Injinji Outdoor Series toe socks
Toe socks are no longer for modern middle schoolers. Now, with the help of Injinji, which designed an outdoor series sock, toe socks are pushing into the outdoors market.
Common Soles
Common Soles, which recently launched a line of women’s flip-flops made by factory workers in India, donates 4 percent of sales to buy school books for the workers’ kids.
K-Swiss Run One miSOUL Shoe
In seconds, a runner can switch between the K-Swiss Run One’s included insoles to alter the shoe’s performance on the road. They are touted to be the most versatile running shoes on the market today.
Running Gait Analysis
A gait-analysis test dissects stride and form to unlock a runner’s anatomical potential — or at least tell you which type of shoe to wear.
UK Gear PT-03 Desert Shoe
Made for the “hottest and most arid of environments” on the planet, UK Gear’s Desert Shoes are a unique entry into the genre of outdoors-oriented footwear.
Teva Footwear 2010 Sneak Peek
Most of these shoes and sandals will not be to market until 2010. But at an event today at the Teva Mountain Games, GearJunkie.com got a sneak peek. . .
Teva Gnar Shoe Review
Out of the box, the Gnar appears to be a sneaker. But take a close look and you’ll see drain vents throughout the upper and a perforated insole. . .
Pearl Izumi SyncroSeek III WRX
Trail-running shoes perform a tricky balancing act. They need to be light, agile, and cushioned for miles of fast trails, so they can’t simply be sporty hiking shoes. But to deliver real stability and protection, they have to be more than road runners with extra tread.
Kuru Chicane women’s shoes
It’s not every day I wear “tennis shoes” in the winter. That’s like wearing white pants after Labor Day, right? But when you throw a softshell upper onto a wrap-around sole that has little rubber stumps on the bottom for grip and traction, you turn a tennis shoe into a kind of winter glove for your foot.
Gear Review — La Sportiva A.T. Grip Hobnail Kit
Got ice? La Sportiva’s A.T. Grip Hobnail kit allows runners to add industrial-strength traction to their soles via the application of 20 screw-in spikes. . .
Gear Review: La Sportiva Fireblade Trail Running Shoe
Earlier this year, I did something that an experienced trail runner should know better than to do: On a Friday afternoon, the day before a race, I bought a trail shoe made by a company whose shoes I’d never worn, and then I raced the 40-mile Mount Mitchell Challenge in it the following day.
Hi-Tec V-Lite Altitude Ultra
Waterproof-breathable boots are nothing new in the outdoors industry. But Hi-Tec has partnered with a U.K.-based defense company on its latest leather boots to incorporate a technology developed for military clothing worn in a chemical attack. . .
Gear Preview: Wenger Footwear Line
Touting Swiss Army Knife attributes, Wenger has launched a footwear line with several innovative and adaptable touches, including a rubber sole that adjusts stiffness and traction depending on outside temperature. . .
Cosmas Hercules – The Gear Junkie Scoop
The Hercules is the “first true mountaineering boot certified for wildland fire fighting,” according to manufacturer Cosmas, an Italian boot maker. It’s made to cater to young firefighters who now eschew traditional logger boots in favor of something with more performance and style. . .
La Sportiva Gandalf Review – Gear Junkie Scoop
La Sportiva’s to-be-released climbing shoe — a $215 magic boot that can purportedly endure a decade of alpine action — is named after the Tolkien wizard who guided Frodo and his entourage through the mountains of Middle Earth. . .
Gear Review — Timberland Rime Ridge
The Timberland Rime Ridge boot pulls characteristics from technical wintertime footwear as well as from the realm of the snow boot. At $190, they are not something most people will buy for tromping around the yard. But for snowshoeing, hiking and even easy mountaineering these pseudo Moon Boots offer an interesting option. . .
Vibram FiveFingers Running Shoes
OK, clear your throat. Now let out a hearty laugh. Yes, these are gloves for your feet, and they look silly. Now listen: Vibram USA is onto something here. I have run close to 100 miles in a pair of FiveFingers, and darn if I’m not becoming a convert. . .
Bridgedale Precision Fit Ski Socks
Bridgedale wants to make bulky ski socks a thing of the past. The company’s Precision Fit line features “anatomic knitting” that contours the shape of the leg, ankle and foot with varying fabric thicknesses and elasticity to ensure proper fit and performance in a ski boot. The ankle, calf and bottom of the foot feature… Read more »
Inov-8 Debrisoc Column
Walk a mile through any woods, run down a ragged trail, and the chance of collecting a twig or pebble in your shoe is fairly high. For backpackers and hikers, a tiny intrusion — say a small stone wedged under your sock — can easily sprout a hot spot or blister.
Terrasoles “Après Anything” Footwear
I don’t actually know what “après anything” means, but with its new Terrasoles line of shoes R.G. Barry Corp. “targets the void many people face when transitioning from active footwear into something that is more comfortable and casual, yet remains functional.” Right. . . like when I get done climbing a mountain, remove my boots, and think “dang, if there wasn’t just a shoe perfect for this pub and the muddy lot I need to negotiate on my way inside. . . .”
Zinetic Pocket Slippers
“Boots off. Happy on.” That’s Zinetic Inc.’s slogan for its line of unisex pocket slippers for the outdoors. Kind of (somehow) sexy sounding I thought at first. But the product is fairly straight laced, just a flappy hard rubber sole and a meshy top. They’re made to wear in lieu of the heavy and clunky footwear often accompanying outdoors types to hostels, backcountry campsites, ski lodges, and yurts deep in the San Juans. . .
GoLite Footwear Carbon Fyre trail runners
These to-be-released trail runners — the Carbon Fyre from GoLite Footwear — will be among the priciest ever made when they debut in March 2008. Indeed, at $160 the shoes go at twice the price of a good pair from Vasque or Inov-8. But GoLite always has some tricks up its sleeves, including. . .
Kahtoola MICROSpikes
Yes, these are crampons. Well, sort of. Pedestrian crampons. But with 10 spikes, each one 3/8-inch long, and made of stainless steel, the Kahtoola MICROSpikes could do real work paired with hiking boots or running shoes to provide traction on snow and ice. A “shoe harness” made of a stretchy rubber flexes as you step in, then cinches tight. And they’re so packable and light that people (me, for example) will be tempted to try and employ them for easy mountaineering. My pair arrived in the mail yesterday, and I can say I am intrigued. . .
KEEN Inc. — The Trailhead Collection
Sandal-maker KEEN (o.k., the company makes lots of shoes now, too) has just announced an expansion into two new footwear categories, climbing and cycling. You’ll have to wait a few months, but when these shoes debut the company promises some unique performance and comfort features, including. . .
Gear Review — Inov-8 Debrisoc
6 hours, 59 minutes, 55 seconds. That was Team Gear Junkie’s time at Saturday’s MNOC Adventure Race, a run/bike/paddle competition in east-central Minnesota, where some requisite gear hashing included a maiden test of Inov-8’s new Debrisoc gaiter. . .
Gear Review — Brooks T5 Racer
In an attempt to run as unencumbered as possible, I’ve been testing a pair of Brooks’ T5 Racers, which are flyweight road runners nearly unnoticeable on the foot. They’re essentially a soft meshy shell with an EVA midsole, though very little support. Indeed, at 5.9 ounces per shoe, these sprinters are literally half the weight of some comparable shoes I own, which can be good and bad. . .
River Shoes (Keen and Mion)
The esoteric nature of water sports like canyoneering, rafting, riverboarding, and whitewater swimming calls for equally esoteric footwear. Indeed, to acquiesce with eddies and tumbling submerged stones and nasty currents, companies have designed shoes that guard toes, give grip underwater, and generally protect your feet once they’re submerged.
Salomon Space Boot
The Aspen Boot from Salomon employs a material that’s been used in space suits and is approved by NASA. Called Spaceloft, the fabric permits thinner boot uppers at the same level of thermal protection as a thicker pair. Kind of like a pair of Sorels, only svelte and lighter like oversize trail-running shoes. Salomon is calling its Aspen Boot the “first ever nanotechnology application to outdoor footwear.”
Sneak Peek — Salomon Speedcross 2
Salomon has shipped me an early test pair of its latest trail runner, the Speedcross 2, which comes out in the fall and is built for cool weather and snow. It looks like an upgraded XA Pro, the company’s flagship off-trail/adventure shoe. But the Speedcross 2 is tweaked with a new “knee-saving” cushioning system that I noticed within the first few feet of my test run last night. . .
Cloggens Shoe Review
No, these foam-based, clog-type, slip-on sandals aren’t Crocs. Just very similar. Some would say rip-off-level similar. In business-speak, though, Cloggens LLC is simply a “fast-follower,” which is a company that jumps into the slipstream of another enterprise with a similar — and sometimes better — iteration of the same idea. . .
Inov-8 F-Lite 250 Review
In a quest that’s stretching now beyond the two-year mark to find the perfect trail-running shoe, I’ve discovered only one real thing: There is no perfect trail-running shoe.
For every situation and every trail, for every person, for every foot, a different shoe will work better or worse. I’m happy now, finally, with that conclusion.