Cross post from Walkhighlands, interested to see where I get more replies! 8)

Having done a few long/light overnight hikes, and preparing for the GR54 in France in September, I’m experimenting with footwear.

My Altberg Tetheras are a perfect Munro boot, rugged, waterproof, tough. But they’re heavy-ish, and I find them really hard underfoot, after 50km over two days in the Trossachs I felt like I was walking on two bruises, despite Surefeet Insoles and decent socks.

I’ve also used my Inov-8 trail running shoes with some waterproof socks which was a winning combination until I hit the off-piste terrain, the floppy sole and the movement of the shoe was incredibly off-putting when sidehilling on wet grass with loose rocks underfoot.

My wish list is:

Proper Vibram sole
Good rand
Good ‘stability’
More underfoot padding than my Altbergs!
Ideally no waterproof membrane, I’d rather use waterproof socks when necessary.

So far I’ve barely found anything until I stumbled upon the Scarpa Zodiac

Looks to have everything and fitted OK in the shop (I didn’t have my insoles or socks with me so need to go back and try again).

Does anyone have these or have any experience? Anything similar on the market I’ve overlooked?

Ta

Hope this helps… UKC

Me and mrs V do a lot of similar walks – GR5, GR58, Via Francigena, Stevenson Trail to name but a few and use that sort of shoe exclusively now. She swears by Keen, I have been using a La sportiva Ganda guide and a couple of pairs of Hagloff vertigo mids. It’s all down to fit of course but those scarpas look pretty good and very similar, fine for the GR54

I prefer a membrane, others don’t. Two minutes in wet dewey grass will saturate your feet but some prefer that to a hot foot in a membrane, horse for courses really.

Personally I don’t like the lighter hill running shoes as they lack support when you’re wearing a pack and can be a bit uncomfortable over rock terrain. Crossing steep snow patches is hard in a soft shoe. I’d go for something with a bit of stiffness.

The only thing I would watch with approach shoes is the speed they wear down, admittedly not an issue on shorter trips when they are new but on long walks or when they get older the soles don’t last long on sharp ground. I always carry a little repair kit – suregrip, evostick and a little bit of rubber tyre to patch them up

Thanks guys, can’t believe I’ve not found that UKC forum until now!

Vader, that’s good to hear, I’m specifically avoiding a membrane as I find they are the weakest link in lighter/suede shoes, and found using calf length Sealskinz to be a useful compromise, better yet you can leave them off for the dry days or the dry trails!

I’m probably not a candidate for wearing the sole out too fast, I like big walks but typically only get out once or twice a month and for the day walks will stick with my Altbergs, and of course my Mantas for the winter months…

I’ve been looking for something of this nature mostly for regular walking my local dales 3 peaks which are all aggregate paths now, so no real need for boots. Looked at those, keen, salewa, aku, garmont, haglofs. Really want those Scarpa, I’m a big fan of scarpa boots, but haven’t been able to try any and I’m a bit wary of approach shoes of that design as some have narrow toe box for scrambling or low grade climbs, which don’t suit my wide feet. Currently using inov8 terroc which were fine earlier in the summer when the weather was OK but want something a bit more substantial now.

I’m a huge fan of Scarpa but for “approach shoes” or whatever you want to call them I’m currently wearing Haglofs Vertigo. Very tough uppers – I’ve recently had my first pair resoled with Vibram.

The Vertigos are GTX, and the OP is avoiding that.

Nice shoes, tho.

Thanks slowoldman, Bongo is right though, trying to avoid GTX, I was really impressed with the combo of Sealskinz calf length socks and lightweight trail shoes (for waterproofing at least) and would rather not rely on a membrane that would probably fail anyway (in my experience etc.).

The Haglofs do look good though, I like the way they’ve used leather but managed to avoid the plain brown look of every other leather boot…

oh and B.A.Nana, Gooutdoors of all people had the Scarpa Zodiacs in, not in the lovely orange though unfortunately.

Again I was pleasantly surprised by how knowledgeable the staff are there and the guy had plenty of relevant chat. The Zodiacs did seem a little narrow though it has to be said, I can quite often squeeze into a 43 these days but needed a 44 in the Zodiac.

The only problem is if you remove approach shoes/hiking shoes etc with GTX lining, then you’re removing about 70% of the options out there.

What about Adidas? I’ve got a set of fast X shoes that are very good. Probably a bit on the trainer side for what you’re after. They are very supportive though.

They also make a terrex scope which is much more of a walking shoe than mine. Could be worth a try. I’m very impressed with mine.

I’ve got a pair of the Zodiacs and they’re perfect for what I need. I live in Switzerland and tend to only do fair weather high altitude rocky hikes. The sole/last combo are just as good as my Meindl Air Revolutions over rocky ground I would say.

I have a operation scar on the inside of my ankle joint with two screws under the skin so pretty much any boot I wear gets uncomfortable after a while so that is why I bought the Zodiacs. I have had my ankle roll under me a few times which made we wish for the stability of a boot. I’m actually thinking of getting some leather boots as an alternative.

One negative point I’ve found is that in gloopy mud the sole doesn’t seem to clear as quick as other boots I’ve had so I lose a lot of grip as a result.

Hope this helps.

What about Adidas? I’ve got a set of fast X shoes that are very good. Probably a bit on the trainer side for what you’re after. They are very supportive though.

They also make a terrex scope which is much more of a walking shoe than mine. Could be worth a try. I’m very impressed with mine.

Terrex stuff is good, and comes in GoreTex and regular version.

Maybe something like the Swift R.

– http://www.wiggle.co.uk/adidas-terrex-swift-r-shoes-ss16/

I wanted to try out the scopes, but I can only conclude they made 4 pairs and have stopped making them now.

Beanum, how do you find the toe-box in the Zodiacs? Are they narrow at all?