2020-004 | TAPAK NUWANG SPORTS SANDAL

LAST YEAR, I RECEIVED a pair of free TAPAK Nuwang Sports Sandals in my home. Its arrival and purpose was to use it to my heart’s content; make a series of field tests and then give my opinions about its performance in social media; and make an impartial product review in this blog. “Nuwang”, by the way, is Ilocano word for the swamp buffalo, or more popularly known as the carabao; the Philippines’ favorite farm animal known more for its strength and its staying power.

It has a minimalist-style webbing of printed-orange motif as the thong, or strap, which you could adjust for fit at only one point. Once you slip your foot in, you just pull the webbing end through a small PVC ladder lock and secure it with another lock.  What I noticed about it was its weight. It was neither too heavy nor too light; considering that the outsoles are constructed of repurposed and upcycled rubber tires! Truly an inspiration and a product of Filipino ingenuity.

The first thing I did is slip it through the thong found at the heel. It is like fitting a shoe only you need to catch the other end of the thong with the slot between big toe and second toe. Once secured, cinch it tight, but not too tight. Then I walked it around my neighborhood and the downtown areas of Cebu City. I have to adjust my feet to get used to it because it has a different system. Most often, the smallest toes would be found beyond the edges and I need to adapt how it works for me. A little adjustment in my gait.

I wore it in my personal errands, rain or shine, intending to wear it down. I learned to walk it on dirt trails, sandy beaches and wade atop it in waist-high seawater. Exposed it to a full day of sunlight at its wettest conditions, with the intention of warping the rubber and undermine the adhesive that paired the insoles and outsoles. It had seen a lot of mileage, especially during the long lockdowns where I walked the empty streets because there were no public transportation running.

I did not use this in long hikes nor used this for running. Its minimalist design is not my idea of the ultimate in outdoors safety. I still stuck with the age-old principle of the proper footwear for the proper activity even though I know people wear this same type of sandals for their leisure activities in pictures. I would not recommend in such even though I know the TAPAK Nuwang is tough enough to withstand the force applied by weight and speed and uneven surface.

I find the minimalist thong system design very complicated to unravel and cinch in places where you are deemed to remove your footwear several times when entering areas far apart from each other. I experienced it where I have to do the removal and the wearing of the TAPAK Nuwang as I went to the outhouse, the restaurant and back to my cottage several times a day for four days. I thought I have only the home to do this thing. I was wrong.

Its toughest test was to wade in a mangrove area on a low tide. Mud would suck the soles, testing the hold of the thongs, while saltwater would naturally undermine the cracks of the sandwiched soles where the adhesives hold your year-old sandals together. For almost an hour I struggled to keep the TAPAK Nuwang to my feet, even though the slippery mud would interfere in my footing on the sandal itself. It was torture for any footwear immersed in watery mud that long but it held.

Should I rate the TAPAK Nuwang on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 as Poor and 5 as Excellent; I would rate it by its different characteristics like Comfort, Make, Function, Weight, Design, Material, Cost and User Friendly; before I could give the final satisfaction rating average. Here is how I do it and please follow me down:

• The TAPAK Nuwang is a sandal with an unconventional design, based on its minimalist form. Comfortability of wearing is supreme when doing a light walk although you have to adjust your gait to right sandal to the axis of your feet. Comfort is maximum at 4;

• For a locally-made sandal with a material originally of upcycled vehicle tire, the construction looked, felt and performed solid. Make is rated maximum at 5;

• Minimum requirements of a sandal is that it should keep your walking as comfortable as possible, protect your feet and does not fail. The TAPAK Nuwang have complied with that and this resulted to satisfactory functionality. Function is max at 4.5;

• Weight is the most obtrusive feature why people think twice of wearing a sports sandal. Weight is just about right which I rated at 4.5;

• This is not an original design but the manufacturer tweaked and added their own, for copyright considerations, like the upcycled tire tread. The design of the thong that held the feet is not the best though but aesthetically, it is. Design is good at 4;

• The choice of upcycled tires as the outsoles is a winner when choosing products that considers your carbon footprint. Materials used are satisfactory and could even better those expensive and imported brands. Material is fine at 4.5;

• At P550 per pair? Do I need to explain the price? Cost is best at 5;

• This is where the TAPAK Nuwang is not at its best moment. The minimalist thong design lets you to sit down so you could reach in unravelling and cinching the thong and remove or wear the sandal. It is never easy if you happen to do this more than what you expect it to be. User Friendly is 3.

Overall, the TAPAK Nuwang Sports Sandal has a Satisfaction Rating Average of 4.31, which is surprisingly high, considering that it is a local product. Personally, this is an excellent sandal to acquire and walk on with style among the suburbs and the frontcountry, notwithstanding its minimalist-thong system.

Tapak Outdoor and Sporting Goods, the maker and distributor of the TAPAK Nuwang, is an independent manufacturer built around 100 percent Filipino capital with address at Marikina City, Metro Manila, Philippines. Their products are all made in the country’s shoe-making capital of Marikina using local labor. You may call or send a message through their Facebook Page or a personal message to to Mr. Russell Pelingo and Mr. Russell Eustaquio for orders and inquiries.

The TAPAK Nuwang is sold at a retail price of P550/pair, with sizes ranging from 5 to 10. Strap colors are black, gray, orange, blue, brown, olive green, multi-colored tan, multi-colored green and multi-colored blue. They also have the TAPAK Nuwang Sea Games 2019 Edition in blue and red which sells for P350/pair. Then they have the TAPAK Aspin, in different strap colors sold at P550/pair. All their products are tested in different locations, environments and activities. They are also into production of trucker caps, cycling caps and neck warmers carrying the TAPAK name; and other sports equipment.