Although they claim it’s effectively the same, the pattern and rubber formula are both different and very inferior. Sadly.
Gotta love corporate ineptitude (or skullduggary). Buying out a company making the best product of its type, discontinuing the product and marketing an inferior replacement can’t be good for long term profitability.
Sadly, canyoneering is a tiny tiny market, and these were never marketed outside of that tiny niche.
I had no idea these things (the boots or “canyoneering”) even existed until an angler from France pointed them out to me a few years ago.
Just an unfortunate combination of things coming together.
All we can do is snap up the remainders while we can!
Montbell has some shoes I have been interested in…the issue is they are not sold in the US stores or in the US online website…they are only carried in Asia. I spoke to customer service a while ago and they said if enough people show interest in the US they would consider adding the shoes. Here are their products on the Japanese site. https://en.montbell.jp/products/goods/list.php?category=709500
Here is contact form if you care to voice your thoughts. https://www.montbell.us/customer-service/contact/consumer/
I bought the Patagonia / Danner River Salt wading boots after having gone through countless boots. I’ve worn out and had all sorts of boots from many different brands. I haven’t been stoked on any of them. The Patagonia boots are amazing, I’ve really liked them so far. The traction even without studs is really good, with studs it’s great. I tried the Patagonia tractor style boots, but didn’t like the weight. The foot tractors are built very well both being by Danner, but the weight is the deal killer for me. I like to hike even when I’m fishing a river with parking nearby to escape the crowds.
Montbell, interesting! I think you may have a winner here in the Canyoneer replacement quest.
I wear a street shoe size 11 or 12 depending on the company, which is a 28 or 29 Japan size, so sizing may be an issue (and I’ve found many JDM items tend to be a bit on the tight size of even their own measuring system).
That being said, if the sizes work for you those prices are pretty fair, and although the Wading Boots look to be pretty heavy and stiff, the Sawer Climber looks like it’s worth a try.
I’ve found Japanese retailers who do international sales to be incredibly efficient and professional, but don’t expect to be able to return an item if you just don’t like it or it’s the wrong size.
I have also been searching for a Canyoneer replacement. Here are a couple of Videos of Wet Grip I, and Wet/Dry/Sand Grip II of various brands of Water Shoes that may be of interest to those who are looking for alternatives to the big name wading boots: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ja-UH7o1Mo
I have one fishing season in with these: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww0E8pdPJIM
Which provide better grip than my Canyoneers do but are not as foot protective as the Canyoneers are. Here is a Kayak Review of the Astral Hiyak: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqD1j5DES2c
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Karl,
What about Mega grip Vibram soles on North Face. I thought i saw a YouTube review that looked
promising. I fish along boulders on small streams and I’m always sliding and falling. If you find something please let me know. Felt soles are O.K. but hopefully something is available as a good or better alternative. Thanks for bringing this discussion up on the site. Someone talked about the 5.10 soles but they are no longer being made.
Mike, I do not have any personal experience with the Mega Grip soles but the promo looks very impressive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSBWnYfNRPo
I’ve been using the (discontinued) Five Ten Water Tennies. They’re honestly a bit narrow, but grip very well and are not Frankenstein boots. I think some of the reason why they grip well is because you feel the contours of the rocks that you wade on and climb.
@arieger turned me on to these new Orvis Approach shoes. I pre-ordered a pair a month or two ago. We’ll see how they work out as a Water Tennie replacement once I’m actually able to get out on the water… if I’m able to get out on the water… anytime soon. I honestly don’t know if the new Michelin soles Orvis is selling will be worth it, but I like a lot of the other features of the shoes.
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I just ordered a pair of the Astral Hyaks for wet wading. They’ll get a good work out this summer and I’ll report back in the fall.
I have the Astral Hiyaks and like them a lot. I originally bought them to use for kayaking, I’m an instructor, but started using them for wet wading as well. So much better than walking down a trail in my clunky ski boots, I mean wading boots.
How is the sizing on the Hyaks? Too tight too loose?
The Hiyaks don’t come in half sizes. I normally wear a 9 1/2 shoe. I got the Hiyaks in size 9 and they fit great. They are a flat shoe and are fine for short hikes. If I am hiking all day my feet do start to get a bit tired. I am seriously considering getting the Astral TR1 Merge as my next pair. They are designed with a lot more hiking in mind. may even consider getting two pair. One for hiking and wet wading and another pair in a larger size to wear with my stocking foot waders for the cool months.
I have size 9 feet and ordered size 10 Astrals. I hope that will work, but if not, REI has a good return policy.
A friend shared these with me about 6 weeks ago - before they were released. I’m very curious to try them out. Though I’m a little reluctant without much in actual reviews about them.
I lost 2 toenails last August (almost grown back now) due to hiking long distances in traditional wading boots (9.5 miles - 15.3km on the longest day), so I really want to find something else for wet wading/hiking. I cannot decide between these and a pair of Astral Designs. These seem to have better designed protection against rock abrasion.
The other issue is I need size 14 and there’s only one Astral Designs shoe that comes in that size…
The TR1 Merge are designed as a hiking shoe. I have read several reviews of people hiking the AT in them and loving them. I don’t think they come in 14 though.
Cheers for the tip. Unfortunately, 13 is the largest and even those aren’t available until August. On rare occasions I can fit a 13 - though not often. I’m those situations I have to try them before buying them.
Micheal, I will be very interested in your experiences wearing the Orvis Wet Wading Shoes. Please get back to us…Karl.
Ouch! That has happened to me too from my toes being jammed into the toes of Korkers Devil’s Canyon wading boots with the Boa laces. I was unable to get them tight enough until they were uncomfortably tight against the front of my upper ankle using a little ritual of repeatedly tapping my heel into the back of the boot and tightening until I couldn’t tighten any more to lock my foot into the heel cup.
I picked up a pair of Korkers’ high end Wraptr lace-up boots but the upper began to develop holes from flexing after 3 months with a bunch of long, steep hiking approaches. However the laces with instep jam cleats allowed me to tighten the instep very tight and tie a double overhand knot before lacing up the ankle a bit looser to keep my feet locked into the heel cup. Korkers replaced them free of charge with the newest high end “Terror Ridge” (TR) lace-ups that have a “heel lock” lacing strap at the instep that I didn’t think worked as well as the Wraptr’s jam cleats at the top of the instep on the first trip with my chest waders. A 2nd trip with waist-high waders was better. Was it some initial break-in? Did I just tighten them down better? Thinner or better fitting neoprene bootie on the waist-highs? We’ll see. They’re really nice boots that are much lighter than the not-so-well “armored” Wraptr boots, and now I have a ton of unused spare soles in size 12. But any more problems and I’ll likely sell the TRs and try sizing up one more size (total of 2 sizes) from my typical street shoes.