Introducing Shamma Ultra Lacing

Hi Everyone,

I am pleased to announce that we are making a major update to our sandals with our new Shamma Ultra Lacing.

As with all our changes, we spent a lot of time testing new materials to see what would improve our sandals without cluttering their design with something unnecessary. We are always looking for ways to improve the sandals, and for over two years now we have been testing Ultrasuede® in our lacing to improve their fit, comfort, and stability. Ultrasuede® has been used in athletic apparel for years, it is ultra-soft, very durable, the colors don’t bleed (making it washable), and it is a perfect match for our sandals.

It became apparent last summer when doing a 40 mile backpacking trip at Kings Canyon National Park that we needed to include Ultrasuede® in our lacing system. For this trip I used a prototype lacing system with Ultrasuede® on my right sandal and the standard lacing system on my left sandal (I never actually wear two sandals that are exactly the same because I am usually testing various materials against each other). The first day both sandals performed beautifully as we climbed past 3000 feet heading from Roads End to Junction Meadow with our 40-pound packs.

The next day was a much bigger hike, from Junction Meadow (8,000’ elevation) over Glen Pass (11,978’) and back down to Rae Lakes (10,000’). By the end of the day I had a hot spot on the heel strap with the standard webbing. The sandals with the Ultrasuede® had produced no hot spots, and still felt super comfy two days into the hike, and continued to stay comfortable throughout the entire hike. It was right then that I became determined to include Ultrasuede® in our lacing system.

Since that time we have been working on refining the final version of the laces and I am happy to say the extra time has paid off. We settled on a design where we use two layers of Ultrasuede® on the insole strap and heel strap. By doubling up the Ultrasuede®, we are able to eliminate any webbing in these sections of the laces as well as the webbing we used to connect the two sections of webbing together. We’re also including this update for the Power Straps.

This means that the lacing is thinner, softer, lays flatter, the connection points are smoother, and the laces are overall much more comfortable. One other benefit of doubling the Ultrasuede® is that it has allowed us to include a small “pull tab” at the end of each strap. The pull tab makes it even easier to make adjustments on the go. We also think it’s improved the look of the sandals. Finally, we’ve moved away from sewing on our logo and are now branding it into the heel strap. We call it Ultra Lacing.

I hope you are as excited about these updates as I am. I truly believe they are our best laces yet and it is my sincere hope that they serve you well on all your adventures.

Happy Trails!

Josh Stiles
Owner