Gear

Just wondered if you can recommend any walking boots that have excellent grip? The ones I have at present are good except when its a bit wet. They are not so great at gripping on rocks and surfaces that are damp or wet. The boots I have are Blacks own brand all leather and have Vibram soles I believe.

Thanks,

John

There are many versions and grades of Vibram (as do Dunlop tyres etc) - so, whatever you end up with may also have Vibram.

Wet rock is also notoriously greasy and lacking grip - the only boots I ever had that gripped on wet rock were a set of hobnailed in my farming days.  Weighed a ton, appalling grip in the dry, could set fire to a county, but on wet rock were fantastic.

Its a compromise...

Depends..... as usual, on what you want to do.

 If using for Scrambling, you might be better with a 'soft, gripper' sole, downside is that will wear out quicker.

 For walking you can get a harder sole, not as grippey but will last longer.

 Very few, if any, soles are good at coping with wet rock. Even 'sticky' soled climbing shoes have trouble with wet, greasy rock.

Thanks! I will have to check out the haglofs solid lite. I can use my current boots for all other situations but any times when its likely to rain or that I'm likely to need grips on slippery surfaces I guess having another pair of boots will be good.

I recently bought a pair of Scarpa Terra GTX and have been impressed by their performance on wet rock. Never had a boot I could trust on the stuff, but used them at the weekend in Snowdonia in the horizontal rain on lots of rock and they were very, very good.