RagingHampster
05-18-2003, 13:02
Well I've beenb hiking with these for part of the winter, all spring, and for my attempted M&M Thru-Hike. Heres my review!
These sandals are designed for hiking over rocks, and fording rivers/brroks/streams. I think the original design was for canyon hiking. They have very little tread, but the incredible surface area allows great grip on rocks.
During the winter, I found that when combined with Seal Skinz and a base-layer of merino wool socks, they kept my feet comfprtable while trudging through snow. The lack of treading made them slow-going on hard-pack/Ice though. They are not compatible with instep crampons unfortunately (due to the strap locations of the sandal itself). They will work with most snowshoes however. Personally I would use my winter-boots, but these sandals would be fine for hiking in the tail-end of winter on a thru-hike.
I absolutely love these in the spring. Feet stay cool and dry. I hiked with them 4-5 days a week while getting in better shape for my attempted M&M thru. Almost weightless, and adequate support (I was hiking 5miles at a time with a 20lb pack during the week, and 15-20mi dayhikes on the weekends).
My thru-hike attempt brought out the failing points of these sandals though. You have to be very careful on rugged trails, less you'll have a stick 3 inches into your foot via the delicate skin between your toes. The thickness of the cushioning in the sole will also give you some sore feet on days in excess of 15miles if your pack is too heavy. I also had a critical failure of the instep straps (they tore through the rubber).
Overall, I would reccomend these sandals to people for 3-season use on day hikes. I have a bad taste in my mouth due to their ripping, and I'm once again on the search for better footwear. I think that I will be trying the Lowa Tempest-Los as suggested by some of the other white-blaze members. For now, it's back to my Vasque Clarion GTX wafflestompers :rolleyes:
These sandals are designed for hiking over rocks, and fording rivers/brroks/streams. I think the original design was for canyon hiking. They have very little tread, but the incredible surface area allows great grip on rocks.
During the winter, I found that when combined with Seal Skinz and a base-layer of merino wool socks, they kept my feet comfprtable while trudging through snow. The lack of treading made them slow-going on hard-pack/Ice though. They are not compatible with instep crampons unfortunately (due to the strap locations of the sandal itself). They will work with most snowshoes however. Personally I would use my winter-boots, but these sandals would be fine for hiking in the tail-end of winter on a thru-hike.
I absolutely love these in the spring. Feet stay cool and dry. I hiked with them 4-5 days a week while getting in better shape for my attempted M&M thru. Almost weightless, and adequate support (I was hiking 5miles at a time with a 20lb pack during the week, and 15-20mi dayhikes on the weekends).
My thru-hike attempt brought out the failing points of these sandals though. You have to be very careful on rugged trails, less you'll have a stick 3 inches into your foot via the delicate skin between your toes. The thickness of the cushioning in the sole will also give you some sore feet on days in excess of 15miles if your pack is too heavy. I also had a critical failure of the instep straps (they tore through the rubber).
Overall, I would reccomend these sandals to people for 3-season use on day hikes. I have a bad taste in my mouth due to their ripping, and I'm once again on the search for better footwear. I think that I will be trying the Lowa Tempest-Los as suggested by some of the other white-blaze members. For now, it's back to my Vasque Clarion GTX wafflestompers :rolleyes: