Camp shoes

Hi-Tec sent me a pair of Zuuk Lite I shoes to test out recently. On my recent trip to Bollard Pass I tried them out as camp shoes and they actually held up very well.

My review as submitted to Hi-Tec is below:

When Hi-Tec sent me a pair of Zuuk Lite I shoes to try out, I wondered how an avid hiker used to testing gear designed to withstand rather harsh conditions, would do testing a product designed for city life.

In the end I decided to test this product in the usual way, by using it. I decided to give it a few weeks before writing my review, that way I could come to a meaningful conclusion.

My first observation was this - these shoes weigh nothing. I haven't put them on a scale, but they can't be much heavier than a pair of socks. No exaggeration!

My second observation was that they are very easy to put on, and are rather comfortable. I am not generally a fan of bungee shoelaces, but they are practical and work well with the general look of the shoe.

My third observation was less pleasant though, well at first anyway. The curved under-sole was a bit of a nuisance to me. When i first tried them on I kept slipping and tripping. For those who are more precise at walking around normal terrain (i.e. roads, floors etc) this won't prove a problem, but for the more clumsy individuals such as myself, this can be a problem. This made me rather negative about the shoes at first, but in the interests of giving them a proper go, I took them to the mountains for use as a camp shoe a few weeks ago - and the results surprised me!

A good camp shoes is light weight and easy to put on - these boxes were both ticked by the shoe, so I thought they may work in this role. As it turns out, I was correct - but not only for the reasons I suspected. The curved sole actually works really nicely on the typical ground found in the great outdoors. The curve between grass tufts, rocks etc cause the shoe to have more of the shoe surface in contact with the ground, making them surprisingly stable on rough terrain. That trip was most certainly not the last time these shoes will be used in the mountains!

Don't get me wrong - these aren't hiking boots, but they were never designed to be. I could definitely see myself taking a pair of Hi-Tec Zuuk Lite I shoes on a trip to the Kruger, sitting around the fire on a cold winters night drinking some hot chocolate!