Vivo forest tracker esc durability

[PistolPete]

Just got caught up here and love the idea of these boots. I wear a lot of minimalist shoes and the only problem I have is the bottoms of my feet getting bruised/sore especially on gravel, and lacking bite when hiking on steep slopes in wet leaves (probably just a problem in the East). How do these Vivos handle those concerns?

Thanks.

 

[fwafwow]

Just a reminder to not make the mistake I’ve made - twice now - of not paying extra for expedited shipping for Vivos. My most recent pair was ordered 8/8. I’m still waiting.

 

[HighUintas]

Just got caught up here and love the idea of these boots. I wear a lot of minimalist shoes and the only problem I have is the bottoms of my feet getting bruised/sore especially on gravel, and lacking bite when hiking on steep slopes in wet leaves (probably just a problem in the East). How do these Vivos handle those concerns?

Thanks.

The only time I get poked badly by a sharp rock is if it hits my heel in just the right spot. But it doesn't happen often and it's a minor nuisance.

Traction is pretty good. Not the best there is, but sufficient.

 

[SouthPaw]

How often is everyone conditioning their ESCs?

What is the consensus on cold weather / snow use ie November late hunts, mix of hiking/glassing? Thicker socks and roll, or are folks using a different boot altogether like the Tracker Winter SG?

 

[Formidilosus]

How often is everyone conditioning their ESCs?

What is the consensus on cold weather / snow use ie November late hunts, mix of hiking/glassing? Thicker socks and roll, or are folks using a different boot altogether like the Tracker Winter SG?

When they are constantly getting wet from snow, you can tell when the conditioner is getting thin and needs redone- sometimes once a week.

I have been using the ESC’s for winter. The Winter SG looks decent, however I don’t want a membrane, and a removable felt liner would be fantastic.

 

[ThunderJack49]

Picked up a pair of these about two weeks ago. Love the design and comfort of the boot. I regularly deal with heights at work and have to walk on the tops of walls and roofs, these boots with their flat sole and wide toe box give me a ton of balance. I believe the flat sole also helps with that tight lower back feeling a lot of guys know from working all day.
The weight is also fantastic.
I have been most impressed by the grip of the tread. I found it to be suprisingly noticeable how well the tread digs into the ground.
The bottom ankle rivets broke on my very first time lacing them up. I have chosen to just do without based on how comfortable I am wearing these.
In warm weather I see no issues just getting wet feet and letting them dry but I will be conditioning this pair for the winter when there is snow on the ground.
I plan on using them for hunting and building houses, so durability will be put to the test this winter.

 

[Dobermann]

How often is everyone conditioning their ESCs?

What is the consensus on cold weather / snow use ie November late hunts, mix of hiking/glassing? Thicker socks and roll, or are folks using a different boot altogether like the Tracker Winter SG?

Similar to what Form said ... I'm mainly day hiking at the moment, and find they need treatment after any single day that is high in rain - or mud, which has been more common here, and is abrasive.

 

[HighUintas]

How often is everyone conditioning their ESCs?

What is the consensus on cold weather / snow use ie November late hunts, mix of hiking/glassing? Thicker socks and roll, or are folks using a different boot altogether like the Tracker Winter SG?

When they are constantly getting wet from snow, you can tell when the conditioner is getting thin and needs redone- sometimes once a week.

I have been using the ESC’s for winter. The Winter SG looks decent, however I don’t want a membrane, and a removable felt liner would be fantastic.

I had mine out on an 8 day hunt this past week. It was a mix of dry ground, stream crossing, old crusty and slushy snow, then the weather turned to about 8" wet snow over 2 days. Before the weather turned, it was sunny with highs of 55ish and lows of 25ish. Overnight lows were 15-20. The last day, it warmed and all the snow became very wet.

I put a single heavy treatment of the renapur balsam on right before. It seemed to be gone by the time I got 10 miles in on day 1.

The dampness seemed manageable while the weather was good. I'd get my socks dry at night while sleeping in my bag, and the boots seemed to dry a tad at night but not much.

After the weather turned, the only way to keep my feet from freezing was to change my socks every day and keep moving instead of stay stationary. The boots were saturated and my socks were too wet to get dry at night while sleeping.

Also, the glue sealing the outsole/rand to the leather has released in various spots, which allows immediate water intrusion when crossing streams or walking through 2" puddles. This is where I found my feet were getting the most wet. They were generally dry on the top of my socks, but the bottoms were saturated. This is after only 150 miles at most. I think this is likely a quality issue that I'll be contacting them about.

I wouldn't recommend them for those types of conditions unless you have a way to dry them and your socks every day.

 

[HighUintas]

I had mine out on an 8 day hunt this past week. It was a mix of dry ground, stream crossing, old crusty and slushy snow, then the weather turned to about 8" wet snow over 2 days. Before the weather turned, it was sunny with highs of 55ish and lows of 25ish. Overnight lows were 15-20. The last day, it warmed and all the snow became very wet.

I put a single heavy treatment of the renapur balsam on right before. It seemed to be gone by the time I got 10 miles in on day 1.

The dampness seemed manageable while the weather was good. I'd get my socks dry at night while sleeping in my bag, and the boots seemed to dry a tad at night but not much.

After the weather turned, the only way to keep my feet from freezing was to change my socks every day and keep moving instead of stay stationary. The boots were saturated and my socks were too wet to get dry at night while sleeping.

Also, the glue sealing the outsole/rand to the leather has released in various spots, which allows immediate water intrusion when crossing streams or walking through 2" puddles. This is where I found my feet were getting the most wet. They were generally dry on the top of my socks, but the bottoms were saturated. This is after only 150 miles at most. I think this is likely a quality issue that I'll be contacting them about.

I wouldn't recommend them for those types of conditions unless you have a way to dry them and your socks every day.

Adding pictures to show the outsole glue separation. It's in the same spots on both boots, except the right one also has it happening near the heal on the outstep. It's pretty bad for <150 miles. I've got probably 500+ on my scarpas with zero rand/glue separation and I've used obernaufs on those repeatedly, which purportedly will do just that.

 

[Dobermann]

Also, the glue sealing the outsole/rand to the leather has released in various spots, which allows immediate water intrusion when crossing streams or walking through 2" puddles. This is where I found my feet were getting the most wet. They were generally dry on the top of my socks, but the bottoms were saturated. This is after only 150 miles at most. I think this is likely a quality issue that I'll be contacting them about.

Yep, I've had the same - more with the standard Trackers than the Tracker ESC model, though.

I think the more of us that let them know it's an issue - but that they're possibly the best 'barefoot'/low-drop hiking boot out there and we want them to continue it - the better.

 

[HighUintas]

Yep, I've had the same - more with the standard Trackers than the Tracker ESC model, though.

I think the more of us that let them know it's an issue - but that they're possibly the best 'barefoot'/low-drop hiking boot out there and we want them to continue it - the better.

I agree. I friggin love the boot. And with that separation issue fixed, I think it would be much much more resistant to water ingress. If they fixed that issue, I'd be requesting they make a 12" high boot with felt liner as Form suggested.

 

[Brontosaurus]

I agree. I friggin love the boot. And with that separation issue fixed, I think it would be much much more resistant to water ingress. If they fixed that issue, I'd be requesting they make a 12" high boot with felt liner as Form suggested.

I've also requested this. That boot would rule!

 

[SouthPaw]

I had mine out on an 8 day hunt this past week. It was a mix of dry ground, stream crossing, old crusty and slushy snow, then the weather turned to about 8" wet snow over 2 days. Before the weather turned, it was sunny with highs of 55ish and lows of 25ish. Overnight lows were 15-20. The last day, it warmed and all the snow became very wet.

I put a single heavy treatment of the renapur balsam on right before. It seemed to be gone by the time I got 10 miles in on day 1.

The dampness seemed manageable while the weather was good. I'd get my socks dry at night while sleeping in my bag, and the boots seemed to dry a tad at night but not much.

After the weather turned, the only way to keep my feet from freezing was to change my socks every day and keep moving instead of stay stationary. The boots were saturated and my socks were too wet to get dry at night while sleeping.

Also, the glue sealing the outsole/rand to the leather has released in various spots, which allows immediate water intrusion when crossing streams or walking through 2" puddles. This is where I found my feet were getting the most wet. They were generally dry on the top of my socks, but the bottoms were saturated. This is after only 150 miles at most. I think this is likely a quality issue that I'll be contacting them about.

I wouldn't recommend them for those types of conditions unless you have a way to dry them and your socks every day.

Thank you. Similar experience for me in wet conditions thus far, though I will be better about applying the conditioner more often.

I'm still tempted to try the Winter SG for late season because my feet get cold fast when at all stationary and the liner would be helpful in wet conditions, but I know my feet will sweat with the insulation while hiking. I too wish it was removable. There just doesn't seem to be a perfect answer, yet.

 

[HighUintas]

I got sick of the toes always looking "scuffed" and worried about wearing the leather out too fast on the toes.
So I decided to use the brown KG bootguard a couple months ago and put a layer around the toe and bottom edge, similar to a rand on other boots.
It's just as flexible and works awesome. It's like a bedliner material layer on them now. Been much better since I've done that.
I was treating fairly regularly this spring with obenaufs, but haven't treated them since I put the kgs boot guard on.
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How has this held up for you? I'm considering doing the same to mine. I've contacted their customer service about the rand separation issue (see post #329) and their customer service sucks from what I've experienced.

@Dobermann , did you ever contact their customer service on the rand separation issue for your trackers or tracker ESCs?

 

[fwafwow]

How has this held up for you? I'm considering doing the same to mine. I've contacted their customer service about the rand separation issue (see post #329) and their customer service sucks from what I've experienced.

@Dobermann , did you ever contact their customer service on the rand separation issue for your trackers or tracker ESCs?

+1 for the CS sucking, at least the front line CS. I've received replies (for other issues) that were non-sensical (I figured it was a bot), and then most recently when my order was lost, I was sent a discount code that could not be used and my new order would have cost more than what I paid for the shoes that were never delivered. However, once I complained about the quality of the CS, I was then contacted by someone who was much more empathetic, and logical. So if you get any pushback or lack of a response, you may want to be a bit more squeaky.

 

[sneek-ee]

How has this held up for you? I'm considering doing the same to mine. I've contacted their customer service about the rand separation issue (see post #329) and their customer service sucks from what I've experienced.

@Dobermann , did you ever contact their customer service on the rand separation issue for your trackers or tracker ESCs?

Here's some pics after some of the fall hunts so far to show condition of treatment.
This was applied in spring, after i got sick of how they were wearing after last year and wanted more "protection".

So throw in some summer scouting. Wyoming deer 1 week. Horse rides mixed in. Utah at least 3-4 weeks of hunting and 1 week in Idaho. Plenty of abuse, let's just say that.

Toes great, 100% good and same. Super pleased. Where the toes crease is where it is cracking and peeling in spots. Still holding and not turning into a mess, just can see it and notice it.

Shoes did fine this weekend crossing a creek, no wet inside of feet. Hiked in snow 2 weekends in a row now and feet were dry.
I have a newer pair and I think I'll just use them without putting on any boot protector layer like these til they look like hell and leak, then I'll do the same again and seal them with something like these ones.

Tread is still there and in decent shape. Surprised the soles have held up now as long as they have with the use.

 

[HighUintas]

Here's some pics after some of the fall hunts so far to show condition of treatment.
This was applied in spring, after i got sick of how they were wearing after last year and wanted more "protection".

So throw in some summer scouting. Wyoming deer 1 week. Horse rides mixed in. Utah at least 3-4 weeks of hunting and 1 week in Idaho. Plenty of abuse, let's just say that.

Toes great, 100% good and same. Super pleased. Where the toes crease is where it is cracking and peeling in spots. Still holding and not turning into a mess, just can see it and notice it.

Shoes did fine this weekend crossing a creek, no wet inside of feet. Hiked in snow 2 weekends in a row now and feet were dry.
I have a newer pair and I think I'll just use them without putting on any boot protector layer like these til they look like hell and leak, then I'll do the same again and seal them with something like these ones.

Tread is still there and in decent shape. Surprised the soles have held up now as long as they have with the use.
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Thanks for the update. I'm considering putting a thin strip around the bottom of the leather to reseal the outsole and stitching. I'll see how they do the rest of this winter first

 

[Seeknelk]

Man! Not sure how you guys do it! I have a pair and I like them and still need to train to get my feet conditioned to handle long days with zero drop. Been wearing altras and Lems mostly for the last 2+ years at work as a plumber.
But the back of my heel is way too sore after one long day with these. They fit and are very comfortable.
On a morning where the brush and grass was somewhat wet from rain during the night, it took maybe an hour on a slightly grassy gated road to have SOAKED feet. And yes, I'm wearing gaiters.
That was after treatment with Montana pitch blend. Next , I'll try snow seal. I'm aware that damp feet will be a thing with these especially in wet grass and brush but I could almost feel it flowing thru the boot. I'll definitely be wearing my Crispis in wet snow or rain from now on. I really can't imagine keeping feet warm when I stop to glass and have wet feet in our normal November weather.

 

[HighUintas]

Man! Not sure how you guys do it! I have a pair and I like them and still need to train to get my feet conditioned to handle long days with zero drop. Been wearing altras and Lems mostly for the last 2+ years at work as a plumber.
But the back of my heel is way too sore after one long day with these. They fit and are very comfortable.
On a morning where the brush and grass was somewhat wet from rain during the night, it took maybe an hour on a slightly grassy gated road to have SOAKED feet. And yes, I'm wearing gaiters.
That was after treatment with Montana pitch blend. Next , I'll try snow seal. I'm aware that damp feet will be a thing with these especially in wet grass and brush but I could almost feel it flowing thru the boot. I'll definitely be wearing my Crispis in wet snow or rain from now on. I really can't imagine keeping feet warm when I stop to glass and have wet feet in our normal November weather.

I think they do well in brief water, like crossings or maybe 15 minutes of wet grass, and dry snow, but water gets in pretty quickly when it's constant exposure.

For shoulder season cold/wet, I will probably go to a lined boot unless I get a hot tent setup.

 

[Dobermann]

@Dobermann , did you ever contact their customer service on the rand separation issue for your trackers or tracker ESCs?

Unfortunately not. Mine separated (on Trackers, not ESCs) after perhaps two months of daily wear, but work has been intense since then and I just haven't made the time. Will consider doing so now, though, even if they don't remedy it, so they have a log.

My real long-term concern is that if they run into issues with the ESCs then they might do something stupid and discontinue them ... best boots I've ever worn.