nwoods
Expedition Leader
Early this year, ExOfficio announced that they were coming out with a range of footwear, as posted here.
I contacted fellow ExPo member David Adler (Silvercruiser on this forum), director of the new shoe division, and was treated with amazing service and quick email responses. He offered ExPo members a heck of a good deal, so I ordered several sets of shoes to try out. I ordered the Cruz'rs and the ReefRunners.
These shoes were awesome! Great looking, well made, with great details and nice touches throughout. Unfortunately, I have a somewhat large foot size, and had some fitment difficulties. Dave was totally cool about it and I was able ship them back and we exchanged some ideas and info about shoe design, function, features, etc.. David said he'd get back to me in the Fall, when his next batch of product was ready to be tested.
True to his word, he contacted me in October, confirmed my size, and shipped out a new pair of shoes to try out. The new shoe is called the "Navi", and is not yet available on Exofficio's website, but they were just launched on The Walking Store's website.
Here are some of the features of the shoe:
-ExO grip outsole: Proprietary design. It’s a sticky siped rubber on the outside side of the shoe and a harder rubber with a multi directional tread on the inside. Think of it as a great all terrain tire tread.NW: Totatly agree with this analogly. The tread works great on wet floor tile, loose sandy scree, rocks, etc..
-The upper is a long lasting waterproofed leather although the shoe is not waterproof NW: Obviously water can get through the mesh.
-The lining and footbed of the shoe have been treated with Aegis which is antimicrobial…controls stink. NW: Works great!
-The footbed is made with Ortholite which is a type of foam that has great memory and cushioning features.NW: Translation: Very comfortable!
-The Navi is designed to be versatile for the adventure traveler. For light hiking, scrambling, offroading, and adventures in life, the Navi will meet your needs.
So after a full month of pretty thorough testing, here is my personal review of these shoes: I really like them!
So for anything short of full on bouldering or multi-day pack hiking, I think these shoes are terrific. They are extremely comfortable for me, and I look forward to many more outings with them.
Here are a few photos:
I contacted fellow ExPo member David Adler (Silvercruiser on this forum), director of the new shoe division, and was treated with amazing service and quick email responses. He offered ExPo members a heck of a good deal, so I ordered several sets of shoes to try out. I ordered the Cruz'rs and the ReefRunners.
These shoes were awesome! Great looking, well made, with great details and nice touches throughout. Unfortunately, I have a somewhat large foot size, and had some fitment difficulties. Dave was totally cool about it and I was able ship them back and we exchanged some ideas and info about shoe design, function, features, etc.. David said he'd get back to me in the Fall, when his next batch of product was ready to be tested.
True to his word, he contacted me in October, confirmed my size, and shipped out a new pair of shoes to try out. The new shoe is called the "Navi", and is not yet available on Exofficio's website, but they were just launched on The Walking Store's website.
Here are some of the features of the shoe:
-ExO grip outsole: Proprietary design. It’s a sticky siped rubber on the outside side of the shoe and a harder rubber with a multi directional tread on the inside. Think of it as a great all terrain tire tread.NW: Totatly agree with this analogly. The tread works great on wet floor tile, loose sandy scree, rocks, etc..
-The upper is a long lasting waterproofed leather although the shoe is not waterproof NW: Obviously water can get through the mesh.
-The lining and footbed of the shoe have been treated with Aegis which is antimicrobial…controls stink. NW: Works great!
-The footbed is made with Ortholite which is a type of foam that has great memory and cushioning features.NW: Translation: Very comfortable!
-The Navi is designed to be versatile for the adventure traveler. For light hiking, scrambling, offroading, and adventures in life, the Navi will meet your needs.
So after a full month of pretty thorough testing, here is my personal review of these shoes: I really like them!
- At size 13, they feel like they were custom made for me. As soon as I slipped them on, they felt right.
- They have a clever cross-banded unistrap design that allows an excellent compromise of slip-on comfort, with stability and support. I was genuinely surprised at how secure they feel compared to most slip on style footwear.
- The tread pattern is a bit urban, but the compound is soft enough to allow ample traction, and there is plenty of lateral grip afforded by the tread design. I have worn them over 10 hours standing and walking all over a local amusement park, and I have worn them numerous times while off roading and light hiking in extremely rocky terrain, and I have worn them in my relatively formal office environment.
- They are fairly compact in overall size, with a nice contour around the heel that works terrific for driving. Many of my outdoor shoes are a bit too wide and cause trouble with our Jeep's close placement of the pedals. This was not a problem at all with the Navi's, and they are my new Trail Driving shoe of choice!
- The soles and uppers are flexible and conform well to rocks and so forth, and are very comfortable walking around, but for me (at 300lbs body weight) they are a bit too soft for extremely rocky terrain, as I need a stiffer sole to provide a bit more stability when scrambling across the tips and edges of boulders.
So for anything short of full on bouldering or multi-day pack hiking, I think these shoes are terrific. They are extremely comfortable for me, and I look forward to many more outings with them.
Here are a few photos: