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Reviews > Footwear > Trail Shoes > Vasque Aether Tech SS Trail Shoes > Test Report by David Bradish
VASQUE AETHER TECH SS SHOES
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TESTER INFORMATION
I started hiking in my teens in Arizona and New Mexico, primarily focusing on winter hiking. Since 1991 I have hiked a lot with my brother-in-law Ray mostly in California's Sierra Nevada range, and the southern mountains. In winter I bring as much gear as necessary to be safe and comfortable. For 3-season hiking I try to follow the principles of ultra light.
INITIAL REPORT
PRODUCT INFORMATION & SPECIFICATIONS
Manufacturer: Vasque INITIAL IMPRESSIONS
The Vasque Aether Tech SS shoe is designed as a protective light weight shoe for trail runners. I do not run but have been using trail runners for all my 3 season hiking since fall of 2004. To give the soft shell material support it has sections of TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethane) welded to the soft shell material. The TPU sections are the shiny black sections on the sides and back in the pictures. More support comes from areas of polyurethane nubuck, which is a type of synthetic leather. This is on the toe and the section running from the heel to the top of the lacing. Vasque is proud to claim the use of 30% recycled content in this material. The Aether in the name comes from the Aether outsole used for this shoe. The multi colored sole has different shaped, size and depth lugs. It feels very grippy right now and I will look forward to seeing what kind of traction it has. They don't say this but I think the Tech part of the name comes from the Boa Lacing System technology used to tighten the laces on the Aether Tech SS. Instead of regular laces the Aether has cables that run through plastic cross points the length of the tongue and opening. The cables terminate in the Boa wheel at the top of the tongue. When the wheel is pushed down it clicks into place holding the cable locked. As the wheel is turned clockwise the cable winds around an inner reel tightening the cable and securing the shoe. The more I twist the tighter the cable gets. To loosen I just have to pull the wheel up and it instantly releases the cable. I do not have to mess with turning the wheel counter clockwise to make it loosen. This is the feature that I am the most excited about. I have seen it on other boots and wanted to try it out. The Aether Tech SS has dual density EVA footbeds inside the shoes. The yellow areas are softer than the black areas. I normally put Super Feet or Shock Doctor insoles in my shoes right away but I will try these for awhile. Below these are the midsoles. According to Vasque the midsoles are EVA with high rebound heel and forefoot inserts. Since they are covered with white fabric I can't see this. The web site does not really give a lot of information and the box did not come with anything but a pamphlet for the Boa Lacing System. I do not know if the soft shell material is water proof. The site says that it combats moisture. I will find out as soon as I get hiking in them though. Out of the box the shoes fit and feel great. They are very light compared to most of my hiking shoes. FIELD LOCATIONS AND CONDITIONS
I have used the Vasque Aether Tech SS shoes on the following day-hikes and backpacking trips. Last was another trip to the San Gorgonio Wilderness to climb San Bernardino and East San Bernardino Peaks. It was cold and rainy and even snowed for a while. The low was 36 F/2 C. at night and was very cold during the day also. The total distance was 20 mi/32 km with 5630'/1716 m of climbing. PERFORMANCE IN THE FIELD
I was amazed at how light and comfortable the Aether Tech SS shoes were the first time I put them on. I wore them to work a couple of days and then wore them on the beach path near my house. They really did not need any breaking in I was just being careful. One strange thing I noticed when we got back from a water run was the laces on one shoe were loose but the wheel was not popped up. They had been tight when we made camp but sometime in the 3 mi/5 km round trip to get water it loosened itself. Maybe it got snagged on some brush popping it up and loosening the reel and then got pushed back down. I will watch to see if this happens again. I do really like the Boa Lacing System though. It is very quick and easy to lace up and go. And except for that one time it has held all day with no problem. So far the shoes have gotten pretty dirty but are not wearing too much. There are no pulled seams or tears yet. I will see how they look during the Long Term Report phase as I will be going on a long hard 4 day hike during it. This concludes my Field Report. Check back in two months for my Long Term Report. Thank you to Vasque and backpackgeartest.org for letting me test these shoes. LONG-TERM TEST LOCATIONS AND CONDITIONS
I have worn the Aether Techs on three trips during the Long Term Report phase. PERFORMANCE IN THE FIELD
The Aether Tech SS shoes have still preformed quite well. I still find them to be very comfortable except when I am going down very steep trails with a lot of rocks. Then I can feel the rocks through the soles. I may put some Super Feet insoles in them to help cushion them. I would really like to see this shoe offered in a waterproof version. Walking through high meadows early in the morning gets my feet soaked from all the dew clinging to the tall grass. I did find that they dry quickly while hiking though. All told I found the Aether Tech shoes to be a very good backpacking and hiking shoe. Now that the test is over I plan to go back to a waterproof shoe for the Sierra Nevadas but will use the Aether Tech with its excellent ventilation for the desert sections of the PCT that we still need to do. I would like to thank Vasque and BackpackGearTest.org for letting me test them. Likes Light weight Comfortable Boa System fast and secure Dislikes Not comfortable in rocky locations This report was created with the BackpackGearTest.org Report Writer Version 1. Copyright 2009. All rights reserved. Read more reviews of Vasque gear Read more gear reviews by David Bradish Reviews > Footwear > Trail Shoes > Vasque Aether Tech SS Trail Shoes > Test Report by David Bradish |