Flipflops with a secret compartment

These flipflops have got an arch-support with a hidden pocket where you can leave your keys and wallet while you're in the water. I have no idea whether the rubber is stiff enough to make walking on your car-keys comfortable, though.

ArchPort Flip Flops with Hidden Storage (via Red Ferret)

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quori

Here are some issues…

1) unless the compartment locks or something, couldn’t someone just walk up and open the flip flop hideaway and take your stuff anyway?

2) If the flip flops are genuinely nice FFs, wouldn’t someone just want to steal the FFs themselves…and when they get your keys and such too…well, bonus for them!

3) perhaps the thought is to keep them in there and wear the FFs in the water and such? But would you be ok testing the water-proofness of the compartment?

4) Lastly…and most importantly…FLIP FLOPS BLOW! Who the hell likes that damn strappy thing in between your toes! UGH! Sandals are the way to go man. Sandals. Preferably a pair of Tevas.
- Victor Drath
  
  “FLIP FLOPS BLOW! Who the hell likes that damn strappy thing in between your toes! UGH!”
  
  No kidding! And that damed sound of idiots draggin their feet with the stupid things on. GRR! The is 2011 not 1000BC, get some decent footwear!
- Anonymous
  
  seems to be lots of interest from TEVA and Reef promoters…interesting..
Lobster

Not really sure I’d trust my housekey to something I’m walking on and is not technically attached to me.
penguinchris

I like the idea, but they’re *seriously* ugly, and the secret compartment is kind of obvious when you look at it when it’s closed.

I would love a real solution to this problem, though. I think the best option would probably be a waterproof pouch that attaches securely to the inside of your swim shorts, like travel security pouches (which generally I think are unnecessary for travel, but the idea is ok). Won’t work for women and girls, but then, I doubt any women would wear flip-flops that are so ugly, either!
hadlock

I, for one, welcome our airline seatbelt buckle-in-a-shoe wearing overlords.
sigismund

By the way, I alway wondered… Is the a law in the US binding american women to wear flipflops at any occasion, or at least when travelling ?
Anonymous

My dad swims in Lake Michigan from the vernal equinox through Thanksgiving (the man is like Chuck Norris, if Chuck Norris wasn’t a douche). His biggest problem was that people kept stealing his shoes while he was swimming. So, this is no help. His solution was to pin keys inside his trunks, and run to the lake barefoot.

All of that is just to say, what’s that pimp-looking wallet and key holder looking thing they’re sticking in the ugly useless flip flops?
Marshall

One would imagine that the ideal consumer of this object is festival goers looking for a place to stash their stash on their way through security.
- teapot
  
  One would imagine that the ideal consumer of this object is festival goers looking for a place to stash their stash on their way through security.
  Bad idea. Anything near the ground is a sinch for a sniffer dog. The higher on your body the better. The best policy is to get everyone you enter with to chain smoke cigarettes. I feel sorry for the dogs but that guilt can fall on the cops for bringing animals to festivals instead of doing their job in the first place… arresting dealers, not end users.
  
  (to remove old wax from your surfboard)
  Hate to be a nitpick, but isnt the comb’s primary function to add texture to the wax so your feeties can grip?
  
  I wonder what it is about the boingboing commenter demographic that skews it so heavily towards flip flop loathing?
  Screw them…. I hate sandals. I like thongs (no, not string in your butt), but if we called them “flip flops” here, I’d probably hate them too.
gee80

Can I take these on a plane?
Anonymous

Reef was making sandals like this a few years back. The heel of the sandal held a compartment which you could put some stuff in. It came with a small pad and pen in there but you couldn’t fit much else.
These look a little bigger but I’d imagine will suffer from the same issue that stopped me from wearing the Reef’s…weight. The pocket has to built with durability, which means a heavier sandal even WITHOUT stuff inside.
cjp

These should come spring-loaded to automatically catapult any man who attempts to wear them into the ocean. I’ll betcha that disgusting dancing guy from the Hedonism 2 video wears these when he’s rippin’ and a tearin’.
trevcaru

Flip flops are horrible for feet. They shorten the Achilles Tendon. And on top of that, these flip flops have an ‘arch support’. Arches are there for a reason, they are shock absorbers. People who use arch supports generally have either bad knees or bad lower backs (the other shock absorbers) because they now have to make up for the inanimate arch.

I have studied gaits for 12 years.
- kjulig
  
  Flip flops are horrible for feet. They shorten the Achilles Tendon.
  
  Aren’t most flip-flops rather thin and flat (at least mine are)? How do they shorten the Achilles tendon? Wouldn’t that be more of an issue if you wear shoes with heels?
  - Antinous / Moderator
    
    I think that people in flip-flops walk on their toes. So it’s not really the flip-flop’s fault.
Shart Tsung

Can these sandals hold water? sunshine? eggshells? thin ice? hot coals? a cloud?

If yes to any of these, please send me a pair.
Anonymous

A different sort of flip-flop at a Texas prison museum:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthetube/2442746979/
Quiche de Resistance

Keys, wallet, sure. Whatever you say, Mr. Doctorow!
Anonymous

The TSA is going to plotz.
snakedart

Nothing that encourages the wearing of flip flops can be a good thing.
Hugh

I wonder what it is about the boingboing commenter demographic that skews it so heavily towards flip flop loathing?
Shibi

Reef makes these for men and women, too. The shoe is pretty flat, like a regular flip-flop not like these Archports. I have a pair of the Reefs and the footbed (sole-part) is fairly stiff (but I like the solidity of it). The ‘secret compartment’ slides out the back and if you slide it completely out, it doubles as a comb (to remove old wax from your surfboard). I’ve never put anything in the compartment, but it is large enough for some folded bills or a couple of credit cards or keys. I usually only wear these in Mexico and I really don’t want to be handling an area of my shoes that has experienced the ground-level funk of rural Mexico.
Anonymous

Storing valuables is a bit much. Having a built-in church key, though? Genius.
http://www.amazon.com/Reef-Mens-Fanning-Flip-Flop/dp/B001PTHDRS
Tim

I’ve had far more sandals stolen from the beach than wallet or keys. Make a keyring with an attachment for sandals and I’ll think about it.
Antinous / Moderator

I bet that four ounces of vodka would make a comfortable cushion for your feet.
bklynchris

secret no more
JeffF

Keys, money, and some forms of ID can easily withstand a soaking.