Ecco Yucatan Evaluation | CleverHiker

Backside Line

We worth the Ecco Yucatan Offroad Mountain climbing Sandals for his or her sturdy building, comfortable but safe straps, and three-point adjustability. They are perfect for hikers searching for ample help and stability, supplied they fit your foot form. Our tester skilled points with the sandals’ narrowness, limiting their use to straightforward, quick trails or round camp, the place she might change them out in the event that they grew to become too uncomfortable. 

When you’re a hiker with slender toes struggling to search out sandals that aren’t heavy and awkward like picket moccasins (we all know you’re on the market), the Yucatans could also be a fantastic choice for you. Whereas they are often costly when not on sale, they’re definitely worth the funding for the correct foot. Apart from being a wonderful match for slender toes, in addition they provide important help for hikers in want of additional ankle stability. The sidebar secures your toes, enabling consolation even when stepping at uncommon angles, and the contoured footbeds present a pleasing cradle to your foot toes. We’ve loads of different choices to contemplate in our mountaineering sandal gear information.

How We Examined

We loved a month-long campaign with the Ecco Yucatan, carrying them on varied quick hikes and round camps from Willamette Nationwide Forest, Oregon, to Los Padres Nationwide Forest, California. These sandals match fairly slender, so our tester was restricted in how lengthy she might put on them on her neutral-width toes. Nevertheless, we have been nonetheless in a position to assess their efficiency on various kinds of terrain and in varied path conditions.

Consolation

The Ecco Yucatan is good for hikers with slender toes, excessive arches, and excessive insteps. Our tester has none of those traits, so she personally didn’t discover the Yucatans very snug. It’s not a mirrored image on the sneakers; they merely aren’t appropriate for her toes or for anybody with wider toes (hers are medium/impartial). 

That stated, we imagine these mountaineering sandals are a boon for individuals with slender toes, as we all know it may be robust to search out sandals—or any kind of shoe for that matter—that present a safe match for slender toes. Although these didn’t match us nicely, we’ll give reward the place reward is due: the higher of those sandals is so sturdy it feels nearly like a sneaker, but permits your toes to wiggle and breathe. The within of the straps is so comfortable that, regardless of being tight on our tester, they didn’t trigger any abrasions, blisters, or scorching spots. 

They’re barely padded, which reinforces consolation. Individuals who love cushioned mountaineering sneakers will recognize the Yucatan’s midsole. It’s plusher than most (a tough, rubbery midsole is typical of mountaineering sandals), and these provide a bit extra give. Moreover, there’s an interesting contour within the footbed to forestall overpronation or over-supination and hold your heels in place.

Stability

These sandals are actually not meant for the minimalist hiker. Their chunky design gives substantial help, nevertheless it doesn’t provide a lot flexibility. Hikers, particularly, will discover (and both love or hate) the near-full-coverage higher, which options three independently adjustable Velcro straps. 

In contrast to many different mountaineering sandals, the Yucatans cowl a lot of the toes, making a safer match than minimalist choices. Whereas some hikers could desire an overlapping strap design for stability, we imagine the outside sidebar gives a locked-in really feel. 

Moreover, the padded, contoured footbeds hold your toes safe even when stepping at odd angles. Relating to the midsole, it’s plusher than many different choices however not so comfortable that it compromises stability. We discover it strikes a pleasant steadiness between shock absorption and power return.

Traction

Of the handfuls of pairs of mountaineering sandals we’ve examined, these have carried out exceptionally nicely by way of traction. Actually, it makes our tester want they match her higher as a result of the tread is simply that good. We’ve taken the Yucatans throughout a number of kinds of terrain, together with talus/boulder fields, slickrock, pine straw-covered trails, slippery silt, packed filth, and gravel. In no state of affairs has our tester felt unstable or anxious attributable to an absence of traction. 

The Yucatan is without doubt one of the only a few mountaineering sandals about which we are able to honestly say that. We have been genuinely shocked about this as a result of, upon analyzing the outsole, the lugs aren’t as deep as they’re on another choices. 

So, visually, these don’t seem like the strongest choice, they usually lack the coveted Vibram-branded outsoles present in another decisions. Nevertheless, we imagine the various tread sample and the safety of the straps, which forestall our toes from sliding round, greater than compensate for any shortcomings in that space.

Sturdiness

The construct high quality of the Ecco Yucatan is spectacular. With neoprene-lined adjustable straps, a molded EVA footbed with a microfiber lining, and leather-based parts, it’s evident that numerous thought went into the design of those mountaineering sandals. 

The parts are top quality, and that’s apparent if you unbox the Yucatans and slip them in your toes. After a number of wears in varied circumstances, we haven’t seen any indicators of damage and tear, aside from some scuffing that’s purely aesthetic. 

These additionally function a sturdy stitching sample on the straps, heel counter, and sidebar. For the reason that midsole is constituted of EVA foam, it’ll compress over time, very like trainers do. However, it is best to be capable of get a strong 500 miles, a minimum of, out of those sandals.

Weight & Packability

The Ecco Yucatan sandals are usually not packable in any mountaineering sense of the phrase. The pair weighs practically 2 kilos, and the chunky design together with the thick midsole makes them practically unimaginable—or, on the very least, extremely inconvenient—to pack into any form of mountaineering pack, whether or not for a day or an in a single day journey. 

Our tester couldn’t discover a appropriate area for them in her Osprey Skarab 30-liter day pack; not even the stuff pocket within the entrance when it was full of substances, meals, and water for a 14-miler. The sandals would have needed to go within the backside of the primary compartment, which doesn’t make sense if the concept is to have them useful for water crossings. They’d make acceptable camp sneakers, however there are extra appropriate and light-weight choices accessible. Nevertheless, when you desire a single pair of sneakers for all the expertise, together with water crossings and tenting, then the Yucatans could possibly be an excellent choice. We suggest contemplating a sneaker-like hybrid, such because the HOKA Hopara 2 or KEEN Newport H2.

Ease of Use

The Yucatans function three independently adjustable Velcro straps, making them very straightforward to placed on and take off—in case your toes are on the slender facet, in fact. With our tester’s impartial toes, she needed to wiggle round to get into them and discover a snug match.

It wasn’t the worst expertise, however we don’t suggest these for hikers with broad toes. They are going to be troublesome (or unimaginable) to placed on, they usually received’t be snug even when you handle to wedge your toes into them.

Ought to You Purchase the Ecco Yucatan Mountain climbing Sandals?

The Ecco Yucatans are a really perfect match for hikers with slender toes who search sandals that present appreciable help. They’re not appropriate for these with impartial toes, positively not for broad toes, they usually aren’t a good selection for minimalist hikers.

Whereas they are often expensive when not on sale, we imagine the Yucatans deal with a particular market hole and cater to people who usually battle to search out well-fitting, high quality mountaineering sneakers.

What Different Ladies’s Mountain climbing Sandals Ought to You Think about?

If the Ecco Yucatans don’t appear fairly best for you, think about these choices, which we expect are a number of the finest mountaineering sandals total.

Teva Hurricane XLT2 Evaluation: Equally beefy, the Teva Hurricane XLT2s are higher fitted to broad toes. So, when you love the idea of the Yucatans however know they received’t suit your toes, the XLT2s are a wonderful different. 

HOKA Hopara 2 Evaluation: Arguably extra shoe than sandal, the HOKA Hopara 2s perform like sneakers whereas offering the identical water drainage and breathability as sandals. The perforated mesh higher retains your toes contemporary and dry, and the toe bumper protects them from path particles. 

KEEN Newport H2 Evaluation: These are just like the Hopara 2s in that they supply full toe safety, wonderful traction, and ample help. Nevertheless, they’re narrower, making them a greater match for hikers with slender toes.