Sure, sandals are great—until they aren't. Like when you're rolling toward Lost Paddle, a Class V rapid on West Virginia's Gauley River, and you rip off your big toenail while trying to wedge your foot into the seam of the raft. Or when you're hiking in a slippery tropical rainforest and start accruing strap blisters before reaching the halfway point. For those situations—and damn near every other spot where amphibious footwear becomes essential—we praise the 92O. This new shoe from running-shoe powerhouse New Balance combines Vibram soles for maximum grip on slippery surfaces with a synthetic mesh upper that's built to both protect your feet and keep ‘em dry, cool, and comfortable. But its true invention lies in something dubbed the H2Flow system, a series of holes that line the shoe just above the sole. They look a like a string of fish gills, and they're engineered to let the grit, sand, and gunk you pick up from stomping through water to flow out of the shoe's interior, but not back in.

All in all, a great concept—and it works. During a humid hike through the rainforests of Belize, the 92O kept its grip on saturated tree roots, let me plunge into the wading pool in front of a crashing waterfall, and return to the trail without pause or discomfort. Worn without socks, they fit perfectly and didn't cause any blisters (perhaps due to the equalized pressure points from the quick-pull lacing system). You can also quick-dry these ultra-light shoes by removing the insole—the part of a shoe that always takes the longest to air out (a godsend if your itinerary has you constantly packing, moving, and re-packing). Then again, the 92Os are comfortable enough to qualify as your go-to footwear for an entire trip into the jungle, sea, or whitewater-choked river. One gripe: the shoe lace toggle doesn't tuck neatly into the pouch on the top of the shoe's tongue—but that's likely to change, and it's hardly an intrusive oversight.