Oboz Katabatic Wind Mountain climbing Sneakers are burly mountaineering footwear with the DNA of path runners. They’ve breathable mesh uppers with high-quality pores to maintain out sand and dirt, a extremely rockered (curved) forefoot, and wonderful entrance safety to maintain your toenails intact on rugged hikes. Multi-directional rubber lugs present good grip and braking on moist surfaces, with a carbon fiber rock plate, and thick foam midsole present superior consolation and safety from beneath. In case you are on the fence about switching to path runners and desire a light-weight pair of mountaineering footwear which might be going to last more and supply higher foot safety, Oboz’s Katabatic Wind Low are price a severe attempt.
RELATED: 10 Finest Path Runners and Mountain climbing Sneakers
- Gender: Males’s (Girls’s accessible)
- Huge Toebox: Sure
- Cushion: Medium-Most
- Drop: 8 mm
- Sole: Oboz proprietary rubber
- Waterproof: No
- Weight: 24.6 oz/pair
- Huge widths: No
- Match: True to dimension however slender within the mid-foot
Toebox
The Katabatic Wind Low Mountain climbing Shoe has a large toe field that lets your toes splay out and calm down. The entrance of the toe field has a reasonably extensive toe kick to guard your toe and toenails, whereas bolstered bumpers assist get rid of the abrasion that rips up the aspect of many mesh path runners and mountaineering footwear. I discovered the size of the footwear to be true to dimension, giving me loads of area in entrance of my toes.
Drop
The Katabatic Wind Low has an 8 mm heel-to-toe drop, which has similarities to many avenue footwear and reduces the acclimatization time it normally takes for folks to adapt to a zero-drop path runner. Meaning you should utilize these footwear for mountaineering out to the field with out stretching and retraining your Achilles tendon or calf muscle mass, a course of that may take a month or extra. Whereas many individuals swear that zero drop footwear have cured their ft, the jury continues to be out on whether or not they’re the silver bullet for everybody. For me, essentially the most important innovation delivered by practice runners was a widened toe field, now adopted by many producers, offering enhanced stability, consolation, and higher path really feel.
Midsole
The Katabatic Wind Low midsole and outsole are the place the rubber hits the highway with these footwear. The midsole has a number of layers, together with smooth rebounding foam that places some spring into your step and a carbon fiber rock plate from the mid to forefoot that protects the underside of your ft from being bruised on sharp and rocky surfaces. I’d price the cushion in these footwear as someplace between medium and most, and whereas they’re very properly padded, they nonetheless present good path really feel and agility.
The footwear are noticeably curved within the forefoot, known as rocker, requiring much less effort to stroll rapidly ahead. That is helpful once you wish to set a quick tempo. Rockered soles are additionally good for folks with much less ankle or mid-foot flexibility as a result of they offset the pressure on joints.
Outsole
The outsole of the Katabatic Wind Low mountaineering footwear is made with a smooth rubber compound that’s proprietary to Oboz and used on the entire footwear fashions they make. The soles have ahead and rear-facing lugs, the latter designed for braking, that are fairly commonplace on mountaineering footwear, no matter sort. Their grip on rocky or moist surfaces in wonderful, which you’d anticipate given their softer rubber lugs.
There’s additionally a “gaiter channel” as a substitute of an arch at midfoot, so you possibly can put on a standard pair of gaiters with them which have a strap working below your shoe. Sadly, the footwear don’t have a gaiter lure behind the heel in order that they can be utilized with Soiled Lady Gaiters, however the floor of the heel is flat sufficient that you must have the ability to connect an adhesive velcro patch to stop your gaiters from driving up.
Mountain climbing Shoe Comparability Desk
Listed here are different mountaineering footwear we suggest.
Advice
Oboz Katabatic Wind Low Mountain climbing Sneakers are well-cushioned and light-weight mountaineering footwear that profit from most of the materials and design improvements launched by path runners through the years. The place they differ is in match, drop, safety, and sturdiness, that are vital elements to think about should you intend to hike with them in rugged terrain. Regardless of being light-weight, they’re additionally fairly secure footwear with a barely flared heel that resists pronation and the dreaded ankle rolls. Breathable however not waterproof, they’re a superb possibility should you choose the added help of a mountaineering shoe over path trainers.
Disclosure: Oboz donated footwear for evaluation.
SectionHiker by no means accepts cost for gear opinions or editorial protection. Whenever you purchase by affiliate hyperlinks on our website, we could earn a small fee at no additional value to you. Assist us proceed to check and write unsponsored and impartial gear opinions, mountaineering and backpacking FAQs, and free mountaineering guides.
