La Sportiva B5 Approach Shoes - Leather (For Men)

After some internet research, I chose La Sportiva because I have narrow AA feet. These shoes fit perfectly right away, this has never happened!!!!

I bought these to replace a pair of LaSportiva Boulders from many years back. As with most climbing / bouldering shoes, they are meant to fit snug so I ordered a full size up for a bit more comfort. These have been great for hiking with the dogs and as a general all around shoe. I liked them enough that I ordered a 2nd pair.

I took these with me to the Cordilerra Central in the Dominican Republic. I originally bought them intending to use them for approach and scrambling up fourteener's, but I decided to use them for ecology field work instead. They are incredibly durable and lasted for the duration of the two month trip, of which, consisted of repetitive abuse: bushwacking dense thorny cloud forest's, hiking steep muddy or loose rocky trails and hiking off trail on steep alpine terrain (yes there are pine forests in the Dominican Republic). The shoes lasted through brutal abuse; they had to be dried by campfire most nights and withstood hiking an average of ten miles a day through drenching rain much of the time. They have excellent traction even when wet and muddy. Although I had problems with the toe box collapsing on the right shoe I remedied that by re-lacing and skipping the culprit eyelet. The soles finally started to separate the last few weeks from being too close to the fire several times but some lucky Dominican guide with a size 11.5 foot will still get years of use out of them. I would buy another pair if Sierra had my size. I can only imagine how they would perform for their intended use. Although, they did work quite well for scrambling up steep slippery boulders. Another excellent product La Sportiva! Much more than I could say for the Cirque Pro's..

These are very good shoes and I replaced my heavier La Sportiva hiking boots and now I'm flying up the hills.

Given that they are La Sportiva I assumed a certain level of quality and I was sadly disappointed. Almost immediately after purchase, the soles started to fall apart. I glued them back together and maybe two weeks later, the heal cup wore out and the lining ripped away causing wicked blisters. This happened 2x proving that it was not by chance.