ProView – Astral Loyak AC

Living in my truck during the hot Utah summers, I enjoy having minimalist gear and clothing. The Astral Loyak AC (“Air Condition”) is a great choice for a minimalist lifestyle and one who spends a lot of time around water. 

These lightweight lifestyle shoes are great for lightweight water activities. The holes in the front of the sole and full body of mesh allow for great drainage. The flexible grip sole grabs even wet surfaces. The sock-like slip-on allows for easy entry and protects your foot from debris entering the top of the shoe. The flexibility and style give the shoe great comfort to wear around town or on your water-filled adventures. 

Fit

I ordered the Basalt Black color of Loyak AC which has the gum bottoms. Putting on the shoe for the first time I realized this fits a lot like the water sock shoes that I wore as a little kid; the shoe fits snug but not tight, giving play for your foot to move but synchs around the neck of your ankle to keep the shoe on. The pull loops on the tongue and the heel make it very simple to slip the shoe on quickly and gave it the feel of a shoe I could just slip on and go. With that, I really questioned what the point of the laces was. The laces that come with the shoe are round and come untied very easily. Not once did I feel I needed to tie the shoe tighter with the laces because the shoe fits snug and doesn’t feel like it will come off. 

Testing the shoe, I decided to do two major activities: 1) Day to day activities and 2) A four-day camping trip around the Great Salt Lake. It’s no weeklong river trip full of big rapids and sketchy portages, but these shoes are not designed for whitewater use. This shoe is designed for casual use and lightweight water activities. Therefore, that is how they will be tested. 

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Casual Use

With temperatures rising in Salt Lake, Utah, I tend to leave the socks at home and move to sandals and lighter weight shoes. The Loyak AC is perfect for when the day’s activities require something a little more than sandals and yet not intense enough to put socks on. I wore these around town, to the store, riding my bike, short hikes, yard work, and other chores around the house. 

Look/Style

The laces on the tongue made me feel better about wearing a water shoe around town because I felt like most people saw this as a normal shoe with great style. The shoe is thin and sleek; designed to give a barefoot type of feel to it. It’s close to the ground, has a nearly level foot sole (12 mm heel, 11 mm ball) and a wide toe box for toes to spread. They claim to have medium arch support, but I didn’t feel it was enough arch support for a full day of work. Then again, my feet will adapt and grow to a more barefoot feel. I still continue to wear these shoes to work and for short daily activities.  

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Saltwater Test

Weighing in at only 190g (6.7oz) I figured this would be a great option for a shoe to keep in my overland truck camper and I had just the trip to put this shoe to the test. I planned a “staycation” in Salt Lake area by deciding to go to the Great Salt Lake and camp in a variety of places around the lake and the west desert. With water saltier than the ocean and a variety of terrain from water, rocks, sand and mud, I knew this would put the should to the test. 

The rip stop mesh and drain holes offered great drainage to keep the shoe light weight while walking and playing on the lake shore, even after leaving the water. This shoe only has one drain in the front of the shoe as which is no problem because of all the mesh around the shoe that sheds water as well. The Flex-Grip rubber is super flexible and has siped grip on the bottoms to adhere to wet and slippery rocks better than other sandals or water shoes. They are not as grippy as golf shoes but still pretty grippy for how thin they are. They were not mind-blowingly the best water shoe around, but for a lightweight casual shoe, they held their ground.

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Other Things To Know

The rip stop mesh is quite see-through. So, when you are walking around you can actually see your toes fairly well. 

The heel is stiff enough that you can just about slip the shoe on with no hands, kind of like a skate shoe.

The insoles come out of the shoe quite often. Usually when the shoe is wet or when your feet are sweaty. I think that a little bit of super glue will help solve this, or I can just deal with it.

This is the “AC” (Air Conditioned) version of the Loyak, meaning it breaths more. This also comes in the original Loyak and Hemp version. 

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Final Thoughts

The Astral Loyak AC keeps your feet from getting weighed down by the water on the river and offers great style in the streets. This shoe is listed on Astral’s website under both “water” and “performance casual” and I totally agree with Astral on this. The Loyak AC bridges the gap between the two. It’s up to you to decide what adventure you will take this shoe on. 

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