Advice please on Vibram soles - mine are extremely slippy

57Deluxe

Vibrasoles

Foster

For horrible mud, wet clay, gravel, etc I can't fault arco work boots - they're my festival footwear of choice

Mostly because I can trash them and get another free pair from work...

ToneControl

Legionreturns said:

I find they work great on mountainous rocky and muddy ground, not so much on smooth stuff. 

I stopped buying Merrels a while ago though, as they wear out stupidly quick considering the price tag. 

My main approach shoes are Berghaus Hedgehogs now and they're great. 

For actual mountains / scrambling / climbing I have North Face boots and a pair of Scarpa B3 boots for when it gets sketchy enough to need crampons or actual climbing on near vertical rock. 

Genuinely don't know why you'd buy trekking footwear for casual wear though. The compounds used wear very quickly on pavement. They're designed for a mix of wet and dry uneven ground. 

I have trouble with a lot of normal fashion shoes

arthritis in big toe joint: can't wear pointy shoes or ones that are tight or that fold in that area
bad knees - important to have good posture and gait
lower back problems - good shape sole helps with that




I tried the cross trainers years ago , but they all seemed to fit very tightly, too tightly for me, I had to give away a pair 

CHRISB50

Octafish said:

Guitar_Slinger said:

Are Merrell Moccasins the male equivalent of Hotter shoes?

I've just Googled them, found this page https://www.merrell.com/en/mens-slip-on-shoes/ and remember most of the blokes were wearing them at an Aynsley Lister guitar weekend a few years ago.

  Everyone was mid-40s to mid-60s and half of them had an SVL guitar, so I assumed a memo had gone around the Matt Schofield WhatsApp on what shoes and guitar to bring.

Fuck me, those shoes are vile, do you have to wear them with beige cargo trousers? Think I'll be contacting Dignitas if I ever end wearing them

Lol

I have a pair of Lowa Zephyr's. They are better than anything else I’ve worn for all round grip, and I’ve tried a lot of boots! 

Budgie

Five Ten make pretty grippy approach type shoes. The sole is a black rubbery compound which I haven’t as yet slipped whilst wearing. My Merrells on the other hand are super slippy.

ToneControl

Budgie said:

Five Ten make pretty grippy approach type shoes. The sole is a black rubbery compound which I haven’t as yet slipped whilst wearing. My Merrells on the other hand are super slippy.

I need to go to a place with loads of these things to try out

gringopig

.

Lodious

I loved Merrills until about 8 years ago when I had a pair that were lethal in the wet. I've had plenty of boots with Vibram soles which were all fine, but the ones fitted to the Merills were awful. Never bought a pair since. 

ToneControl

Lodious said:

I loved Merrills until about 8 years ago when I had a pair that were lethal in the wet. I've had plenty of boots with Vibram soles which were all fine, but the ones fitted to the Merills were awful. Never bought a pair since. 

I really came near to serious injury with mine in Rome

ToneControl

What I want is something casual for around town, and casual work
So trainers or lowish ankle boots: I need to drive and sit at a desk with them on
with plenty of toe space

Sporky

Ecco? 

hywelg

I don't think it's a Vibram problem. I have Vibram soles on both my Red Wing Irish Setter boots and my Thorogood boots and both are fine. 

Jeremiah

AFAIK there are many different grades of Vibram though it's not always easy to know which is used on any particular shoe.

I've found that the cheap walking shoes from Trespass and Mountain Warehouse are just as good as name brands like North Face and Merrell, though they tend to be a bit heavier.

ICBM

ToneControl said:

What I want is something casual for around town, and casual work
So trainers or lowish ankle boots: I need to drive and sit at a desk with them on
with plenty of toe space

Converse.

BigLicks67

Sporky said:

Legionreturns said:

I stopped buying Merrels a while ago though, as they wear out stupidly quick considering the price tag. 

There's a trick for that - lease them.

I'm on my fourth pair of Merrel walking boots - the waterproofing generally fails at about 10-11 months old, so I return them and get another pair. That makes the price per pair about £25 - pay for the first ones, the rest are free. If they start making them last longer then that's still fine.

This tactic also works with Berghaus, Dr Martens and Barbour gear.

Regards, Merrell the only pair I have had squeaked constantly especially when wet and were shown the bin in short order.