Reviews > Footwear > Trail Shoes > Dunham Alcatraz > Russell Curry > Field Report

Product Identification:

Item:                                  Dunham Waffle Stomper Alcatraz Water Escape Trail Shoe
Manufacturer:                     Dunham
URL:                                  www.dunhamfits.com
Year of Manufacturer:         2005
MSRP:                               $100.95

Product Description:

The Alcatraz Water Escape Trail Shoe is a performance trail runner type shoe designed to be worn in wet or dry conditions. Dunham claims they can be worn from "puddles to paddling". They are designed for optimum traction in wet or dry conditions. There are water evacuation channels to allow the shoes to drain quickly. For a more detailed description of these shoes, please see my Initial Review.

Usage:

My time in these shoes has exceeded the minimum requirements set forth in the guidelines for testing gear. As of this report, I have hiked in these shoes no less that 15 days, with varying packloads, and have and continue to wear them almost every day around town and especially when hiking almost daily in my local park.

Field Testing, the low road:

I began my field testing of these shoes on an 8 mile (13 km) hike at my local park, in order to begin the break-in process since I have several upcoming hikes of much longer duration and will be wearing these shoes for those hikes. The day following a heavy rain, I headed out for the woods and found plenty of standing water to hike in.  I wanted to verify Dunham's claims that these shoes performed well in wet conditions.  I immediately stepped off of the main trail into the water that reached my mid-calf in places.  It was impossible for me to determine how much water was being released through the water evacuation channels, but I did find that my comfort level while hiking in the shoes was adequate. When I reached areas of higher ground, I did not get the "squishing" water soaked feeling that I was used to with my other trailrunner shoes. Even though the shoes were wet, and my feet and socks were soaked, it was not uncomfortable for me to continue my hike.  The shoes did feel a little heavier than when I first put them on. About midway through the hike, I stopped for a brief rest and to examine the shoes.  I found a lot of mud and debris on the exterior of the shoes, some of it partially plugging up one of the water ports on the heel.  This was one issue that I was concerned about for these shoes.  The mud was wet, but was not packed tightly into the heel port. When I examined the inside of the shoes, I found no mud or other debris had worked its way through the mesh that covers the water evacuation ports.  I continued the hike back to the trail head hiking in water most of the time.  I weighed the shoes within 15 minutes of leaving the trail and found the shoes weighed 34 oz, (964 g) an increase of 5 oz, (142 g) over the weight when new and unworn.  I decided to then determine how quickly the shoes would dry, so I left them out the remainder of the day and overnight as if I were on the trail.  The next morning the shoes felt completely dry, inside and out. The mud that was on the shoes had dried to a hard cake.  The temperature during this 12 hour period ranged from a low of 75 F (24 C) to a high of 95 F (35 C). The humidity was high averaging 90%.  The weight of the shoes was down to 31 oz, (879 g) with the remaining 2 oz, (57 g) being the mud and debris that was now caked and dry on the exterior of the shoes.

  
It didn't take long for this heel port to become caked with wet mud while
hiking. I could not tell how it affected the water draining from this shoe.
There was no mud or debris inside the shoe at this port.


More mud working its way into the sides of the shoe. I was able to easily wash
this out, even after it had dried for over 12 hours.

So far under these wet and muddy conditions, the bubble laces have worked as advertised and did not come loose.  I did not have to stop even once to retighten the laces.  After the shoes had dried for 24 hours, I took my garden hose and was able to easily wash off the remaining mud and debris. Extensive, multi-day field hiking in wet and muddy conditions though, may be a problem if I were to be unable to wash the mud from the shoes every day or so.  At the end of my 12 hour drying period, the mud on the heel ports was caked and hard, and in my opinion could interfere with the flow of water through these ports, at least until it flaked off or became wet enough to dislodge itself.  So far though, I have found these to be comfortable shoes to wear when wet, much better than what I have been used to.

Field Testing, the high road:

Having used these shoes on my flat, muddy trails here in SE Texas, I decided it was time to put them to a real test. One of my hiking clubs had a 7 day trek planned in the Never Summer area of Colorado, in the Rocky Mountain National Park. I packed my bags, tossed in the Dunham Alcatraz trail runners, and headed off to join 7 others for a week-long outing. Weather was averaging 65 F (18 C) highs and 30 F (-1 C) lows, depending on the altitude. Lowest altitude for the hikes was 10,250 ft (3100 m), highest altitude we climbed to was 12,300 ft (3800 m). We had 7 glorious days of bright sunshine. My pack weight the first day was 31 lb (14 kg) and at the end of the trek was 22 lb (10 kg). 

On the trail in RMNP. There were lots of steep climbs over rocky trails, large and small boulders,
rock falls, streams and scree. I did not regret bringing along the Alcatraz shoes.

By the time I reached the trail head for the Colorado trip, I had put about 100 miles (161 km) on the shoes by hiking locally, or wearing them around town. My feet were used to the shoes, and I had not developed any hotspots, blisters or discomfort from wearing them. I noticed early on in the hike that I had exceptionally good grip when scrambling on boulders and on slippery, wet rocks while crossing streams. I noticed also that the motion control features of the shoes was working well when I encountered rough trail conditions, which was most of the time. Another item I noticed was that no time the first day or any day of the hike did I have to stop and re-tie the laces. This was a surprise, as I usually always have to re-tie at least once when hiking over rough terrain for several hours at a time. At the end of each day's hike, with the mileage varying from 6 miles (10 km) to 15 miles (24 km), and with altitude varying 1500 ft (457 m) in ascent or descent, my feet did not ache.  My feet were glad to get a break, but they did not ache or hurt with throbbing pain as has happened before on other hikes with my hiking boots or other trail runner type shoes.  All 8 of us in my group are experienced backpackers, and 4 had foot problems with blisters or hotspots during the 7 days, but I came through with no difficulty at all. The shoes proved very substantial and comfortable for the 7 day duration of the trip.

Items on my test application that I evaluated:

Fit - the shoes fit my size 12 (46 Eur) foot, and allowed me to use an advanced foot bed instead of the one that came with the shoe. I could adjust the laces, although I found it somewhat difficult to actually loosen them all the way to the toe. I had no hotspots or blisters to report from wearing the shoes. My heel does not slip when using these shoes, even under the loads described above. I found the water evacuation features of the shoe to work well, even in muddy conditions. The shoes were almost as comfortable to wear when wet as when dry. When I did get them wet, they dried quickly when left out overnight.

Shoe Material - the "Dryworks" feature of this shoe does appear to work. After hiking in the water locally, it took only a few minutes for most of the water trapped in the shoe to dissipate. I have not found any loose seams, or stitching from wearing the shoes either in water or under a load. I have not noticed any shrinking in the shoes from wearing them in water. The Vibram sole did an extremely good job for me on the trails in Colorado, not once did I slip, even when crossing wet boulders and rocks in streams.

Comfort - I was concerned about this very much due to the hikes I have scheduled in mountain and desert type terrain. So far, I have been very pleased with the comfort of the shoes. I did change socks every day, but I do that regardless of what I am wearing. I found that I did not have to change socks just because I wore the shoes in water. The water does drain quickly, and the comfort level returns to a decent level in just a short time. I have noticed no bacteria growth or excessive shoe odor in the shoes, but I do allow them to air dry, especially if they get wet.

There was lots of boulder hopping on parts of this trip, the Dunham shoes
came through with flying colors.

So far in my trials with this shoe, I have been very pleased with their comfort, stability, water evacuation features, bubble laces and the non-skid Vibram sole.  I like the light weight of the shoes. I plan on more strenuous long-term testing though, to stress the material as much as possible and to further evaluate its wicking and water evacuation features. I will be using these shoes in the Yucatan on a hiking trip, and also in desert type situations and on any other hikes that may appear on short notice on my club calendars.

Reviews > Footwear > Trail Shoes > Dunham Alcatraz > Russell Curry > Field Report