Danner Now Makes Sandals. Here’s How the New Joseph Performs

Known for making incredibly capable, rugged boots that might just outlast their owners, Danner has been making durable footwear for hikers, hunters, and general outdoors lovers since 1932. More recently, the Portland, OR-based company has begun exploring more “lifestyle” footwear designs, as exemplified by the all-new Danner Joseph Sandal, the brand’s first foray into men’s hiking sandals. Curious to see how the open-toe option would fair in the wild, I decided to test a pair. Read on for my full Danner Joseph sandal review.

First though, a quick history lesson for the sandal skeptics out there. Sandals were OG performance footwear long before Vibram and Gore-Tex. They are believed to be the first rigid shoe, with the oldest known example appearing almost 11,000 years ago. The Romans wore sandals to battle, and the Tarahumara tribe of Northern Mexico gained notoriety in Christopher McDougal’s celebrated book Born to Run for their ability to cover ultra distances through rough canyons in, you guessed it, sandals. The adventure sandal movement remains alive and well.

Danner first entered open-toe territory with the Shelter Cove recovery sandal, released in 2023. With the Joseph on the other hand, Danner enters the sandal wars taking aim directly at category favorites like Chaco, Teva, and Bedrock. But can it perform?

Source: https://www.fieldmag.com/articles/danner-joseph-sandal-review