TEVA Sunkosi Rating:

Rating: *****

Price: $100.00 www.teva.com

I knew I was in trouble the second my foot slipped off the curb in front of the bustling mercado on the outskirts of Panama City, Panama. Here I was, on Day 1 of a seven-day shoot of an action-adventure reality pilot for the Discovery Channel, and I'd just blown up my right ankle. I didn't know it at the time, but I'd managed to break a bone, tear some cartilege and severely hamper my ability to do "The Running Man".

My first thought, as I hopped around, cursing and picking up the limes that had scattered when my shopping bag hit the pavement: "Cripes, I hope nobody saw that." They hadn't: my three travel partners for this shoot - show co-creator Rob Endsley, our executive producer/director of photography Keven Strehle, and photographer Jason Fierst - continued to merrily pack supplies into the van as I gingerly took the first few post-crash steps.

My second thought as I limped across the sweltring blacktop: "Oh, this is B-A-D. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad." By the time I completed the 20-yard hobble, I could feel my ankle starting to swell.

And just a half-hour into the 4-hour drive from Panama City to the tiny Pacific port town of Puerto Mutis, it felt like I had a cantaloupe on the end of my right leg. This was going to be troublesome.

The shot sheet for "Wild Country: Panama" read like "Boot Camp in Paradise", loaded with high-impact, fast-paced, water-based activity from sunup to sundown. For the next week, I was going to be climbing, running, jumping, hiking, kayaking, surfing, diving, clambering and scrambling in and out of boats, through tropical jungles and over sandy beaches, and I had to figure out a way to accomplish this without it being obvious that I was injured. I also had to make sure that my wounded foot was secure, and that I wouldn't compound the injury by slipping on a wet boat deck.

Hola, Teva Sunkosi. Ti amo, Teva Sunkosi.

TEVA tiempo: I have to qualify this review with a confession: I'm a huge fan of Teva footwear. Have been for years. So when it came time to get outfitted for this shoot, I reached out to The Shoe Goddess, Jaime Eschette, Teva's PR manager.

In the past year, I've "Crash Tested" several models of Teva's ever-expanding line of trail runners, water sandals and flip-flops … and have consequently relegated a whole bunch of other brands to the bottom of my shoe pile. I know Teva. I like Teva. I trust Teva. After hearing the concept of the shoot and the rigors of our super-aggressive water-based activity schedule, The Shoe Goddess had me outfitted: "You're going to need a water shoe, a water sandal and a couple of pairs of flip-flops."

Now, as I rifled through my Panama travel bag and came across the Sunkosis, I cast a quick, silent prayer back to Teva's headquarters in Goleta, Calif.: "Thank you Shoe Goddess."

Sunkosi stretch: The most extreme circumstances create the most rigorous product reviews, and in this case, the Sunkosi was going to get the ultimate "Crash Test" treatment.

First, my foot was severely swollen, so fitting my size 12s into a shoe with a rigid upper was out of the question. The Sunkosi, however, is constructed with a stretch-mesh upper and vamp (basically the part of the shoe from the toe box to the collar, where the "tongue" would be on an athletic shoe), and a combination of light-flex mesh and EVA in its TPU Drain Frame Platform that provides a great deal of flexibility.

Even more importantly, the Sunkosi features a durable pull-chord lacing system that - combined with the flexibility of the upper - allowed me to adjust the fit of the shoe to accommodate my "kankle".

The Sunkosi's flexibility is built primarily for drainage and comfort, but for my purposes, it was going to give me a custom fit for a size 12 foot and a size 15 ankle.

So, while my left foot settled comfortably into the Drain-Tech EVA molded sockliner of the out-of-the-box size 12, my right foot snugged nicely into a severely adjusted Sunkosi that could've accommodated Sasquatch.

Sunkosi stability: So, the fit was there. My right foot was as comfortable as it was going to be. But as we offloaded several hundred pounds of camera and adventure gear from the rickety wooden Puerto Mutis dock and blasted out into the Bay of Chiriqui toward the Lost Coast Explorer, I became especially attuned to the Sunkosi's stability.

The Sunkosi features Teva's nifty Wraptor Fit System, a patented 360-degree strapping system that wraps completely around the foot through a channel in the midsole (located just in front of the heel). The Wraptor System runs from the heel to the chord lacing, and back through the midsole-channel, effectively locking your foot onto the cushioning platform when you tighten the laces, and providing an exceptional level of stability and support.

That security is further enhanced by the integration of the Drain Frame Upper, which creates a series of "anchor points" between the upper and outsole and ultimately guarantees that your foot (swollen or not) will stay securely on the cushioning platform.

After seven days of hammering - including several feet-first plunges into the Pacific from the top deck of the Explorer, a series of climbs into the jungles of Coiba Island, and a night of drunken dancing with our Panamanian fishing guides - my belief in the Sunkosi's stability is unwavering.

Stick like a Spider: The Sunkosi is designed to be amphibious, but sloshing across a boat deck - fresh out of the water and soaked to the gills - is usually a recipe for a spectacular crash and burn. The Sunkosi, however, provides true water-to-land traction through Teva's patented Spider Rubber process, which supplies the Sunkosi's "anchor platform": a high-traction, shock-absorbing outsole that sticks equally well, whether it's wet or dry. And I stretched the Spider to the limit.

All of our land-based shots required surf landings and subsequent scrambling over sand, rock, jungle floor, tile, cement, etc., and the Sunkosi performed beautifully. Even more perilous, though, were the end-of-day equipment haul-outs, which usually involved a quick scramble from the deck of our sportfisher, up the side and over the rail of the LCE, usually with wet feet. Compromised agility and all, I didn't slip once.

Sunkosi s'more: A couple of other characteristics that I found appealing about the Sunkosi:

• Easy on easy off: While the rest of the crew opted for water sandals that required unbuckling and re-buckling, I found the slipper-slick, quick-on/quick-off aspect of the Sunkosi to be spectacularly suited for applications where you'll be repeatedly taking your footwear off and putting it back on.
• Quick-dry comfort: The Sunkosi's patent-pending Drain Frame construction provides exceptional drainage and ventilation, which ultimately translate into enhanced comfort. Water drains through 18 monofilament drainage ports in the bottom of the sole, which also prevent debris from flowing back into the shoe. These ports also facilitate ventilation by allowing air to flow back into the shoe, a feature that enhances the shoe's comfort level in the summertime heat.

TEVA Sunkosi AT A GLANCE

Drain-Frame Technology

• Exceptional drainage via a series of monofilament mesh screens which allow water to escape through the sole of the shoe without allowing debris in
• Drain Frame wraps around midsole to create security-enhancing anchor points

Wraptor Fit System

• Stable, secure fit through Teva's unique 360-degree Wraptor Fit System
• Effectively locks the foot into the shoe to guarantee security and support

Custom Fit and Comfort

• Stretchable mesh and EVA upper provide custom, comfortable fit for all sizes
• Drain-Tech molded EVA sockliner
• Pull-chord lacing for easy fit adjustment
• Excellent ventilation via Drain-Frame screens and lightweight upper material

Spider Rubber Outsole

• Patented, high-friction rubber outsole guarantees excellent wet/dry traction

SPECS Mens Sizes: 7 to 14

Colors: Spicy Orange, Black Olive, Insignia Blue

Features

• Patent-pending Drain Frame Technology
• Patented Wraptor™ Fit Technology
• Quick drying upper materials
• Durable pull-cord for quick adjustment and easy entry/exit
• Lacekeeper at the top of the tongue
• 360 degree quick drainage system
• Drain-Tech molded EVA sockliner

Midsole

• Compression molded EVA midsole Outsole
• Non-marking Spider Rubber® outsole with drainage ports