan." 

It is said the word serendipity comes from Serendib, the Arabic name for the island and it’s obvious why. Coming in to land at Colombo the local air steward excitedly announced, “Welcome to paradise." Sri Lanka is a paradise, and Sri Lankans truly are the people of paradise.

Words: Fredrik Keate

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Ester Keate is a London-based photographer. You can see more of her work at esterkeate.co.uk