Girls’s Ecco Yucatan Mountaineering Sandal Evaluate

Backside Line

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

If you happen to’re a hiker with slim toes struggling to search out sandals that aren’t heavy and awkward like wood moccasins (we all know you’re on the market), the Yucatans could also be an excellent choice for you. Whereas they are often costly when not on sale, they’re well worth the funding for the precise foot. Moreover being a superb match for slim toes, additionally they supply 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 now have 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, sporting them on numerous quick hikes and round camps from Willamette Nationwide Forest, Oregon, to Los Padres Nationwide Forest, California. These sandals match fairly slim, so our tester was restricted in how lengthy she might put on them on her neutral-width toes. Nonetheless, we have been nonetheless in a position to assess their efficiency on various kinds of terrain and in numerous path conditions.

Consolation

The Ecco Yucatan is good for hikers with slim 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 footwear; they merely aren’t appropriate for her toes or for anybody with wider toes (hers are medium/impartial). 

That mentioned, we imagine these mountaineering sandals are a boon for folks with slim toes, as we all know it may be robust to search out sandals—or any sort of shoe for that matter—that present a safe match for slender toes. Although these didn’t match us effectively, we are going to give reward the place reward is due: the higher of those sandals is so strong it feels virtually like a sneaker, but permits your toes to wiggle and breathe. The within of the straps is so mushy that, regardless of being tight on our tester, they didn’t trigger any abrasions, blisters, or sizzling spots. 

They’re barely padded, which reinforces consolation. Individuals who love cushioned mountaineering footwear will admire the Yucatan’s midsole. It’s plusher than most (a tough, rubbery midsole is typical of mountaineering sandals), and these supply a bit extra give. Moreover, there’s an interesting contour within the footbed to stop 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, however it doesn’t supply 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 might want 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 mushy that it compromises stability. We discover it strikes a pleasant stability between shock absorption and power return.

Traction

Of the handfuls of pairs of mountaineering sandals we’ve examined, these have carried out exceptionally effectively by way of traction. Truthfully, 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 sorts of terrain, together with talus/boulder fields, slickrock, pine straw-covered trails, slippery silt, packed dust, and gravel. In no situation 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 will honestly say that. We have been genuinely stunned about this as a result of, upon inspecting 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. Nonetheless, 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 a variety of thought went into the design of those mountaineering sandals. 

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

These additionally characteristic a sturdy stitching sample on the straps, heel counter, and sidebar. Because the midsole is made out of EVA foam, it would compress over time, very similar to trainers do. However, you need to be capable of get a stable 500 miles, at the very least, out of those sandals.

Weight & Packability

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

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

Ease of Use

The Yucatans characteristic three independently adjustable Velcro straps, making them very simple to placed on and take off—in case your toes are on the slim facet, after all. 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 advocate these for hikers with large toes. They are going to be tough (or inconceivable) to placed on, they usually gained’t be snug even for those who handle to wedge your toes into them.

Ought to You Purchase the Ecco Yucatan Mountaineering Sandals?

The Ecco Yucatans are a super match for hikers with slim toes who search sandals that present appreciable help. They’re not appropriate for these with impartial toes, undoubtedly not for large toes, they usually aren’t a sensible choice for minimalist hikers.

Whereas they are often dear when not on sale, we imagine the Yucatans tackle a selected market hole and cater to people who typically wrestle to search out well-fitting, high quality mountaineering footwear.

What Different Girls’s Mountaineering Sandals Ought to You Take into account?

If the Ecco Yucatans don’t appear fairly best for you, take into account these choices, which we predict are a number of the greatest mountaineering sandals general.

Teva Hurricane XLT2 Evaluate: Equally beefy, the Teva Hurricane XLT2s are higher fitted to large toes. So, for those who love the idea of the Yucatans however know they gained’t suit your toes, the XLT2s are a superb various. 

HOKA Hopara 2 Evaluate: Arguably extra shoe than sandal, the HOKA Hopara 2s operate 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 Evaluate: These are just like the Hopara 2s in that they supply full toe safety, glorious traction, and ample help. Nonetheless, they’re narrower, making them a greater match for hikers with slender toes.