Long Term Report

Long Term Report - La Sportiva Rajas Rajas

Christine Korhonen
March 21, 2006

Personal Information:
Age: 32
Gender: female
Height: 5' 4" (1.6 m)
Weight: 150 lb (68 kg)
E-mail: chris@wormguy.com
Location: Western Montana

Backpacking Background:
I'm in Montana enjoying the summers and becoming re-acquainted with winter. Now that I'm back above the snow line, I'm attempting some winter camping and snowshoeing. I'm a lightweight backpacker mentally, if not always in practice. My summer pack total weight is around 19 lb (9 kg) with a tent, but my winter pack hovers around 25 lb (11 kg) with one day's food and water.

Product Information:
Manufacturer: La Sportiva
URL: www.sportiva.com
Style: Women's Rajas
MSRP: US $90
Color: Apricot (orange)
Size: European size 40 (US women's 8.5 - 9)
Listed Weight: 1 lb 12 oz (0.8 kg)
Measured Weight: 1 lb 12 oz (0.8 kg) - both shoes

Rajas Description:
The Rajas are trail shoes with a mesh upper and a deeply lugged sole.

Test Location:
I've worn these shoes running, hiking, and backpacking in Montana and Wyoming. Temperatures have been around 30 F (-1 C) and elevations from 4500' to 6000' (1400 m to 1800 m). The trails I hiked on were primarily snow-packed with some mud.

Fit:
The Rajas are very comfortable. The mesh is soft against my foot, and the widely spaced laces allow the width to be easily adjusted. The shoes didn't need any breaking in, and I particularly liked the ample padding around the heel. I have narrow heels and the padding helped to keep my heels from slipping. The mesh upper breathes well. These shoes are not designed to keep out moisture but dried out quickly when I got them wet.

Traction:
I've found these shoes to have excellent traction. The high lugs attract mud, but tend to clean themselves out when I continued on drier terrain. I didn't have any problems with rocks getting stuck in the tread. The rubber sole gripped exceedingly well on icy trails.

Durability:
The Rajas have held up quite well. They show very little wear in the sole and almost none in the upper. I was afraid that the mesh upper would abrade easily, but it has held up nicely over the four months.

Overall:
A very comfortable and nicely featured trail shoe.

Likes:
Comfortable
Wide laces
Nice traction

Dislikes:
No US-European size conversion chart on website

Read more reviews of La Sportiva gear
Read more gear reviews by Christine Korhonen

Reviews > Footwear > Trail Shoes > La Sportiva Rajas Trail Runner > Christine Korhonen > Long Term Report

All material on this site is the exclusive property of BackpackGearTest.org.
BackpackGearTest software copyright David Anderson