In 1984, a Grand Canyon river guide named Mark Thatcher solved a small, maddening problem: sandals that stayed on your feet through a rapid. He strapped a piece of watch band to a flip-flop, added a heel strap, and invented the sport sandal outright. The name, Teva, is Hebrew for nature. The whole category of strappy outdoor footwear traces back to one guide on the Colorado River trying not to lose his shoes.
The short version: Teva, founded 1984 at the bottom of the Grand Canyon and owned by Deckers Brands, invented the sport sandal and still makes excellent, lighter, more lifestyle-friendly versions of it. Buy it for travel, casual water use, and everyday warm-weather wear. For heavy whitewater and canyon abuse, Chaco is burlier; Teva trades some ruggedness for comfort and looks.
Where Teva came from
Thatcher’s watchband prototype became a category. Deckers (the group behind HOKA and UGG) has owned Teva for decades, giving it reach and a fashion dimension the original guide never imagined, from festival staple to collaborations. The Universal remains the icon: a simple, flat, endlessly adjustable strap sandal.
What they actually make well
Strap sandals across the comfort-to-sport spectrum: the Universal, the Hurricane, the more supportive Terra-Float and closed-toe options. Teva leans lighter and more packable than its river-born rival, which makes it the better traveler and the better town sandal.
Built to last?
Solid durability, and Teva has moved meaningfully on sustainability: straps made from recycled plastic bottles across much of the line, a genuine materials commitment rather than a token capsule. It lacks a marquee repair program on Chaco’s level, the honest gap in an otherwise strong story.
The causes they actually fund
Teva has backed river and public-lands causes fitting its Grand Canyon origin, and its recycled-strap program is the environmental commitment it leans on hardest. The giving is real but less singularly focused than Chaco’s rivers-first identity.
Where this gear comes from, and where it earns its place
Born on the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, at home on travel days, warm-weather trails, and any easy water crossing on the Trail Atlas.
The honest take
Teva is the sport sandal for people who are not river guides: lighter, comfier out of the box, better looking around town, slightly less bombproof at the extremes. For most people most of the time, that is the right trade. For the canyon, go Chaco.
The sandal that started a category, named for nature itself. More makers in Brands We Love. Last verified July 2026.