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FiveTen Guide Canyoneer
By Matt Smith
I was very excited when I heard of the debut of a new
canyoneering shoe from FiveTen. For years I have been descending
canyons in either old boots, or old tennis shoes depending on how
much equipment I had to pack. Finally, a shoe designed specifically
for canyoneering.
The FiveTen Canyoneer has a Stealth rubber sole that in my opinion
has the best grip of any canyon or water shoe on the market. I was
surprised how well the sole gripped even wet and mossy rocks. The tread
pattern provides some traction in mud and on dirt trails. The Canyoneer
is just technical enough to facilitate rappelling and scrambling, but just
enough like a running shoe to be very comfortable, even the first day out
of the box.
The buckles kept the Canyoneer on my feet even when walking through sticky
mud that would rip other shoes right off your feet. The shoe drains very
quickly thanks to a perforated insole and self-bailing holes in the sole.
The mesh upper allows air and water to circulate freely in the shoe, though
these features didn't offer much benefit to me since I usually wore the
Canyoneer with neoprene socks.
The Canyoneer was designed principally for the European market, where
canyoning typically involves short, very wet canyons. In such canyons
the need for lots of equipment is rare, so the Canyoneer is designed more
as a shoe, and less as a boot. Unfortunately, many of the canyons in the
southwestern United States have long approaches or exits over miles of
cobbled river rocks. I found the ankle support on the Canyoneer to be
inadequate in this respect. Similarly, the shank is not very stiff, and
so after hiking six to ten miles, my feet were quite sore.
I believe the shank and ankle of the shoe could be redesigned to provide
more support without losing too much of the technical quality of the shoe.
The Canyoneer retails for around $90 online and in specialty sporting
goods stores.
Summary:
The FiveTen Canyoneer provides excellent grip with low to moderate
support at a fair price. Though not the ideal canyoneering shoe, it's
probably the best on the market right now.
Matt Smith
is the canyoneering editor at GearReview.com and can usually be found swimming with dead mice.
For more information, contact:
FiveTen
P.O. Box 1185
Redlands, CA 92373
(909) 798-4222
CustServ@FiveTen.com
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