Best Shoe for Canyoneering

[ratagonia]

That was my thought too. To what, Oh Emperor, are you referring?

What Hank said.

You buy the shoes, then you figure out the socks that will make them comfortable for you.

I'm actually working today, thus the brevity...

T

[Brian in SLC]

Love to sell you these shoes, but, first, you have to demonstrate "considerable knowledge".

Instead of "Brand of the Brave"..."Brand of the Considerably Knowledgable".

[Scott Card]

You know..... owning 5.10 Canyoneers, I thought I might be smarter than I thought.

[hank moon]

Night and day! Much better fit, much less sand migration, much tougher (so far), and much stickier rubber (wet and dry surface). At a price though...Late Exum Pro-$95, new Xplorer-$120.

Great news, Bo - i'm gettin' a pair!

[canyoncaptive]

Ok so I bought a pair after demolishing my La Sportiva Quantum's. (actually a trade in on Backcountry.com) Worked for two trips in Fat Mans Misery, After trip #1 I could tell the sole was delaminating. I tried to salvage them with shoe goo. Then on trip #2 Sliding down a big ramp, the sole completely delaminated! I was forced to hike the rest of the canyon with just cheap foam underneath. I would say buy them if your plan is to lounge around at lake powell but to put it mildly, they SUCK. I am returning them shortly. Looking at going and trying out the Adidas Hydro-whatever's.... anyone care to comment on them? Worried about the Zipper on them.

Nick

[ratagonia]

Ok so I bought a pair after demolishing my La Sportiva Quantum's. (actually a trade in on Backcountry.com) Worked for two trips in Fat Mans Misery, After trip #1 I could tell the sole was delaminating. I tried to salvage them with shoe goo. Then on trip #2 Sliding down a big ramp, the sole completely delaminated! I was forced to hike the rest of the canyon with just cheap foam underneath. I would say buy them if your plan is to lounge around at lake powell but to put it mildly, they SUCK. I am returning them shortly. Looking at going and trying out the Adidas Hydro-whatever's.... anyone care to comment on them? Worried about the Zipper on them.

Nick

You bought a pair of... ????

Without context, it is hard to know what shoe you mean. Perhaps stating it explicitly would help.

Thanks.

Tom

[hank moon]

You bought a pair of... ????

Without context, it is hard to know what shoe you mean. Perhaps stating it explicitly would help.

X2

[canyoncaptive]

I purchased a pair of the Chaco Ponsul Baloo's, should rename Ponsul Blows......

Nick

[hank moon]

I purchased a pair of the Chaco Ponsul Baloo's, should rename Ponsul Blows......

Nick

I am very sorry for you and wish you well on the return. Bloathsome indeed!

[canyonguru]

I've had a pair of 5.10 savants and have had no issues with them. I have been very happy with the steath rubber and the comfort. They took a coupld of canyons to wear in but they are nice and comfy now. only paid $95 out the door at desert rocks sports here in vegas.

[BW123]

__

[oldno7]

I've had a pair of 5.10 savants and have had no issues with them. I have been very happy with the steath rubber and the comfort. They took a coupld of canyons to wear in but they are nice and comfy now. only paid $95 out the door at desert rocks sports here in vegas.

I love Savants, have worn out many pair, the big drawback for me is that they wear out in half a year, 20-30 canyons.

[Bo_Beck]

I'm on my sixth canyon with my xplorers. I'm pretty hard on shoes and these are the only pair I've had in the last 10 years that were comfortable from the start. My only suggestion would be to aquaseal or glue all the stitching; the sandstone has worn the thread away in several spots and there is now separation between the mesh uppers and the rubber.



BW

I could see how in "skinny canyons" with a lot of foot jamming the threads might be a weak point, and think that by aquasealing, seamgripping or shoo-gooing would greatly extend the Xplorers longevity. I've put maybe 50-60 miles of some pretty rough abuse in the last 4 weeks (Subway twice in the last week, twice down the "alternate route" to the Subway, once way off course and 1 hour of Kip style bushwacking) Northgate Peak, North Guardian Angel, South Guardian Angel, Red Mountain via new route, and working in them almost every day. I absolute LOVE these shoes. I find the rubber as sticky if not more sticky than 3 pair of 5.10's I own, but the shoe is holding up far much better than any of my 5.10's hands down. The shoes have been wet and dirty and cleaned 3 times now and haven't shrunk, stretched or lost a bit of shape and are as comfortable as the day I pulled them out of the box. In fact I wore them in the Subway yesterday, got home last night, washed them, dried them and am wearing them at work right now. They look and feel brand new. Quite a few of the customers that I've sold them to have given me the same report of theirs.

(Bump) The only thing that I see on my shoes that shows any (very little) sign of wear are the shoelaces. I think I'll order some laces today to have them in stock!

[tcmault]

The Xplorers are sounding better all the time.

[Iceaxe]

I love Savants,

I have a pair of 5.10 Savants.... but they suffer the same problem as many shoes used in canyoneering. They have exposed stitching and its easy to trash the shoes in a weekend of mae west stuff.

They are a great approach shoe and work well in the rap-n-swim kiddie canyons.... YMMV...

FWIW: Savants are avaiable at Sierra Trading Post right now for $90 ($130 list).

[CarpeyBiggs]

do those 8.5's at STP fit you pretty well iceaxe?

seriously though - savants are nice but they've had bundles of issues too. i preemptively aquaseal the hell out of 'em, and they are the best thing i've found, especially on long hiking days.

my fear with the sportivas is that they have the same problem all their shoes have on me - they are too narrow, especially to wear a neo sock. looks like i need to check 'em out though.

[Iceaxe]

do those 8.5's at STP fit you pretty well iceaxe?

Last week STP had a complete selection of sizes from 8 to 12. The reason I know this is I just bought a new pair. Sorry I didn't notice their selection had diminished.

my fear with the sportivas is that they have the same problem

My dislike of the Sportiva is their rubber doesn't stick very well when its really cold (25 degrees or below), or at least that was the case with the one pair I owned and then gave away.