Reviews > Footwear > Boots > Dunham Waffle Stomper Terrastryder-Low > Pam Wyant > Initial Report

Initial Report:  Dunham Waffle Stomper Terrastyder-Low

Date:  February 25, 2005

Physical description:  The shoes I received look exactly like the shoe pictured on the website.  The exterior of the uppers are primarily composed of tan mesh panels, which have a texture similar to a coarsely woven canvas, with tan and blue nubuck leather trim.  What the manufacturer describes as “non-stretch stability wings” are located at the forefoot and heel areas.  These “wings” are composed of an underlying layer of leather, topped by mesh, topped by a material that feels something like a combination of plastic and rubber.  They are wide at the bottom and narrow toward the top.  At the top of each of these “wings”, the shoelaces pass through a pewter colored metal loop or hook.  The remainder of the lacing loops are fabric.  Three lacing loops form a sort of semi-circle at the bottom of the gusseted tongue, followed by a set of metal loops on each side at the top of the forefoot “wing”, followed by three more fabric loops on each side and a fabric loop on the tongue, and topped by a metal lacing hook at the top of the heel “wing”.  The shoes came pre-laced with tan fabric laces described on the hangtag as “Non-Slip Oval Laces”.   The tongue is the same tan mesh as the uppers, with a shaped piece of leather trim.  The Dunham name appears in four places on each shoe – on the outside of the toe rand, on a label on the tongue, on the rear of the heel, and on the blue material on the bottom of the sole.  Waffle Stomper appears on the tongue label, and a symbol composed of the letter D with a pine tree shape to the left side appears on each side of the heel.  A small black tag with the wording “Dryworks waterproof” is attached to the outside of the shoes beside the lacings.  The toe area has an additional layer of black material with a sort of rubberized feel over leather trim, and a fairly small rubber rand (approximately 0.5 inch or 1.3 cm high).  A lightweight pull loop is located at the heel.

The interior of the uppers is composed of a light gray mesh material.  A tag sewn to the tongue lists the model number, size, and country of manufacture (China).  The removable insole is a soft gray fabric on the top and a soft foam-like material on the bottom.  Interestingly, the top of the insole is labeled Dunham® Waffle Stomper® and the bottom of the insole is labeled new balance®.  The insole is foot shaped, with defined heel cup, arch, and ball of foot areas.  Small holes are placed in the forefoot and midfoot area of the insole in a sort of starburst pattern.  Underneath the insole, the foot bed consists of three materials – a rigid composite material in the back, a soft felt like material in the forefoot, and a rubbery feeling material in the toe area.  The shoe size is stamped in the heel area of the foot bed on both shoes.

The upper section of the soles are a soft feeling light gray material labeled AbZorb®, which lies over a thin, blue, hard plastic-like material extending from the toe rand to the arch area (except for a small area under the ball area). The bottom of the sole is a rubbery feeling black material labeled vibram® in yellow.  The hangtag, which was attached to the shoes, diagrams the construction of the shoes and describes the materials.  According to the diagram, the soft gray material is the EVA midsole and the AbZorb material is located within the forefoot and heel area of the midsole.  The manufacturer’s website provides additional information about the features and benefits of the shoes.  The Dual TPU plates are described as more flexible in the forefoot for mobility, and stiffer in the heel for protection from bruising.  Most of the sole is fairly stiff.  A small section of the fabric over the foot has a wavy appearance in the area over the joint between toes and foot, where the shoe bends when the sole is flexed.  The treads are an interesting pattern, looking like little bolt head shaped rubber cleats of varied sizes.  These treads are scattered all across the forefoot and front of the heel.  The rear of the heel has two grooved sections of tread.  Several tiny rectangular areas are grooved out of the sole, exposing the midsole, and a couple of angled grooved areas are located in the forefoot.

The shoes appear to be of good quality construction, with no loose stitching.  The only two minute imperfections I noted were a stray piece of white thread poking out from under the black material in the toe area of one shoe, and a small picked area on one shoelace.  These are very minor cosmetic imperfections, and I only noted them because I gave the shoes a very thorough going over looking for any minor imperfection.  The leather trim appears to be located so that it helps provide support to the foot.

Sizing/Pricing:  The manufacturer website lists the U.S. women’s sizes available, which range from 6-13 in length and 2A, B, & D in width.  Half sizes are available through size 10.5, and each length is available in all three widths.  The sizing seems to run true, as the 9B I normally wear fits me perfectly.  The manufacturer’s suggested retail price is not listed on the website, however e-mailing from the website resulted in a quick response with the pricing information.

Date of Delivery:  February 22, 2005.  The shoes arrived in good condition, in a typical shoebox, with the toes stuffed with packaging paper and with two packets of moisture absorbing silica.

Trial Use:  When I donned the shoes, the configuration of the fabric loops, metal loops, and metal hooks made it easy to adjust the lacing to fit the contours of my foot without having to keep a lot of tension on the lacing to keep it taut as I adjusted them.  Once I had determined they fit perfectly, I decided to give them a quick trial on my treadmill to see if any spots rubbed my foot or caused pain after a bit of use.  This test has caused me to send two pairs of shoes back lately that painfully rubbed the little toe on my left foot after a couple of miles, even though they felt fine at the beginning. 

I started out at 3.4 miles (5.5 km) per hour for around a quarter of a mile (0.4 km), and then upped the speed to 4 miles (6.4 km) per hour for another mile and a quarter (2 km).  About that time my daughter arrived with my grandson, who loves to ride in his child carrier while I walk on the treadmill.  Glad of the opportunity to add to the test, I put him in his carrier, which I had left partially packed from a prior hike, and added 37 extra pounds (17 km) to the test for an additional 1.5 miles (2.4 kg) at speeds varying from 3 to 3.4 mph (4.8-5.5 km).  Total distance on the treadmill was 3 miles (4.8 km), and I am glad to say the shoes remained very comfortable throughout all phases of the test.  Very reassuring indeed, since I will be using these shoes on every hike possible in the next 6 months!  With the extra weight of the child carrier, it did feel like my foot compressed the insole a little more, but they were still comfortable.  In fact, so far, they are the most comfortable hiking shoes I have ever had on my feet, and cradled my feet securely, without rubbing uncomfortably anywhere.

An area of interest is the forefoot wing, which seemed to provide a lot of support to my forefoot, and which I could adjust to tighten or loosen the width fit.  It will be interesting to see if tightening the fit of the forefoot wing is useful to keep the toes from slipping forward when hiking downhill.  Another interesting aspect to the shoe is the laces.  I normally tie my hiking shoes in a double knot because the laces are always coming untied otherwise, however I decided to test the laces of these shoes, and was pleased that tied with only a normal single bow they remained tied tightly until the last quarter mile, at which time a single side came loose.  The laces are also a nice length, unlike many of my hiking shoes, which are too long.  Even when one side of the lace came loose, I was able to continue walking until I had finished the 3 miles I set out to do, without worrying about tripping over the loose lace.  It will be interesting to see if the laces perform as well under real trail conditions, and to see how well they last.

On day two, it was time to put the shoes to a water test.  I poured about a quart of water over the sides, toe, and heel of one of the shoes, and it just rolled right off.  The exterior was left damp to the touch with a few clinging droplets, but the interior was completely dry.  So far, so good, so let’s take it a bit further.  I ran enough water in a sink to cover the shoes about halfway.  Surprising, the shoes floated right to the top!  I had to hunt up a pair of three-pound weights to keep them submerged in the water.  After 45 minutes soaking in the water, I checked the shoes.  The left shoe remained 100% dry, but I felt quite a bit of water in the right shoe.  This had me concerned.  Did I somehow allow some water over the top of the right shoe while I was filling the sink or weighting the floating shoe down?  Or did the right shoe leak?  After drying the shoe in front of a portable ceramic heater, and an additional test, I figured out the problem.  On the right shoe, I had stuffed the shoelaces down into the shoe, and they were wicking water into the interior of the shoe!  Testing the right shoe with the laces tied on the outside resulted in a perfectly dry shoe after 45 minutes.  So it bodes well for these shoes to keep my feet dry on shallow creek crossings and rainy days.

Test Plan:  I will mainly be testing the Waffle Stompers on trails and country roads in West Virginia, on several overnight and weekend backpacking trips and on many day hikes.  I hope to get in at least one longer trip.  I will also be testing the shoes while camping and volunteering in the outdoors.  Locations will vary from the mountainous eastern region of the state with elevations from 2500 to over 4000 feet (762 to over 1219 meters), to the river valley corridors in the eastern, western and central part of the state, with elevations from 550 to 1000 feet (168 to 305 meters).  West Virginia’s nickname is the mountain state, and it lives up to its name, so I will be doing a lot of uphill and downhill hiking from moderate to steep, with some creek crossings.  During the testing period, I should experience temperature ranges from lows in the 30F (-1C) range to highs in the 90F (32C) range or possibly as high as 100F (38C).  Rainfall is ample in the area, and a lot of areas remain muddy for days or even weeks after a good rain due to limited exposure to the sun, so I should have ample opportunity to test the traction of the shoes in the mud and to see if the shoes are truly waterproof.  Day hike pack weight will likely vary from 7 pounds (3 kg) or less to up to 40 pounds (18 kg) with my grandson in his carrier.  Overnight or weekend pack weight should vary between 20-30 pounds (9-14 kg) depending upon weather conditions.

I will be analyzing the performance of the shoes for comfort, wear, breathability, traction on varied surfaces, performance in the mud, and ease of cleaning.  I anticipate reporting on any areas of wear, performance in varied terrain and weather conditions, any problems I may have experienced with the shoes, how comfortable (or uncomfortable) they feel after a full day on the trail, whether they make my feet feel hotter than non-waterproof shoes or make them sweat more, and whether they are as comfortable with socks of varied thickness.   I will be testing to see whether my feet stay dry during creek crossings, in wet grass, in all day drizzle, and in sudden downpours.  What is the drying time if the shoes get wet from water over the tops?  Has any lasting odor developed?   At the end of the long term testing, I will be reporting on whether the shoes remain comfortable, supportive, waterproof, and breathable, or if they have become so worn they need to be replaced.  If the need arises for warranty issues, I will report on how these issues were handled.   I will also be looking at whether I feel the shoes added to my backpacking experiences, and whether I would be likely to purchase another pair of Dunham Waffle Stomper Terrastryders when these wear out.

Preliminary likes, dislikes, and concerns:  So far I like the comfort and lightness of the shoes.  The tan color appeals to me, but I would prefer a different color of trim, as I don’t wear a lot of blue in the outdoors.  I wonder how the light gray midsole will look after it’s been through a few “mudbaths”, and considering the texture of the uppers and the many areas the leather has exposed edges, how well the shoes will clean up.

Thanks to Dunham and BackpackGearTest for the opportunity to test the Dunham Waffle Stomper TerraStryder-Low trail shoes.

Reviews > Footwear > Boots > Dunham Waffle Stomper Terrastryder-Low > Pam Wyant > Initial Report