“I found the Astral Loyak through your site, and I have to say that I'm thrilled I did. I use this shoe all the time. I know it's marketed as a water shoe, and I'm sure it performs really well there, but I use it mainly as a casual shoe and find that it works superbly for this purpose. I have a few other minimalist shoes as well, but none of them have the sole flexibility and grip of the Loyak. Thanks again for recommending this awesome shoe from Astral!” —Z.P., Santa Rosa, CA
The Astral Loyak may just be the hybrid champion of the minimalist footwear field. Marketed—and highly touted—as a water shoe, the impressive Loyak is as functional on land as it is on a boat, SUP, or rocky creek bed. With its foot-healthy design features and its ultra-sticky Flex Grip outsole, the Astral Loyak promotes exceptional balance, stability, and foot function on all manner of terrain, surfaces, and grades. The hydrophobic canvas upper of this lightweight shoe is deceptively durable, too, and for a specialized shoe, it radiates a general appeal for all those interested in optimizing foot health and comfort. If you’re a fan of minimalist shoes and watersports, the Astral Loyak is probably already on your radar. But after testing it out, we found this shoe to be suitable for much more than just days on the river or weekends at the cottage. In this Astral Loyak shoe review, we hone in on this foot-friendly offering to get a better idea of its most salient features, examine the many ways it can be put to good use, assess its compatibility with other helpful footgear, and evaluate the creative ways it handles wet and wild conditions, among other things.
Read on for our full review of the aquaphilic Astral Loyak!
Astral Designs, the ecologically minded and passion-driven company behind the Loyak, has put considerable time, care, and attention into the production of this model. Indeed, Astral is a company of athletes, artists, and craftspeople who seek to produce the finest products for outdoor enthusiasts in the least toxic and lowest-impact manner possible. And the Loyak is a glowing example of this zeal and ingenuity in practice, as it possesses a number of attributes that really set it apart from other competitors in the space. After putting this multifaceted shoe to the test in all kinds of conditions, here are the most notable attributes of the Astral Loyak, as we see them:
We rate the above as the most notable features of the Astral Loyak; however, there are other great aspects of this shoe that deserve special mention as well.
Among these other features are the Loyak's flexible sole, its lightweight nature, and its exceptional breathability. A little more about each of these points here:
The Astral Loyak possesses an abundance of beneficial features that set it apart from other footwear, including other footwear within the minimalist shoe sphere. Considering its use of thoughtful and durable materials, its profusion of foot-friendly design elements, its ability to effectively manage moisture, and its stylish overall appearance, this shoe has much to offer wearers of all kinds. It's this latter point that we'll turn to in the next couple of sections of this review, examining the various activities for which you might deploy the Astral Loyak and answering the question of whether or not this shoe makes for a good casual-wear option. Without further ado, then, let's dive into the many pursuits at which the Astral Loyak excels.
As we’ve already mentioned, the Astral Loyak is perhaps best known as a comfortable shoe for watersports. And, indeed, many users of this versatile offering find it ideal for water-based activities, including kayaking, canoeing, stand-up paddleboarding (SUP), rafting, boating, fishing, canyoneering, and swimming in rivers and lakes. On hot summer days, too, the Loyak makes for the perfect companion for seeking out and enjoying that secluded swimming hole you've been hearing about from friends. Astral has been making water-focused footwear—as well as industry-leading life jackets—for many years, so the company has a deep understanding of and association with the way in which various materials handle moisture and aqueous environments. With this in mind and given our own experience with the shoe, the Loyak is, in our opinion, one of the finest examples of functional footwear for water-specific applications.
In addition to the water-based pursuits listed above, the Astral Loyak is an impressively practical and high-performance shoe for land-oriented athletic use. Thanks to its flat, wide, flexible, and grippy nature, we found the Loyak great for gym workouts, hikes on varied terrain, and even gentle runs on urban surfaces. We also found the Astral Loyak to be a great option for weekend camping trips, where it was able to seamlessly go between bouts of vigorous mountain walking and chill campfire conversations, and all activities in between. Another application in which the Loyak excels is active travel. Because of its lightweight build that doesn't add significant weight to your pack and because of its relatively low profile and bendable sole that permit easy stowing, the Loyak is a great option for any excursion abroad that may involve a combination of spontaneous outdoor adventuring and metropolitan exploration.
The Astral Loyak is very much a sporty all-rounder that works well for a variety of physical activities, but it's also a compelling street shoe that's suitable for pretty much all manner of casual outings. You can easily pair this shoe with shorts or swim trunks for summer get-togethers around the pool with friends and family, but you can also combine it with a dressier outfit for dinner or drinks out on the town. Whether it's an impromptu meetup with pals at your local microbrewery, an after-work neighborhood stroll with your fur babies, or a gentle flat-pedal city bike tour during your next weekend getaway, the Astral Loyak—which can be worn with or without socks depending on your needs—makes for a great choice. While the Loyak can be a year-round casual shoe for those living in warmer climates, it’s primarily a fair-weather option for those who experience harsher winters. Most people will feel comfortable wearing the Loyak from early spring through late fall, though some may prefer to use this airy minimalist shoe primarily during the summer months.
If you are new to using minimalist footwear, we recommend that you start in slowly with the Astral Loyak, gradually building up your wear-time and giving your body the chance to adapt to the thinner soles and the increased workload on your feet and lower leg tissues. The Loyak comes equipped with an optional (removable) 7-mm closed-cell EVA insole, and for new adopters of minimalist footwear, this additional bit of padding beneath the foot can help ease the transition to a more barefoot shoe-wearing experience. Of course, once you develop the requisite foot strength and resilience, or if you happen to already be accustomed to the fit and feel of minimalist footwear, then you will probably be able to use the Loyak in its most stripped-down state, which is with the footbed or insole removed from the shoe. In this scenario, with your foot interacting with its scant yet durable 5 mm outsole, the Loyak offers you a nearly unparalleled opportunity to sense and feel the ground beneath you while helping you build a more robust and responsive foot.
For us at Natural Footgear, a key measure of the “foot-healthiness” of a given shoe is whether or not it can accommodate other helpful footgear, especially Correct Toes—a medical-grade silicone toe spacing device that you place between your toes to restore normal and natural toe splay. Correct Toes helps realign your toes with their corresponding metatarsal bones, something that, for most people who have worn tight-fitting conventional footwear for years or decades, is crucial in restoring optimal foot form, function, and health. Based on our experience with the Astral Loyak, we believe that it is Correct Toes compatible for many (perhaps most) sets of feet, especially if you remove the optional insole (doing so can open up significant space inside the shoe for a spacer-bearing foot). Those who are on the cusp of being able to use this shoe with Correct Toes may consider deploying the FootFitter Shoe Stretcher to broaden the toe box slightly.
The Astral Loyak pairs nicely with a wide variety of other beneficial natural footgear to improve foot and musculoskeletal health from a number of angles. Use the Loyak in combination with Injinji toe socks to enjoy increased toe freedom, prevent blisters, and help prevent or address toe problems such as bunions and hammertoes. Pedag metatarsal pads or Strutz Pro foot pads and Naboso proprioceptive insoles also work great in combination with the Astral Loyak to restore tendon balance in the foot and enhance your postural awareness, respectively. Tuli's heel cups are another unobtrusive item you can use in conjunction with the Loyak to assist in the transition to this thin-soled minimalist shoe. In addition to the aforementioned in-shoe footgear, you can also use the following items alongside your Astral Loyak shoes to rehabilitate your feet or elevate your foot function: BlackBoard training tools, Human Locomotion training tools, Zensah compression sleeves, and the Naboso Neuro Ball.
Determining the correct size of Astral Loyak is crucial for getting the most out of this shoe, especially if you plan to use it for energetic outdoor pursuits. Astral recommends that you order your normal US shoe size in the Loyak, and we found this to be accurate sizing advice. We all have unique feet, however, so this is more of a recommendation than a guarantee. The Loyak comes only in whole sizes, so if you happen to be between sizes, we recommend that you go up to the next available whole size. This may result in a slightly longer shoe than what you're used to, but most wearers of minimalist footwear find it helpful to have a little more shoe length and toe box width anyhow, to accommodate the foot adaptations that frequently occur with the use of foot-healthy functional footwear. If the Astral Loyak is your first foray into healthy-foot-shaped minimalist shoes, don't be alarmed if they feel a bit roomy at first. This is a normal sensation that you will quickly become accustomed to, to the point where going back to the tapering toe boxes of conventional footwear will become rather unthinkable.
According to Astral, the only difference between the men's and women's Loyak is the various colorways that are available for purchase. In other words, the fit is the same in both the men's and women's Astral Loyak in correlating sizes. If you're a woman interested in one of the men's Loyak colors, simply adjust the sizing down by 1 to determine your comparable size in the men's version. For example, if you normally wear a women's US size 9 shoe, consider ordering a size 8 in the men's Astral Loyak instead. Or, conversely, if you're a man interested in one of the women's Loyak colors, simply adjust the sizing up by 1 to determine your comparable size in the women's version. For example, if you normally wear a men's US size 10 shoe, consider ordering a size 11 in the women's Astral Loyak instead. Most users of this shoe, regardless of gender, will find it to be snug where it needs to be (around the heel and throughout the instep) and sufficiently wide from the ball of the foot out toward the ends of the toes.
In the Loyak, the team at Astral Designs has assembled a fine collection of high-quality materials that, when combined, yield a result that's even greater than the sum of its parts. First, the upper of the Astral Loyak is constructed from hydrophobic canvas for superior durability and incorporates stretchy Airmesh at the vamp and tongue to ensure a secure fit and provide a built-in ventilation source. Recessed stitching helps securely connect the canvas upper—itself highly protective against abrasions—directly to the sticky G Rubber outsole. And this G Rubber outsole, which we'll discuss in greater detail in a coming section of this review, is a special formulation that works particularly well on a variety of wet surfaces. The Astral Loyak also comes with two sets of flat, water-resistant laces, with each set being a different color. All Astral shoes, including the Loyak, are made with vegan materials and clean up easily, either in the washing machine (place them in a closed mesh bag with laces and insoles removed, use a gentle, cold water cycle with a slow spin—or no spin—setting, and then allow them to air dry) or when scrubbed in the sink.
To best answer this question, it's important to first understand the special relationship that the Astral Loyak has with water. Every aspect of this shoe is designed and engineered to manage moisture in a superior way, and it incorporates numerous features that support this mission, including a hydrophobic canvas upper, toe cap drainage holes, sidewall port flushes, water-resistant laces, and buoyant, waterproof insoles. The upper of the Loyak also features mesh and microscreen material to permit the entry of water and air while keeping sand and silt out, and this shoe is lightweight overall, which helps keep water from weighing you down any more than it must. So, the Astral Loyak is designed to endure constant soakings and submersions, but it's also constructed to dry quicker than you ever thought possible, thanks to its unique combination of materials and breathability. Indeed, this might just be the quickest-drying closed-toe shoe on the market. And, thanks to the incorporation of anti-microbial materials, the Loyak will naturally prevent the accumulation of funky odors.
As we noted earlier in this review, the grippy outsole of the Astral Loyak is a true standout feature of this model and helps prevent slips and falls that could otherwise have damaging consequences. Before we discuss the specific compound that constitutes the Loyak's outsole, though, it's important to note that good grip is not produced by one factor alone. In fact, many aspects of a shoe work in tandem to give you the traction you need on varied terrain. Ground conformity is one such factor, as it permits the largest amount of surface area to be in contact with the ground, which creates more friction beneath the sole of the shoe. Thanks to the Loyak's relatively soft, broad, and thin rubber outsole, it provides users with excellent ground conformity. The tread pattern of a given shoe is another factor that plays a role in its ability to generate surface friction and traction. The Loyak's razor-siped Flex Grip outsole incorporates low-profile lugs that are designed and arranged to maximize ground feel while providing braking power and shedding dirt.
And, of course, when it comes to the factors that dictate the amount of grip a given shoe possesses, there is the composition of the sole material itself. In this regard, Astral has created one of the stickiest rubber compounds to ever be used as a footwear outsole, and it is called G Rubber. Low-durometer G Rubber is softer than other rubbers and is specially formulated to work well on a variety of wet surfaces. It's one particular form of this proprietary compound that makes up the sole of the Astral Loyak: G.15. G.15 is the most durable form of G Rubber, and it offers increased abrasion resistance while providing you with enhanced traction on both wet and dry surfaces. G.15 rubber is also non-marking and helps maximize tactile feedback. High-traction, non-slip shoes such as the Astral Loyak work great for active outdoor activities, but they can also be helpful for individuals who work in the food services industry or in manufacturing settings that require the wearing of slip-resistant footwear for safety purposes.
Frequent use in and around water almost always limits the longevity of footwear, but the Astral Loyak was designed to combat these forces of degeneration and be a stalwart companion for the long haul. Everything from the sturdy yet pliable canvas upper to the thoughtful seam layout to the hardwearing outsole to the water-resistant laces works together to make the Loyak surprisingly durable. When you first pick up this lightweight minimalist shoe, you might think it lacks toughness, but in our experience, we've found the opposite to be true, and many other reviewers have noted how well this shoe holds up to sustained use in challenging conditions. Astral is, of course, well aware that this shoe is often used in locations or situations where snags are possible, so they include two pairs of laces with each order. If you’re in the ocean where rocks or reefs are present, or if you spend time wading in creeks or murky lakes, the Astral Loyak is a durable choice that will protect your foot without sacrificing function or performance. Whether rambling on trails, navigating slippery shorelines, or exploring a city, the Astral Loyak is up to the task and made to last.
In this Astral Loyak shoe review, we've discussed the many merits associated with this zero-drop casual and athletic shoe. And, indeed, for many users, the Loyak represents a fantastic opportunity to enjoy a more barefoot fit and feel while pursuing a variety of cherished leisure activities. With any shoe, though, it's important to probe for potential areas of improvement or point out the considerations that you, as a discerning consumer, may want to mull over before making a purchase. With this in mind, then, here are some of the key things to consider when it comes to the Astral Loyak shoe:
In addition to the above-mentioned points, there are a couple of additional things about the Loyak that you may wish to mull over when deciding whether or not this shoe will be a good match for you ...
The following critiques may not be dealbreakers in and of themselves (depending on your own unique foot anatomy and/or your minimalist footwear readiness status), but they need to be mentioned nonetheless. Here, then, are two additional points to consider regarding the Astral Loyak:
The above points are the major considerations regarding the Astral Loyak, as we see them. You may have other factors you consider when selecting footwear, but our focus typically revolves around how the shoe interacts with the foot and vice versa. Of course, it's important to consider all facets of the Astral Loyak before making any determinations about it, including the many upsides of this shoe, such as its balanced geometry, lightweight nature, thoughtful materials, grippy sole, excellent breathability, and overall attractiveness. Indeed, the Loyak has much to offer a large cross-section of potential wearers.
Overall, the Astral Loyak is a real phenomenon when it comes to versatility. This shoe's lightweight nature, minimalist construction, and foot-friendly design provide a true barefoot fit and feel, and it's remarkably comfortable for a wide range of activities and applications. Combine all this with its ability to resist wear and tear, and you’ve got a shoe that’s practical for any foot-conscious user with an active lifestyle. If you live on a lake, river, or coastline and want an everyday shoe to wear from the dock to the beach to the tiki bar, then the Astral Loyak is a great choice. Or if you need a high-traction shoe for your adrenaline-fueled wilderness adventures, the Loyak delivers here too. We’ve also found the Astral Loyak to be incredibly useful for casual wear, and we would highly recommend it for anyone who’s already transitioned to minimalist shoes or who is interested in doing so. For its laudable design that incorporates foot-healthy features, Gumbyesque sole that provides maximum ground feel, conformity, and flexibility, and attractive appearance that's amplified by the array of fun colors to choose from, the Astral Loyak is a Natural Footgear favorite.
The Astral Loyak scores 4.4 (out of 5) on the NFAR scale, which puts it in the “excellent” range for foot-healthiness.
The Astral Loyak shoe is Natural Footgear Certified, which means that it lives up to our strict criteria for what constitutes a healthy and beneficial natural foot product. In order to receive Natural Footgear Certification, products must conform to the key criteria we have identified as essential in supporting long-term foot and musculoskeletal health, and footwear must additionally score at least 4.4 out of 5.0 on the NFAR scale.
Disclosure:
We may receive affiliate compensation in connection with the purchase of footwear mentioned on this page (this doesn't cost you, the purchaser, anything, and it helps to keep Natural Footgear going). Even though we may receive compensation, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on or about all models. See our Ethics Policy for more details.
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