i come from a line of Appalachians that got one pair of shoes a year if he or she were lucky. "hand me downs" were the norm. and those shoes were only used for school and very cold weather. i think my dad modeled them after the ho chi minh sandals of the viet cong of whom he killed many many. but he was one to recognize ingenuity and put it to practice. that's why he carried AKs while in the jungle with the montagnards. he said, "you could bury that som'bitch in a river's muck and come back to it 6 months later and it would fire just fine." i miss the old man.