Basejumper.com - archive

Hi all,

I've been shopping around for something to replace the mountaineering boots I've jumped in for five years, and the Scarpa Pro Ascent approach boot caught my eye. Why? They seem to have good ankle support (though I haven't yet had a chance to try them on), there are no hooks, and they are relatively light. The sticky rubber seems like it might be an asset scrambling to some exit points.

http://www.scarpa.com

(Sorry, can't figure out how to get a direct link out of Scarpa's website.) My concern is that the "tread" is pretty minimal to start with, and seems like it might be slippery as hell on (wet) dirt. Anyone out there have experience using approach shoes on dirt trails?

Michael

Hey Michael-

Right now the terrain where I'm primarily jumping is either granite, sandstone or concrete. I've used Merrill approach boots and several versions of Five.Ten shoes (Guide, Mountain Masters and Insight) and have found that I killed that nice sticky rubber long before I trashed the upper exterior shoe itself.

While the boots/shoes were great for getting to exits over concrete or granite they didn't do as well on sandstone. With the life span of the sticky soles being a bit less than other 'generic' (usually Vibram) soles, I found the selection of something without sticky rubber to be a better option for me and my mix of jumping.

Just my $.02.

Baxter.

5.10 has terrible quality...I've had too many pairs of shoes (climbing included) rip apart.

I'm a big fan of Vibram rubber (La Sportiva)...haven't been too happy with Scarpa, but they do use Vibram too.

I've made a couple hundred BASE jumps in 3 different pairs of approach shoes. The Five Tennies were the worst of the lot, and the Garmonts the best.

I gave them up for my Crispis. I've not looked back, and it's likely the only BASE jumps I'll ever make again without the Crispis will be intentional water jumps.

Great.. Maybe this thread can help me with my ignorance...
What are the best all around shoes for BASE?
Can you put up some links etc..

Thanks,
Dan

There have been lots of discussions in the past about the Hanwag and Crispi paragliding boots. Try searching the forum for those two names and it will get you started.

I've been jumping in Asolo Cliff mountaineering boots for the past five years. They served me well, but have hooks. I'm divided on how useful the full shank has been. It's always felt like it offered a lot of support, but what it does is stiffen the boot against front-to-back bending. I'm not sure that really does much to protect the ankles, and it adds quite a bit of weight.

Michael

fit = great shoe size 8D crispi size 41.5
comfort = good
durability = unknown
ankle protection = seems good even without plastic stiffeners
traction = piss poor, when i wear them to my favorite desert playground the stiction is noticeably (frighteningly so) less than with my old standby 5.10 thin sole approach shoes. playground material = sandstone like pumice.
a friend who climbs in hanwags had noticeably more traction
i CAN NOT recommend them for situations where frictioning is your friend.

be safe
kleggo

Just my .02 regarding 5.10 and their quality:

Comparably, 5.10 makes the best climbing rubber in the world, hands down, when it comes to stickiness of the rubber. However, they are very shitty when it comes to life of the product. I have had several pairs of 5.10 climbing shoes over the years and they are the shit for hard ascents on steep face climbs. For something more rigorous like crack climbing. . . .although they stick well, they wear out very fast. Again though, their rubber is designed to be soft and sticky which is probably the reason their approach shoes tend to suck when it comes to ripping apart.

Cheers,

J.P.