minimalist shoes with good traction on wet and dry rocks?

del

“I want something where I can step on a smooth river rock at an angle with all of my body weight and not slip off.
What would be some good options?”

I find this a typical and risky situation that I have repeatedly. This is where you definitely appreciate good grip OR a good first-aid kit. It is so nice to go up inclined wet smooth river rock w/o slipping.

However, I think I’m a minority here with my method as my open-toe hiking footwear is my constant river-wear footwear. Then I don’t need more items to carry. I would stay away from vibram since this hardens and becomes slippery in water or cold.

And that’s why I appreciate my Teva Terra Fis because of its excellent spyder-rubber grip in all 3-season terrain. And when it’s cold and wet, its fangs seems to dig in better. Frequently I walk through streams w/o changing socks or footwear. And it feels good… like you’re cheating; you’re disobeying your scout master that says you must always wear boots. The terra fis definitely don’t give you a barefoot feel since the sole is a little stiff and thick to absorb a lot of shock and provide a lot of cushion.

Looking at your vivobarefoot ultras, they don’t seem to have very big lugs; which always makes me wary. When my lugs wear down (to— taller than a new vivo), I replace my sandal. I also appreciate the spyder lugs in long scree fields.

I have more info about sandals (howbeit old but applicable) in my gear list.
BTW, I like the Terra Fi4 way better than the Terra Fi Lite.

May you find the perfect sole.
-Barry
-The mountains were made for Tevas

They may not be minimalist enough for you, but I've been having pretty good luck with the Patagonia Rover shoe. It's designed to be a crossover between a low drop trail running shoe and an approach shoe. Lots of reviews on them all over the interwebs.

I use them as a sorta' do anything shoe. I mountain bike in them, hike, scramble and recently, hike/boulder hop straight up and down a creek a few miles. I found them to drain well, be reasonably grippy on wet cobbles, be plenty agile and to dry fast. I think I'll pick up another pair before they completely disappear (Patagonia has discontinued its entire footwear line).

approach shoes … that all there is to it

on smooth angled rock only two things matter … surface contact area … and the stickiness of the rubber … which is why climbing shoes have smooth soles and sticky rubber

now some inov shoes at one time or another had pretty sticky rubber, notably the old terrocs … but they still had lugged soles which give up surface contact and deform on slab

of course on wet rock all bets are off … theres a reason why very few folks climb friction slab in the rain

;)

Eric, are there any minimalist approach shoes? All of the ones I've seen are stiff with thick soles.

evolve cruiser … but they are really meant as cragging slippers susbtitutes, not longer mileage hiking shoes

other than that the guide tennies are as "flat" as you generally get … note that they weight the same as terroc 330s

approach shoes are generally designed to last the rigors of boulder hopping, scree, actual climbing, etc … and they have more substantial soles so your feet dont get bruised when stepping on sharp rocks, an the uppers stiff enough for you to sidehill easily

its all a tradeoff … the closest ive come to a "minimalist" approach shoe is the old terroc 330 with the sticky rubber … but even then they didnt weigh less than the guide tennies, they just felt lighter

one thing you can try to do is some outside slab climbing focusing on maximizing the rubber surface contact …. once you get the technique dry angled rock shouldnt be a problem

remember 40-50 year ago they used to climb all those slab climbs in tennis shoes or mountain boots

;)

Re: "Traction is provided by a thick scouring pad-like sole." (Japanese shoes)
Is it possible to glue and / or tie actual scouring pads to dedicated wet-rock shoes, ususlly carried in the pack, since the pads aint gonna last long?

I’ll second the Patagonia Rover. I just got a pair and they’re my favorite shoe by far, and a big part of my criteria is grip on wet rock. They do quite well, and at a 4mm drop they qualify as a minimalist approach shoe.

Here’s Dave Chenault’s review of them.

The Evolv Cruzer would be a cheap way to try out approach shoes. They’re less than $40 on Amazon. But I don’t think the canvas uppers would be well-suited for canyons and stream crossings, they would absorb too much water and probably wouldn’t drain well. If you have small feet and don’t mind turquoise, you could get the women’s version of the Rover for the same price as the Cruzers—$38. Just order two sizes up for the men’s equivalent. Not bad for a $125 shoe.

I have the womens Patagonia Rover but haven't had a chance to use them much yet but I like the fit so far, thanks to Mitchell's Post in gear deals about a week and a half ago and the very good reviews I read I figured I would give them try and $38 is a great price, and because Patagonia is going to stop making their shoe line.

What's the fit of the patagonia rover like? I forgot to mention I have very wide feet.

They're not particularly narrow, maybe a bit on the wide side even. But you probably can't get away with the women's version—if Amazon's size drop down is correct, the women's shoes are B width vs mens in D.

Amazon has free returns on shoes, so it couldn't hurt to try.

A buddy of mine swore by Teva's Spider Rubber. He used these in the Sierras where every rock is "slick rock" on wet rocks (even slicker) and thought they were amazing. I've never used them myself.

Best recommendation I can make is the Inov-8 F-Lite 195. The rubber is sticky for a running shoe, the sole is pretty flat for good surface area contact on flat rocks, and they're a minimalist shoe.

Well, a shoe cannot be everything to everyone. I usually hike in cross country flats, which generally have crappy traction.

The best traction shoe I have ever used are Saucony Peregrine's. Not minimalist at 11 ounces each in my size and the heel-to-toe drop is 4 mm if I remember correctly.

How about a pair of water shoes such as these? Minimalist, nice looking, very grippy and drains well. Astral Brewer shoes. They are highly recommended. I am going to get a women's pair for rafting down the Colorado this fall.

http://www.astraldesigns.com/products/brewer.php

http://www.astraldesigns.com/news/astral-2/testimony/a-new-use-for-the-brewer-trail-shoes/

The Astral shoes are minimal in terms of being zero drop, but they still have a fair amount of padding and structure.

Justin, aside from the now-discontinues Rovers nothing really comes close. Some of the Inov8s (like the X Talon) have much better rubber than the Trailroc series, but none of them are anything close to wide.

De Inov-8 X-talon 212 comes in a wider fit now and the new X-talon 200 has a wider fit. How wide it is in reality, I don't know.

The x-talon has huge lugs designed for mud. The F-Lite is almost the same shoe but without the lugs. It has far superior grip on rock compared to the x-talon. I use both shoes.

I'll have to give the rovers a try.

Do shoes with "approach" rubber for scrambling also work well for slick river rocks?

Justin, Here are 3 reviews of the shoe that I posted 2 months ago, I don’t know if it will answer your questions but they might help
What Shoe Am I Looking For?

"Do shoes with "approach" rubber for scrambling also work well for slick river rocks?"

I can't speak to approach shoes generally, but the Rovers do better than anything else I've tried. Slick rocks are still slick, no matter how you slice it, but the Rovers help a lot.

I ended up getting some keen class 5 tech shoes for Christmas and they seem to fit the bill. Unfortunately now discontinued, fortunately got the right size in time. With the insoles removed they are pretty flat and minimal. Sole seems sticky. I will see how well they work. They are intended as a water shoe but should work fine for regular hiking I think, especially on granite.