I'll admit it Im addicted to buying shoes for disc golf. It has become really bad and i cant seem stop. It has become my mission to find the very best shoe for disc golf and let me tell you brother I have tried them all. It all began about 6 months ago when I decided I was going to invest in a good pair of shoes for DG. I did my research and finally decided to get the Salomon XA PRO 3D Ultra GTX. It was a great shoe, very comfortable, awesome lacing system, and seemed destined to be number one. But alas as I have come to find, Salomons start out great but break down really quick. From there I bought the Keen Milo's, a shoe "made for disc golf". Well it might be "made for disc golf" but its designers forgot one very important component, durability. These shoes were falling apart the second week I got them, and just check out other posts on this site if you don't believe me. I really believe that when Keen designs the second generation of this shoe it will be much better, but for now, not so much. Thankfully since I bought the Salomons at REI (for those not in the know REI is amazing) I got to return them and have had the chance to try out a wide variety of shoes.
So where is this going you ask? Well below is a rating and micro review of all the shoes I've tried. I have no bias to any of the companies, these are true fair assessments and take them as you will. Hopefully all my shoe buying can benefit others out there with the same mission as me, FINDING THE VERY BEST DISC GOLF SHOE AVAILABLE WOO HOOO!!!! I will give each shoe a 1-5 rating for four major catagories, Comfort, Durability, Appeal, and Weight.
1. Salomon XA PRO 3D Ultra GTX - A great looking, out of the box awesome disc golf shoe, that suffers from major durability issues. From soft, easily worn out soles to the synthetic leather pieces that literally crack apart in water, to the squeaky shank, these shoes beg for better materials.
Comfort - 4
Durability - 2
Appeal - 5
Weight - 4
2. Keen Milos - Some of the most comfortable shoes I've ever worn, great toe protection, very warm, and extremely water proof. These shoes seem like tanks, but begin to break down really early and the sythentic mesh parts of the shoe catch and hold every piece of dirt around, wear them once and they always look dirty. They also are not the lightest shoes around and this can wear on you after long tourney days.
Comfort - 5
Durability - 3
Appeal - 4
Weight - 2
3.Teva Wraptor with Event Waterproof - The ugly duckling of the bunch, these little buggers are really good disc golf shoes. The Event waterproof material is amazing and these are some of the driest shoes Ive ever worn. They are also extremely light and super durable.The strap lacing system with velcro works admirably and these shoes will last you forever. Beware the velcro straps do stretch out over time and of course the velcro breaks down, making this the one minor fault I can find with these great shoes.
Comfort - 4
Durability - 4
Appeal - 2
Weight - 5
4. Vasque Mantra GTX - A modified hiking boot these shoes are T-O-U-G-H they are built to take a beating and are extremely well put together. They have great water proofing and with Vibram soles they can take anything you throw at them. To bad they are super uncomfortable, I mean flat out painful, someone forgot to put padding in the forefoot area and even with custom insoles they are barely wearable. Not to mention that they weigh a ton making driving a chore.
Comfort - 1
Durability - 5
Appeal - 4
Weight - 2
5. Vasque Blur SL GTX - A well put together, very solid shoe, built for trail running making it very light, this combined with the proven water proofing of Gore Tex, makes these shoes great disc golf. They look almost as good as the Salomons IMO and are a little lighter. They are built with the aforementioned Vasque durability but are way more comfortable. They dont have the Vibram out soles (by the way I think Vibram makes great rubber but sometimes I find it can be a little to hard and rough on feet) but are still super durable. Honestly I have dont have a lot of bad things to say about these shoes. They are in my opinion the best high end DG shoe you can buy.
Comfort - 4
Durability - 4
Appeal - 4
Weight - 5
Well thats it for now, please feel free to ask any questions you like about these shoes or any others. These are just the ones I wore for more then 2 rounds. But Ive worn a ton more and have collected alot of feedback on other shoes. Hope this helps.
So where is this going you ask? Well below is a rating and micro review of all the shoes I've tried. I have no bias to any of the companies, these are true fair assessments and take them as you will. Hopefully all my shoe buying can benefit others out there with the same mission as me, FINDING THE VERY BEST DISC GOLF SHOE AVAILABLE WOO HOOO!!!! I will give each shoe a 1-5 rating for four major catagories, Comfort, Durability, Appeal, and Weight.
1. Salomon XA PRO 3D Ultra GTX - A great looking, out of the box awesome disc golf shoe, that suffers from major durability issues. From soft, easily worn out soles to the synthetic leather pieces that literally crack apart in water, to the squeaky shank, these shoes beg for better materials.
Comfort - 4
Durability - 2
Appeal - 5
Weight - 4
2. Keen Milos - Some of the most comfortable shoes I've ever worn, great toe protection, very warm, and extremely water proof. These shoes seem like tanks, but begin to break down really early and the sythentic mesh parts of the shoe catch and hold every piece of dirt around, wear them once and they always look dirty. They also are not the lightest shoes around and this can wear on you after long tourney days.
Comfort - 5
Durability - 3
Appeal - 4
Weight - 2
3.Teva Wraptor with Event Waterproof - The ugly duckling of the bunch, these little buggers are really good disc golf shoes. The Event waterproof material is amazing and these are some of the driest shoes Ive ever worn. They are also extremely light and super durable.The strap lacing system with velcro works admirably and these shoes will last you forever. Beware the velcro straps do stretch out over time and of course the velcro breaks down, making this the one minor fault I can find with these great shoes.
Comfort - 4
Durability - 4
Appeal - 2
Weight - 5
4. Vasque Mantra GTX - A modified hiking boot these shoes are T-O-U-G-H they are built to take a beating and are extremely well put together. They have great water proofing and with Vibram soles they can take anything you throw at them. To bad they are super uncomfortable, I mean flat out painful, someone forgot to put padding in the forefoot area and even with custom insoles they are barely wearable. Not to mention that they weigh a ton making driving a chore.
Comfort - 1
Durability - 5
Appeal - 4
Weight - 2
5. Vasque Blur SL GTX - A well put together, very solid shoe, built for trail running making it very light, this combined with the proven water proofing of Gore Tex, makes these shoes great disc golf. They look almost as good as the Salomons IMO and are a little lighter. They are built with the aforementioned Vasque durability but are way more comfortable. They dont have the Vibram out soles (by the way I think Vibram makes great rubber but sometimes I find it can be a little to hard and rough on feet) but are still super durable. Honestly I have dont have a lot of bad things to say about these shoes. They are in my opinion the best high end DG shoe you can buy.
Comfort - 4
Durability - 4
Appeal - 4
Weight - 5
Well thats it for now, please feel free to ask any questions you like about these shoes or any others. These are just the ones I wore for more then 2 rounds. But Ive worn a ton more and have collected alot of feedback on other shoes. Hope this helps.
