Teva Dalea Mid eVent Hiking Shoe
Test Report

Initial Report 18 October 2009
Field Report 7 January 2010
Long Term Report 24 February 2010
 
Name:  Dawn Larsen
Age: 48
Gender: female
Height: 5' 4" (163 cm)
Weight: 165 lb (74 kg)
Email address: vicioushillbilly AT gmail DOT com
Florence, South Carolina USA

Backpacking Background:
I used to backpack in college a zillion years ago and just in the last few years have backpacked some private trails in Tennessee, Missouri and most recently South Carolina. I have been an avid car-camper for eleven years and I have kayak/canoe camped for four years, both in South Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri and Arkansas. I use a lot of the same equipment for both. I hike hilly/rocky trails especially in Missouri (my home state) and Arkansas. I live in South Carolina and am busy checking out the terrain here with my sixteen year-old son.

Product Information
Manufacturer: Teva
Year of Manufacture: 2009
Manufacturer's Website: www.teva.com
MSRP: $140.00 US
Advertised Weight: none indicated
Measured Weight: 1 lb 14 oz (.85 kg) per pair
Size Tested:  Women's 9 medium
This model available in women's sizes only
Color Tested: Major Brown
Other Colors Available:  Chocolate Chip

 


Initial Report
18 October 2009

Production Description 
 The Teva Dalea eVent hiking shoe is a lightweight hiking shoes that looks like a boot.  It is constructed of full grain nubuck and suede leather with Scotchguard stain protection.  According to the website it features:  eVent waterproof/breathable membrane, molded sockliner with enhanced comfort foam technology, nylon shank for torsional rigidity and stability, external shock pad for enhanced shock absorption, and a Vibram rubber outsole for versatile traction.  

Preliminary Impressions
I'm always nervous when I get shoes in the mail.  I wear everything from size 8 to 9, so I ordered an 8.5 because that is what my other athletic and hiking shoes are.  I have the worst time finding comfortable hiking shoes and boots.  I have very wide feet with bunions (thanks for those genes, Mom).  I also have a weird big toe on my right foot.  I dropped an iron cooking grill on it one time (don't ask) and the toenail never grew back right, so it sort of sticks up and sometimes is painful.  If I get medium shoes large enough to be wide enough, then there is heel slippage and too much toe room.
 
Right out of the box, I noticed that the color is really nice for a brown, which is not typically my favorite.  I like this dark brown with the green accents, however.  And it is a visually subtle shoe, which is nice.  The material and workmanship seem to be very high quality. The stitching is nice and even with no loose ends. The leather is even. I especially like the flowered accent on the side of the shoe. 
 
I put these shoes on the first time and they fit a little tightly. The shoe is padded nicely, but that may contribute to the tightness of the fit.  The toe box is a little tighter than my other hiking shoes. I can feel my toe ring and will have to take it off when hiking with these shoes.  I usually forget it is there.  I will have to see how the tight toe box works with my weird toenail.  I can feel it hitting the top of the shoe when I walk.  I'll have to test to see if it becomes painful.  I am a little worried about the area around my bunions as well.  The fit is pretty tight there and I will test to see if they will be comfortable after hours of hiking.  I tried them with a couple of different thicknesses of socks and will test with several different thicknesses to make sure they are not too tight around my bunions. The tongue is soft and padded and feels comfortable.  The most problematic area is the area around my ankle.  It rubs a little right above my ankle bone on my left foot when I flex my foot.  I tried loosening and tightening the laces and it didn't seem to make a difference.  I will test to see if the shoes' leather softens a bit with wear and if that takes care of the rubbing problem.
 
The laces seem to be just the right length, not too short, not too long to drag. They also seem to stay tied without double knotting, around the house anyway.
 
The lugs are not very deep and I wonder how that will work with wet sand, leaves and mud here in South Carolina in the winter? 
 
Summary
 
The Teva Dalea seems to be a good quality mid rise hiking shoe, that may be a little narrow for me. I am anxious to test the eVent technology as my feet tend to sweat.  I am also anxious to test the waterproofness of this shoe. 
 
What I Like So Far
Lots of nice padding in the shoe.
They look really nice
 
What I Don't Like So Far
They are awfully tight, especially in the toe box
They rub on my ankle
The lugs are very shallow

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Field Report
7 January 2010

I had to send the first pair of 8.5s back.  I tried to wear them around the house for about an hour and my bunions were hurting so much, even when I took them off, my feet were aching badly.  I returned the 8.5s and received the same pair in a 9.  These are definitely better.  They are a little long for my feet, so my heel slips a little.  I don't feel like the heel cradle cradles my heel as well, but there is much less pain in the bunion area.  I wore thick socks and wore them out camping for about 4 hours straight one day.  They did not hurt my feet nearly as badly as the 8.5 pair did.   I usually wear an 8.5 in higher end athletic shoes and hiking boots.  These Tevas seem to be narrower than other brands.  The 9s also do not rub my ankles like the 8.5s did.  The performance report below refers to experiences with the size 9 shoes, same appearance.  

Field Conditions
Nature Trail in Wallace Woods, Florence, South Carolina:  I hiked this .75 mile (1.21 km) nature trail at least five times.  It is fairly level, but with cypress roots to trip me.  It is also leaf covered and usually muddy and wet.

I backpacked a trail along the Buffalo River, Arkansas: Trail was hilly, rocky, slushy with snow and mud.  This trail was 12 miles (19.3 km) that generally wound around and followed the Buffalo River.  Temperatures averaged about 35 degrees F (2 C) during the day and below freezing at night. There was some sleet and snow when we were hiking, but not much.  Mostly, it was just cold.

Everyday wear:  It was a snowy winter holiday in Missouri.  I took these shoes to wear as everyday winter wear along with hiking in them. At least 3 days, I wore them all day long and I was on my feet most of the day, shopping or out and about.

Performance in the Field

These shoes are not considered to be "boots," but they perform much like that. My ankles are weak and I appreciated the higher tops.

Comfort: The shoes are very comfortable with thick wool socks. They are not comfortable for me with thinner socks, thus I proabably won't want to wear them in the summer. They have a fairly good arch support and I find that I can wear them all day without my feet hurting. They also ride well around my ankles and there is no rubbing there like there was with the size 8.5s. My heel slips, but I don't find that it gives me blisters or any other kind of irritation. My heel slipping also doesn't seem to make me any less stable. On the long hike in Arkansas, after a day's hike, when I took the shoes off, my bunions ached, but not as badly as they do with other shoes and boots. They are also fairly lightweight on the foot. I don't feel like I'm lifting ankle weights when I hike with them, like I do with heavier boots.

Soles: Initially, I was afraid, because the lugs were not very deep, that the shoes would not track well. However, in mud, wet leaves, slush and on rocks, they do quite well. I wouldn't say that they track as well as deep-lugged hiking boots, but they worked out well for me. Some of the trail in Arkansas was fairly steep, and they tracked just fine in slush. I slipped some in the slush and leaves, but I think it was normal.

Warmth: These shoes when worn with thick wool socks are surprisingly warm. They also repel water very well although I have not yet had a chance to actually immerse my foot in water. I hope to test for that in the next section of this report. Because I tested these mainly in cold weather, I did not notice that my feet sweated enough to make them wet and cold. It could be because the vent technology was good or the sock technology was good. I will try to test with socks the same thickness, but not wool in the next reporting period.

Cleaning: When the shoes get muddy, I let them dry and the mud brushes off. During this test period, I was not in really mucky conditions. Usually the mud was mixed with snow or rain.

Summary
I like these shoes so far to only hike fairly level, easy trails, as well as to wear in nasty weather.  They are comfortable and my feet don't scream at the end of the day.

What I Like So Far
They look nice
They are comfortable

What I Don't Like So Far
My heels slip
I have to wear thick socks.

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Long Term Report
24 February 2010

Field Conditions

Stewardship Loop in Harbison State Forest, Columbia, South Carolina:  I hiked about 2 hours on the first warm day in about a week.  Temperature was 47 degrees F (8 C).  This produced ice melt from frozen rain earlier in the week.  This was a 3 mile (5 km) trail with about .5 miles (.8 km) worth of off-trail paths.  Terrain included: wet and dry sand, leaves, pine needles, really mucky mud.  The trail was fairly rough and ascended about 150 feet (46 m).

Nature Trail Wallace Woods, Florence, South Carolina:  I hiked this .75 mile (1.21 km) nature trail about eight times.

Sandpiper Trail, Huntington Beach State Park, Murrells Inlet, South Carolina:  This trail is a 4.8 mile ( 7.7 km) there and back along a pond and through marsh land.  It was about 55 degrees F (13 C) that day, clear and sunny.  It had rained recently so the marsh part was really "marshy."  The trail is level with a vertical rise of only 5 feet (1.5 m). Terrain included sand, pine needles, marsh mud, and leaves.  I was on my feet about 3 hours.

Performance in the Field  

Comfort:  The shoes are comfortable with thick wool socks.  They are not comfortable for me with thinner socks, thus I probably won't want to wear them in the summer. They tend to rub my ankles with thinner socks and the friction is much more severe around my feet. I had tender places on my heels after hiking in them for 3 hours. They have a fairly good arch support and I find that I can wear them all day without my feet hurting.

Soles: In mud mixed with grit, wet leaves, slush or on rocks, they track quite well.  On the really mucky, muddy trail in South Carolina, they did not track well at all.  I felt fairly unstable when I walked in the mud.  As long as there was grit in the mud (sand, leaves, pine needles), the soles had something to grip, but in the South Carolina trail mud which seemed to have a lot of clay in it, the lugs became packed with mud and the shoes acted more like ice skates. I wonder if because the lugs are shallow and somewhat rounded, if they don't track as well as a more squared lug that can grab at the terrain.  

Warmth:  I was able, in this last section of the report, to test these shoes in warmer weather.  I found that my feet did not sweat with thinner socks.  Actually I was comfortable as far as the temperature was concerned, but because of the fit issues, I have to wear them with thicker socks.  I tested thicker socks in warmer weather and found that my feet got hot and sweated.  

Waterproof-ness:  These shoes were amazing in the repelling water department!  Even though I wore gaiters, I actually immersed my feet up to about the first laced X from the bottom and not one drop leaked in.  I took the picture in a little shallower hole after I had immersed them.  The water runs right off.


Cleaning:  When the shoes got muddy, I let them dry and the mud brushes off the leather uppers.  The mud on the soles is another matter.  It only came off when I soaked the soles in water and took a stick to clean it.

Summary

I like these nice looking shoes and will wear them in warmer winters here in South Carolina, as long as I don't hike in clay mud.  I will wear them often on sand trails in the cooler months (but not cold) in South Carolina.  I will not wear them in colder climates. Nor will I wear them on trails that are very vertical or unstable because I just don't think the lugs were made for trails like that.

What I liked
They are amazingly waterproof.
The uppers are really easy to clean

What I didn't like
They are too narrow for my wide feet and so I have to compensate with thick socks.
The lugs are not deep enough for mud.

This concludes my long term report.  Many thanks to Teva and BackpackGearTest.org for the opportunity to test the Dalea Mid eVent hiking shoes.