Yucca Sandal Expedition with Paul Campbell

Ona and I met with Paul Campbell today. He introduced us to a huge variety of native sandals made from agave, yucca and other materials. He has a fantastic collection that can be seen in his book "Survival Skills of Native California".



Proud results. Ona holds today's prize

Paul took us up into the local mountains. We found an excellent spot to test manufacture some yucca sandals.



Where we turned off the trail



Our spot



Looking opposite



Raw materials



Necessary tool



Start the toe



Finished, dried sandal

Although I have not had a chance to test the sandals (we only made one today), I know that this are going to work. They are very similar to Japanese waraji. They are lightweight and fairly easy to manufacture (especially if you were making a pair a week). The also are like waraji and AEI Shoes: they flex forward and back, but not side-to-side, which may help prevent punctures.

All in all, we had a great time and very much look forward to learning more from Paul in the future.

One of the highlights of the meeting was getting a chance to eat some dried yucca that was over 3 years old. It was delicious.

Best, Barefoot Ted (and Ona, too)