Continue with onX Maps
Continue with Facebook
Best rugged reliable affordable approach shoes
|
Hello! I am looking for a pair of approach shoes that will be comfortable and durable enough for me to wear walking around in on a daily basis, and also won't break my wallet. I was looking at the la sportiva boulder x and the scarpa geckos and scarpa crux but they are a little out of my price range. I was hoping to get some crowd-sourced information on the durability and comfort of your favorite approach shoe. |
|
Chacos |
|
Check out the Clearance section on 5.10's website for great deals on prior year models of Guide Tennies. |
|
|
|
Save your money and get the LaSportivas or the Scarpas. I've had a pair of Geckos for over a year and they are still going strong after climbing the flatirons every week plus some alpine approaches and general hiking...and you can resole them. This will save you money in the long run. |
|
+1 for Scarpa Crux. I bought my pair a while back on sale; ~$70. Not sure if that fits your budget. |
|
Cruzers are s nice light decent shoe. They are probably the least supportive and least durable shoe on the market. |
christopher burton wrote: Ya, really great protection for poison ivy, thorns, and scree. lol |
Jonny d wrote: Prob I have with the guide tennies is that they lack just about all footbed support. The pair I have absolutely suck for any long approach/support. If you take out the wimpy footbed/cushion are are basically walking on the ground over a thin piece of rubber. Great for short approaches and 5.7 and under climbing, esp slab, but otherwise they lack a lot. |
|
5.10 Guide Tennies and Evolv Cruzers are awesome descent shoes, great casual shoes and good short approach shoes. I love my Cruzers for descents at Red Rocks, Yosemite and Lover's Leap but for hiking and long approaches; you want something more substantial, protective and durable. My experience with 5.10 Camp Four's and my friend's experiences with La Sportiva's Boulder X (lots of other great choices) have been excellent. |
|
I hands down love my Scarpa Crux shoes. They climb well, wear well, and hold up to daily use and abuse. |
Locker wrote: The black ones with the velcro? |
|
Bottom line is that if you walk around in your approach shoes all the time, they're going to fall apart. You sacrifice durability when you get sticky rubber. For anything with a real approach, or technically easy alpine stuff I use Guide Tennies. You can almost always pick up last year's model for under 70$. Buy a shitty pair of chuck taylors for regular walking around or roadside crags. Your approach shoes are not a fashion statement, they're a tool in your closet for a specific use. |
Locker wrote: I knew you were old but i just didnt realize you were velcro old... |
|
An approach shoe is non of the above. No approach shoe is rugged, they all fall apart or the sole wears away after 3 months of daily use the only shoe i haven't heard durability issues from is the arcteryx hiking shoes these guys have fairly sticky rubber but they are about as far from affordable as you could get. IDK what a reliable shoe is (one that doesn't walk away?) The cheapest approach shoes on the market are cruzers, they are also the most fragile pair of shoes on the market, after that there are no cheap shoes they all cost about the same. All this being said the la sportiva hyper mid has served me well though i have babied the sole to avoid wearing down all the lugs limiting use for woodland and dirt tracks to the crag I imagine the sole might last 5 months of daily use before the lugs are flattened to nothingness, still better than the tennies i had before that, they wore through in 3 delaminated after 6 and had a giant hole in the side by 8. They have bought out the hyper line of shoes again as a low top, they climb pretty well and have a sturdy sole (really thick base rubber). |
|
Seb's response is spot on. If you want a robustly designed, supportive approach shoe, you're going to pay approx $100+ for it. The Evolv Cruzer is lightweight and cheap, but it's also the least durable shoe you can buy, and has a comical amount of support - I think I gave myself a stress fracture in my big toe using them. I am totally happy with the level of support the guide tennies provide (tried them up to approx 15 mile days), but agree with the posters that mention sturdier shoes that may do better on long days with a pack. Your best bet is to pick two or three shoes you would probably be happy with, and keep an eye out for sales/ebay deals. I'd strongly recommend against the Evolv Cruzer, almost any other approach shoe will do better in every category but weight. |
Alexander Blum wrote: La sportiva's TX2's manage to be a comparable weight and are far more durable and offers much more support and overall durability for a weight of only 3oz more for a pair. |
|
haha, they don't even win in weight! they are one of the only climbing gear purchases I have ever straight up regretted. I loved them for about one week. |
|
I disagree with the "won't holdup to daily use" statements. I work in an office, but I get out on a lot of lunch break and after-work romps up what is approach shoe terrain for me - so I wear my cruxes to my day job on an almost daily basis. I often use them when I'm guiding on weekends as my climbing shoes, which saves me transition times at belays. I've carried a huge (60+ lbs) back into the back country with a great deal of elevation gained and lost over a dozen or so miles on rough trails, and then used them "for the purpose they were built". I've worn a pair of lightweight crampons on them for short sections of snow. I've even, in pursuit of contrived Devil's Lake speed challenges, run in them from route to route with a light pack or rack and rope. No, they won't last a hundred years under that kind of daily abuse, but I get about 14 months out of a pair of the leather version at that rate, and really couldn't expect much more than that. And, maybe most importantly, I think they climb fairly well. |
Gene O Desideraggio wrote: What do you expect to do in your approach shoes, when you aren't walking around town? If you are not planning to climb in them on at least some easy roped terrain, like guides do, you don't need shoes with special sticky rubber. Just go to Sierra Trading Post, and search for trail running shoes on sale. They might even have approach shoes on sale, too... I have a pair of Guide Tennies ( that i got for $45), it isn't my first pair, and each pair had lasted at least 2.5-3 years. I also have a pair of 361 trail running shoes, again, bought on clearance online. They are lighter-weight, very comfortable, and I like them for hot weather/dry terrain. But because they are mesh, they soak through with the dew in 5 seconds of walking on grass, while leather guide tennies do just fine with the dew. |
|
The LS TX2 is a well designed and constructed approach shoe. The overall design strikes a balance between supportive and thin + tactile, which translates to moderate climbing ability, moderate hiking comfort, and moderate packability. They aren't hiking shoes though, so far downhill hiking still gets my knees pretty sore. They aren't much heavier than the Cruzer, but they certainly don't pack nearly as well. The Cruzer is completely unstructured which allows it to completely collapse. The sole design and sticky rubber on the TX2 improve climbing ability so steep scrambling is a pleasure and moderate climbing with edging is doable. They have held up quite well in about a year of use with several long + steep + dirty approaches through a variety of terrain such as light snow + ice, bush, mud, river, talus, and common hiking trails. I haven't done any dedicated testing in exceptionally demanding conditions. In general I would recommend against using approach shoes featuring sticky rubber for day to day use, especially on pavement or concrete. The sticky rubber will do its job and wear out fairly quickly. |
