Kamik chase
Initial Report
August 4, 2006

Authored by

Andrew Priest
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
aushiker@yahoo.com.au

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Product Details and Specifications
• Tester's Details
  • Personal Biography
  • Testing Playground
  • Testing Environment
• Initial Report
  • Item Receipt
  • First Impressions
  • Testing Strategy

Andrew, the tester:

I am a 46 year old male, 180 cm (5' 11") in height, I weigh 104 kg (229 lbs). I have been bushwalking in Western Australia for approximately five years. For the past four years I have been regularly walking and leading on and off-track pack carries with the Perth Bushwalkers Club. I have also got into geocaching. I consider myself as moving towards being a lightweight tent-carrying bushwalker with my pack base weight in the 8 to 12 kg (18 to 26 lb) range. I have completed my End to End of the Bibbulmun Track (2003), the Cape to Cape Track (Nov 2001), the Coastal Plains Walk Track (numerous times), the Larapinta Trail (July 2005) and Fitzgerald River National Park (April 2006).

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Andrew's testing playground:

The bushwalking environment of the south-west of Western Australia allows for bushwalks and backpacking from coastal plains to forest. Elevation ranges from 0 to 585 metres (0 to 1,920 feet). Within this region, I walk in varying conditions from forestry roads, to sandy tracks to single-purpose walking trails, to rock hopping, to beach walking to completely off-track walking through open and dense country.

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The testing environment:

During the summer period, daytime temperatures average 30° C (86° F), whereas from March through to December the daytime average temperatures range from 15° C to 26° C (59° F to 79° F). During the autumn, winter, and spring periods the normal weather pattern is fairly wet with frequent heavy rainstorms evident. It does not normally snow in Western Australia.

According to The Times Atlas of the World (Concise Edition - Revised 1997) our weather is described as being "Mediterranean - rainy climates with mild winters, coolest month above 0° C (32° F), but below 18° C (64° F); warmest month above 10° C (50° F)." The atlas depicts the coastal area north of Los Angeles, California, United States, as having the same climate.
 

Product Details:

• Manufacturer: Kamik
• Year of Manufacturer: 2006
• MSRP: Not given

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Specifications:

• Manufacturer's specified weight: Not given
• My weight: 870 g (31 oz) for Men's size US 11½, EUR 45½ and UK 10½.

Item Receipt:

The Kamik Chase hikers where received in good condition as expected given my viewing of the Kamik website. After all they are hiking shoes! I ordered a size based on my experience with New Balance 806s and received a shoe which based on initial wear at home is the correct length and is comfortable to wear, but possibly a touch narrow. Further testing will determine if this is an issue or not.

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First Impressions:

Kamik list a number of features of the Chase on their website, only of which two can I really comment on at this stage of the test. They are the outer materials of the Chase and the elastic gore tongue. The other features such as moisture wicking lining, antibacterial footbed and non-marking rubber outsole will be discussed in the field and long-term reports in the context of my use. The remaining features (thermoplastic heel counter and toe box, Strobel lasted construction, and compression molded EVA midsole) are related to internal construction and will be considered in the broader terms of actual use of the runners on a day to day basis.

Let us take a walk around the runner. The runner I received is black with a grey/black sole. The upper as indicated by Kamik is made of a combination of leather and Nylon with some reinforcing at the toe and heel ends. It has round laces. It will be interesting to see if they have a tendency to come undone at annoying times.  As indicated on the Kamik website, the tongue gore is elasticised. I am not quite sure why, but I will monitor this aspect and see if I notice any advantage or disadvantage with this feature. The inner lining looks to my untrained eye like standard material found in trail runners and it has a standard looking cardboard style footbed. However Kamik indicate that the footbed (or footbead (?)) is an antibacterial type. There is no technical information on their website as to what this means, but they do claim that it "maintains a hostile environment for odor-causing bacterial growth." I will in the context for normal wearing monitor the performance of the footbed.

Turning the shoe over, it has a "HORIZON" non-marking rubber outsole. Interesting both runners have some white specks in side of the sole on the inner side. Not quite sure why this as it is not continued throughout the material. I will monitor this aspect to see if has a detrimental affect.  The sole is branded Kamik so I assume it is a proprietary design.  It is not what I would describe as an aggressive lug pattern and as the runner has a lot of twist in it, possibly a soft sole. I will monitor how it wears and the level of grip it provides in varying bushwalking conditions and day to day walking conditions.

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Testing Strategy:

My testing will be based around day to day usage, usage on my regular exercise walks on dirt, limestone and concrete paths, on geocaching and waymarking excursions and of course as my backpacking footwear (hopefully at least four weekend backpacks). In particular I will look at:

1. Comfort of the Kamik Chase, particularly when carrying a weekend winter load of gear, food and water (~ 16 kg / 35 lb) and without a load, i.e., day to day usage;
2. The degree of support provided by the shoes when carrying a weekend winter load of gear, food and water (~ 16 kg / 35 lb) and without a load, i.e., day to day usage;
3. Level of support including grip provided in varying walking conditions;
4. Effectiveness of the lining to wick moisture away from my feet;
5. Effectiveness of the outsole to provide grip in varying conditions in a winter environment;
6. Functionality of the elastic gore tongue;
7. The durability of the runners in varying conditions (tracks as well as off-track walking through scrub etc) in a winter environment;
8. Overall comfort and effectiveness of the Kamik Chase shoes as a backpacking shoe.

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