Summary: The Salomon Tech Amphibian Pro shoe clearly dries the fastest of all the shoes tested. It also drains well in the upright position. The Timberland Delerion dries fastest of all the shoes not specifically designed for water travel. The Inov8 Flyroc dries much faster than my other trail running shoes and is surprizingly close to the Delerion even though it doesn't look like it will dry fast.

I should also make it clear that the Delerion shoe I'm testing is called "Delerion Pro Low Grey w/Orange" on the Timberland web site. The same shoe that was covered in the article posted on this web site.

Below is the data.

Added % weight after five hour air dry
Salomon TechAmp Pro 17%
Timberland Delerion 24%
Inov8 Flyroc 28%
Salomon XA Comp 35%
Northface Ultra 102 35%

Added % weight after 15 hour air dry
Salomon TechAmp Pro 8%
Timberland Delerion 15%
Inov8 Flyroc 17%
Salomon XA Comp 25%
Northface Ultra 102 19% (I think I may have written this weight down wrong.)

Added % weight after 20 hour air dry
Salomon TechAmp Pro 5%
Timberland Delerion 12%
Inov8 Flyroc 13%
Salomon XA Comp 21%
Northface Ultra 102 19%

Our house has an evaporative cooler. I moved them outside to dry faster. They were in a shaded area.

Added % weight after 24 hour air dry
Salomon TechAmp Pro 2%
Timberland Delerion 5%
Inov8 Flyroc 4%
Salomon XA Comp 13%
Northface Ultra 102 9%

Interesting results Craig
Also interesting would be in vivo tests, where with the same socks used, you wore the shoes, totally immersed them and your feet in water and did the same 1 mile walk for each pair. You could then compare the weight of the shoes at the end of the walk to their dry weight prior to the walk....I suggest this to see what active dispersment of the water from the shoe is encouraged by the actual shoe design.

Excellent idea Andrew. This will take a little more time to complete but I will try to complete it this week.

I hiked a Colorado 14er (Mt Sneffels) today with the Flyroc's. They were very good. The only disadvantage was the lack of a gaiter to keep the scree out of my shoes a little better. I felt the flexibility and the grip/tread of this shoe was a big plus.

I used the Delerions on some day hikes earlier in the week. They worked out well.

Another test I'm considering is walking through "cheat grass" about the same one mile for each shoe and see how many of the "stickers" are in my shoes.

If others have ideas for tests, let me know.

I just received my Timberlands, and will test them out on the next rainy day on the mountain where I work as a park ranger. During a thunderstorm a month ago i used water shoes and appreciated the quick dry properties- was able to put my socks on after the shoes dried for about an hour. The only problem with a lot of the quick dry sandal type shoes I've found is that they don't seem to have the best traction on wet rock. I'd be curious about the experiences of others in these situations. It's ironic but a lot of manufacturers of shoes with XCR in them have souls that aren't that great in the wet.

Craig, Andrew, great data and ideas.

The BPL review staff has been conducting similar tests on trail runners since we got back from OR. Basically, hiking in wet shoes and noting the dry time. Look forward to comparing results and can't wait to see your data. It certainly gets at the heart of making decisions on trail runners for me.

The Delerion shoe performed even better than the TechAmphibian Pro water shoe and better than any other shoe tested.

Timberland Delerion 14.6% Weight Gain
Salomon TechAmphibian Pro 15.6% Weight Gain
Inov8 Flyroc 18.7% Weight Gain
North Face Ultra 102 23.5% Weight Gain

Conditions:
Temp 70 degrees F
Humidity 20%
Wind 4 MPH
Partly Cloudy
Smartwool RBX Ultra Light Socks
1 minute submersion with shoes on feet
Kept pant legs dry (so they wouldn't drip on shoes)
About 10 minute walk (no running) for each pair. 2/3 mile according to GPS
Walked on sidewalks so shoes wouldn't have dirt cling to them and interfere with measurements

Thank you and well done Craig, your results posted in less than the week you thought it would take!!
I'm keen to purchase the Delerion Low Pros
One question you could answer for me please. The Tevas have a very open mesh upper. In SW Tasmania where my next walk is planned it is very very muddy. An open mesh as per the Tevas would allow the ingress of this fine mud. The Timberland Delerions are not available in Australia..so I cannot view them prior to purchase... will their upper inhibit or stop the inflow of fine mud or are they an open mesh like the Tevas?
Again many thanks for your test results..greatly appreciated.

Andrew, on Monday I hiked about 17 miles with the Delerions with a full backpack (About 20 lbs, desert hiking, refilled water with purifier but carrying about 1 gal at start because of dry conditions). About 12 miles of this hike was off trail. The remaining five on abandoned jeep roads and a short section of trail.

The TechAmphibian Pros have a mesh that let in lots of dirt. Even my North Face Ultra 102s under similar conditions, my feet would have looked pretty dirty after so much hiking without a trail. With the Delerions and the gaiters that come with them my feet were much cleaner! My feet also keep much drier than with other shoes, like the North Face Ultra.

There is a mesh on the Delerion but the "holes" are so fine that I didn't pick up any cheat grass in these panels. I was shocked. It normally clings to and penetrates the various lightweight shoes I use with ease.

Tomorrow I'll be going on an 11 mile hike in the desert near here. I will collect dirt, sand, and the bentonite clay that is common in the desert in this area. I will then experiment with trying to push these substances through the Delerion wall, using dry and wet soil. It probably won't be the same as the test you would like, but it should be informative.

Another comment: After returning from the 17 mile hike I normally take my trail running shoes off in the bathtub, dump out the sand and dirt, and knock the shoes against the side of the bathtub to "clean" them. The Delerion's left almost nothing in the bathtub. The North Face Ultras practically creates a sand/dust pile in my bathtub.

There is no doubt that at least for me, the Timberland Delerion, is now my favorite shoe for the broadest variety of trail conditions.

I'll report back on the mud, dirt, sand, test on the shoe wall within a week if at all possible.

Craig

By the way, I decided it was important to do the water test reported above on the same day and at the same time as far as possible so the same humidty, temperature, etc would be used.

I used the Delerions first, Inov8 next, TechAmphibians third, and North Face Ultra last. The temperatures would have warmed during this time period and therefore if any shoe was at a disadvantage, the Delerions were tested at the lowest temperature - they did not have an advantage.

I haven't been able to do the mud/dirt/sand test yet because I've been too busy hiking and didn't want to mess up the shoes I was wearing.

I used the Timberland Delerion's on many hikes recently. I have two negatives to report. First, I've used the gaiters on all hikes. One of the gaiters is already becoming unstitched from the bar that connects it to the shoe. I've hiked about 57 miles in them recently and less than 100 miles since buying them.

The bar that holds the gaiter on stiffens the shoe and despite saying that this didn't bother me, after hiking day after day with these shoes, it definitely does bother my right ankle area. In fact my foot bothered me enough that I just returned from an overnight Colorado river canoeing/hiking trip that they would have been perfect for. Since weight wasn't an issue, I chose to take the Tech Amphibian Pros and Inov8 Flyrocs rather than just one pair of Delerions.

Sorry about the slow test results. I've been too busy with trips.

I collected three samples of dust/sand from three widely different areas in the Black Ridge Wilderness near where I live.

I pushed and rubbed with my thumb on the outside of the shoe each of the dry samples. An extremely fine dust came through the shoe side where the mesh is open. Not much came through though. In contrast, the dirt just poors through something like the Tech Amphibian shoes.

Next I mixed a sample with water and rubbed it again. I was able to get a small amount of fine mud through the shoe with substanstial rubbing.

Overall, the Delerion held up very well to this test. The mesh in the Delerion is very fine, but not fine enough to stop all penetration when I rubbed the fine dirt/sand into the shoe side.

Craig

Edited by craig_shelley on 09/29/2005 10:29:00 MDT.

I saw a good sale on Teva X-1s and couldn't resist. They are exceptionally light as the table below shows. As stated before, the weights are for a pair. All sizes are for a men's shoe. If readers are interested, I will do some of the tests previously performed and post them here.

580g Teva X-1 10.5

661g Salomon Pro TechAmphibian 10.5
745g Inov8 Flyroc 10.5
760g Timberland Delerion Size 10.5
766g Salomon XA Comp Size 11
802g North Face Ultra 102 Size 11
884g Salomon XA Comp XCR Size 11

Hi Craig
Firsly how many treking shoes do you have? Looking for interest in the Teva x-1, an excuse to buy another set?
I received my Delerion Low Pro's last week,via gentleman Ron at www.mountainlaurel.com because Timberland, and Zappos, and other US outlets wouldn't ship them internationally and because Timberland's Australian distributor decided to only import the GTX lined variety. Thanks to Ron at Mountain Laurel.
I purchased them with a view to using them on my upcoming Xmas 2005 trek in SW Tasmania (Australia) on the Port Davey and South Coast tracks...140km of well defined track but many creek crossings and heaps of mud...knee deep for me as I'm tall...thigh deep for others. The ethic here is that you must stay on the track and not deviate to it's edges causing the bog/mud holes to become wider & wider & wider..otherwise it keeps going wider & wider & wider.....
My current shoe is the Merrel Mesa Ventilator 11...much heavier than the Delerion.
Am time poor at present will get back with my thughts/experiences's on the low pro within the next week

I have too many shoes. The ones I've listed the weight for are mainly the shoes I've used over the past year. However, shoes are a key component of hiking gear and I can afford to try different stuff.

There was a separate posting on the X-1. This is my response to it.

I'm going to use the Teva X-1s this week on short hikes and maybe an overnight backpack.

The Flyrocs and Delerions flex very well. X-1s are very stiff, much like the Salomon TechAmp Pros. Also, the Flyrocs have a very agressive tread compared with the X-1s. Without doing anything more than examining the X-1s, I believe they are strong competition to the TechAmp Pros and I would choose the Flyrocs over the X-1s for most hikes/backpacks. If you can purchase just one pair for the broadest range of conditions, the Flyrocs are definitely my choice right now.

Edited by craig_shelley on 10/17/2005 07:58:36 MDT.

I have found a great place to pick up Inov8 shoes. It is Running warehouse, near San Luis Obispo, Ca. I live in the area, and use their sister store tennis warehouse.

http://www.runningwarehouse.com/descpageMRS-I8FROCS.html

they are listed at $79.95... seems to be a great price.

Z.