UKC

For years I have used Scarpa vortex gtx for walking, a new pair every 18 months.

Last year I changed how I work and started wearing the Scarpas for work and they wore out quicker, so I bought another pair, no complaints.

However for work I bought a cheap pair of walking shoes from decathlon £9.99 , the NH100, and they are fine for work or walks on paths upto an hour or two 

Thing is the other day my wife and I were walking down a damp tarmac path and my wife was not confident as she said it felt slippy in her walking shoes, and I noted I felt secure in my decathlons but I would have felt insecure in the Scarpas.

Seems odd that the cheap shoes offer better grip than expensive walking shoes. I assume it's the rubber compound.

Anyone else noted this 

In reply to J1234:  Its difficult to say - I'd recommend one of each pair on different feet and keep a video diary on youtube of your experiences

In reply to J1234:

Can't comment on shoes but Decathlon stuff is generally excellent for the price. I'm a big fan of their Simond/Forclaz/Tribord brand. Just this weekend I was looking online at the MH500 shoes (as the price is a steal) and after seeing your post I'm buying it for sure now.

In reply to Lukasz Kisala:

When they re open I will be giving the dearer ones a try, as the 9.99 ones are super, just lack the support of the Scarpas, but I suspect the more expensive may resolve that.

In reply to Lukasz Kisala:

Just a note of caution, it could be that better shoes have harder soles, or something, I used to wear 5:10 tennies and camp 4s and I only expected 12 months out of those, because of the soft rubber.

In reply to J1234:

Meindl are also atrociously slippy in the wet. The Trustpilot page for them makes interesting reading.

In reply to Le Sapeur:

On a wet day I was going up the descent path at White Ghyll, I was wearing Scarpa SLs and had a nasty slip, which would have been a whole lot worse. 
I wonder if its Vibram rubber thats the problem

In reply to J1234:

I bought a pair of Scarpa Terra boots last year and they are absolutely lethal on wet rock. 

After a bum clenching day on the Forcan ridge in October, I now know why they are called Terra... 

In reply to J1234:

I have had 3 pairs of Scarpa Vortex and have found the Soles last only 12 months for me as they are so soft, so my last pair i decided to have them resoled as the uppers where in good condition .

I used Cheshire Shoe Repairs cost £42 and i had  Vibram Friction soles put on and i have found them to have lots more grip in all conditions especially wet rocks than the original soles

In reply to Le Sapeur:

Wow! Yeah, they are really not doing well on trust pilot.

In reply to J1234:

I have a pair of Salewa Mountain Trainers. Excellent shoe, stiff enough for scrambling, very supportive and a grippy pattern on the Vibram sole for soft ground. They are, however, not good on wet rock or even damp pavement. I think the compound of the sole is too hard and feels more nylon like rather than rubber.

Maybe Vibram have gone too far in the search for longevity.

In reply to Chmusar:

Thank you, I will give that a go.

In reply to J1234:

I am pleased to see this topic raised. Some outdoor shoes make outrageous claims about being sticky in wet and dry when they are nothing of the sort. In my case I bought Teva's a few years ago. They are treacherous in the wet . I have cheap street shoes which are way more trustworthy.

In reply to J1234:

There are many formulations of rubber, so it may be that the particular Vibram formulation you have is one of the harder ones. And they can be a bit slippy.

Much as I like decathlon stuff, I can't wear their shoes, as I find them too narrow. The Simond winter boots are okay, though.

In reply to captain paranoia:

I found this issue with Berghaus Hillmasters (which is a bit bizarre given what they're intended for).  Utterly treacherous on rock.

In reply to J1234:

I had a pair of Brasher boots (?), maybe twenty years ago.  Fine for dry and dusty walks but absolutely lethal on wet rock.  Fortunately they started leaking water within a year, so they went straight in the bin.

If i recall, the sole felt slighty plasticy. I should have spotted that when i tried them on.

In reply to J1234:

Strangely, I have the opposite experience to you. My Scarpa Crux stick to rock and mossy pavements like s*** to a blanket, whilst my waterproof Decathlon shoes, which are meant to be suitable for hiking, are noticeably slippery, to the extent that they are relegated to being used only on the allotment. Haven't had such a bad grip on outdoor shoes since the bad old days of the mistakenly purchased Merrell Perils.

In reply to J1234:

I've yet to find any pair of walking boots or shoes, or mountain boots(!?) that are anything approaching reassuring on wet rock. I usually walk in XA Pros these days, which are as good as anything else I've ever worn, but I still trust them on wet rock about as much as I trust rock shoes on wet grass.

It can't be hard to make a shoe or a boot that isn't halfway lethal on what is a fairly common feature in the UK outdoors?

Neither come close to the problems of dress shoes in the male toilets though. Certified lethal, and with the added insult of landing in someone else's wee when you do stack it. Why can't men wee into the toilet without missing and drenching the floor? Perhaps a question for a different thread...

In reply to J1234:

It's like Forumula One where they have two sets of tires: slick soft ones for maximum traction in the dry and hard ones with tread for when it is wet.

Some 'fancy' approach shoes are designed to work great on dry rock but they are rubbish on loose surfaces or wet slick surfaces.

Also happens with running shoes, even closely related models from same brand.  A few years back I swapped from Nike Air Pegasus street running shoes to Nike Air Pegasus trail running shoes because they were cheap in the sale.  The first part of my run before I get in the park goes near the Scottish Parliament where there was some particularly slick paving: in the wet it was absolutely lethal in the new trail running shoes.  As soon as I got off road in the park they were fine.

In reply to J1234:

Try walking through a cafe with a polished stone floor wearing rigid plastic cycling shoes with hard plastic cleats underneath them.  It takes skill to manouever a tray of coffee and cakes and not end up on your arse.

In reply to danm:

I am going to sound like Imelda Marcos here, I also have a pair of Scarpa Crux as well, but only use them for climbing, if I have to make long decents or tricky approaches for Cragging I use the Decathlons. or whatever.

In reply to J1234:

When I retired & moved to the mountains about a year ago I found myself walking in the local forests & meadows a lot & decided to buy a pair of cheap walking shoes from Decathlon to keep my expensive Millet shoes for more difficult terrain. Not sure what model I bought but they were around €30 & although they don't have the same stiffness as the Millet (which cost 3 or 4 times as much) they are comfortable &, so far, hard wearing. I'd buy another pair but it appears they have been discontinued

In reply to tehmarks:

Some kind of Michelin sole on my Mammut B2 boots is pretty good on wet rock, even wet Alpine limestone. Unfortunately, that stickiness comes with a price - the sole got trashed about five times as quick as my Vibram boots. As in the Tom's example, you can't get both.

In reply to Doug:

That seems to happen a lot at Decathlon unfortunately. I got a pair of lightweight bouldering trousers that were perfect for me. Went back for more  and the designs had all changed and nothing fitted. Friends told me that is a common experience there. 

In reply to tehmarks:

I had a pair of Mammut/Raichle lightweight summer boots a few years ago with a grey sole which had hexagon patterns, partial hexagon studs, partial hexagon holes.  They were phenomenal on wet rock, I spend a lot of time scrambling round on rocky beaches and they were the best thing ever - absolute confidence jumping/striding between large wave-polished boulders.. Second best are standard Teva sandals.  I think a lot of the wet rock performance of shoes is to do with feel and stiffness.  Stiff = bad.