approach shoes reviews

Gear Review: Five Ten Camp Four Hiking Shoes

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Five Ten Camp Four
Five Ten Camp Four

Hiking/Scrambling Shoes
Five Ten Camp Four
$150, 1 lb. 13 oz. (US men’s 9)
Sizes: men’s 4-13, women’s 5-11
backcountry.com

Five Ten Camp Four Mid
$170, 2 lbs. (US men’s 9)
Sizes: men’s 4-13
backcountry.com

Whether on rugged, rocky trails or off-trail, some hikes demand more from footwear. On a 13.5-hour, roughly 18-mile, mostly off-trail dayhike with about 7,000 feet of vertical gain and loss in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains in July, I needed shoes with sticky soles for scrambling steep rock, but also good traction on every possible mountain surface from sand and scree to snow. Plus, I wanted solid protection for my feet and comfort for walking many hours. The Camp Four Mid delivered on all counts that day, as did the low-cut version on similar terrain when hiking to climbing routes in Idaho’s Castle Rocks State Park.

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Gear Review: Salewa Firetail EVO GTX Shoes

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Salewa Firetail EVO Gore-Tex
Salewa Firetail EVO Gore-Tex

Hiking/Scrambling Shoes
Salewa Firetail EVO Gore-Tex
$149, 1 lb. 11 oz. (men’s 9)
Sizes: men’s 6-13, women’s 3-9
moosejaw.com

You can find really tough, durable shoes, or really lightweight shoes, but rarely will you find a shoe that can legitimately make both claims. The Firetail breaks that rule. From hiking and scrambling around Utah’s Arches National Park and Idaho’s Castle Rocks State Park to a 22-mile, 5,000-vertical-foot dayhike in the Columbia Gorge, I subjected these shoes to the kind of abuse that would begin shredding other lightweights. Yet other than being dirty and a bit scuffed on the rubber toe bumper, my Firetails still look and perform like new. And although sporting the pedigree of an “approach,” or scrambling shoe for climbers, this is actually the kind of versatile, comfortable, all-around low-cut that all dayhikers should give a serious look.

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Gear Review: Scarpa Zen Pro Shoes

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Scarpa Zen Pro
Scarpa Zen Pro

Hiking/Scrambling Shoes
Scarpa Zen Pro
$169, 2 lb. 1 oz. (men’s Euro 42/US 9)
Sizes: men’s Euro 38-47, 48
backcountry.com

Even as shoes have gotten more technologically advanced, it’s still the rare breed that crosses over nimbly between comfort for hiking many miles and performance for steep, off-trail scrambling. But thanks to unique construction and materials, the Zen Pro proved itself that kind of unusual hybrid on dayhikes up to eight miles in Utah’s Canyonlands and Arches national parks and for approaching rock-climbing routes in Idaho’s Castle Rocks State Park.

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Gear Review: Evolv Bolt Approach Shoes

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Evolv Bolt

Approach/Scrambling Shoes
Evolv Bolt
$100, 1 lb. 10 oz. (men’s 9)
Sizes: men’s 4-13
Evolvsports.com

Approach shoes, designed for multiple duties from hiking to scrambling steep, rocky terrain and easy rock climbing, come in a variety of forms that reflect the category’s somewhat nebulous definition. Some are basically hiking shoes with a sticky outsole, while at the other end of the spectrum are beefed-up rock climbing shoes that lack the comfort or support for hiking very far. The Bolt from Evolv, a maker of climbing shoes, nails a difficult objective: performing well at all of the roles we expect approach shoes to fill.

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Gear Review: Five Ten Pursuit Boots

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Five Ten Pursuit

Lightweight Boots
Five Ten Pursuit
$150, 2 lbs. 6 oz. (men’s US size 9)
Sizes: men’s 7-12, 13, 14
fiveten.com

I don’t personally anticipate a future in military special ops or SWAT—which these shoes were designed for—but after wearing them while hiking and scrambling with a 30-pound climbing pack in Idaho’s Castle Rocks State Park, plus off-trail hiking and on a technical descent of a slot canyon in Utah’s Capitol Reef National Park, I think the Pursuit is a great dayhiking and scrambling shoe.

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