UKH

Hi,

I've had my Meindl Toronto GTX for a couple of years. Only recently I've started doing more technical walks (beginner scrambling). Perhaps my soles have worn and they have become more slippery on these walks, or perhaps I've never tested my boots and they have always been slippery? I'd like to go on more technical walks but have no confidence that the grip will be safe.

Before I commit to an upgrade (looking at Meindl Bhutan MFS or Scarpa SL Activ), I wonder if it is just Vibrams that are slippy or are mine worn out and due an upgrade?

Pic of my soles here: https://i.imgur.com/KcCG12m.jpg

Thanks guys!

Vibrams have never been great especially on wet grass. To an extent it depends on the rock type you’re walking on. Damp limestone is slippy.

Ive got Meindl approach shoes and don’t rate them at all for wet scrambling or wet stony paths.

I find a rubber studded sole to be much better.

The sole on your footwear looks akin to a trainer and not suitable for the hills.

There was an article on here last week about approach shoes which was quite informative.

5.10 rubber is pretty good on rock & screen but the button pattern soles are useless in mud & wet grass. Best I’ve found for scrambling are inov8 285’s but not much toe or ankle protection .

i agree that I wouldn’t want a sole like yours in the hills, that’s for country parks.

My Scarpa Charmoz grip scrambling rock really well, and inspire confidence. Your soles look well worn, and not quite booty enough. Go into a climbing shop, and compare your shoes and proper scrambing boots on their little climbing wall section, see the difference.

I have Bhutansa pair of Meindl Bhutans, and find they are superb scrambling and walking boots, which are very grippy on dry rock. I'd thoroughly recommend them for British 3-season mountaineering.

Vibram do lots of different grades of rubber, and the cheaper ones of these are a lot harder and less grippy, although I would have thought the Torontos would be ok. 

Worn soles on boots are less grippy, but this depends how much you've used them - if the lugs are less than half what they were when new, they're probably less good. If you're new to scrambling, it's also possible that your technique isn't ideal, and this could be causing you to lose grip. The classic beginner error is leaning into the rock too much, instead of keeping your weight vertically above your feet. The BMC has some good videos on YouTube which show scrambling footwork, and heading out with someone experienced would also be useful.

Thanks for your review on the Bhutans. I've checked it out quite a fair bit online and learnt that the soles are Vibram Multigrip (or a proprietary Meindl version of the Multigrip)
 

On the article that Dave the Rave was mentioning, most of the approach shoes use the Vibram Multigrip which has round lugs. It looks solid actually and might be the solution to my troubles.

Thanks everyone for your reply. Probably would end up with some Bhutans this week!