Altra Lone Peak 8, Altra Olympus 5, Salomon Ultra 04 Winter :The Backpacking Shoes Im Trying in 2024

Howdy Folks! Welcome Back To The Channel.
In This Weeks Video We Are talking about Backpacking Shoes Im Trying For 2024.
For The Last Year ( 2023 ) Ive Been Rocking Salomon Ultra 04 Mid GTX, And Honestly They Performed Great For This Newbie.
This Year Im Looking To Stay A little Cooler And Nimble In The Altra Olympus 5, The Altra Lone Peak 8 And This Winter The Ultra 04 Mid Winter.
Quick Overview Of All The New Wear.
Thanks For Checking It Out! Hope You Enjoy
#backpacking
#salomon
#Altra

[@Wordsalreadywritten]

This is a great video man. I like your set up and the aesthetics of the video. Keep trucking

[@zacmagers]

Hey there, much appreciated! Thanks for checking out the vid :) Cheers

[@ipedros7]

3M Thinsulate, is from the company 3M. It has been a 'thing' for years and years, at least 30 or 40 years. Its a man made insulation used mainly for budget gloves, hats, puffy jackets. I say budget as the thing must be quite cheap to produce. Its always been excellent value as its very effective in retaining heat and dries quite fast. It isn't that compressible in reality (compared to down), but thinner than if you'd wear jumpers! hence the name. Always have one in my car as spare. 3M is the company behind the 3M sticky notes between many other things.

[@jasongergal9215]

I’m using the Topo Traverses. They’re a great shoe so far. Wide toe box. Vibram soles. Love them

[@zacmagers]

Howdy Jason! I see a lot of folks fed up with Altra lately and switching to Topo. Was 50/50 on getting a pair of them in this line up for comparison…maybe next year. Glad they are working out for you tho! Those vibram outsoles just make a big difference. Thanks for checking out the vid:)

[@phipear]

On your Thinsulate question, there's a ton of different brands using it as synthetic insulation in winter gear, kinda similar to primaloft. Thinsulate seems to work better as insulation in areas that are likely to be compressed during use, where down or prima would be useless as it relies on open air and loft. Living in the upper midwest, it's a pretty recognizeable brand when it comes to winter gear, especially in gloves. Now I live within 20 miles of 3M's headquarters, and I'm not a fan at all of the companies ethics and environmental issues (look up Tartan Highschool cancer,) but they do make a lot of chemical products that people rely on

[@myersa31]

I got 500 miles out of my Olympus 5s. I have more mild terrain in Michigan with packed dirt single track, rocks and roots. Im happy to report that I had no peeling of the outsole but I did suffer from some tearing on the upper at crease areas. Overall, great shoe for me and would highly recommend.

[@zacmagers]

Howdy Andy! Well, this is good news being that’s the model I invested more into… Very glad yours have worked out for you. 500 miles is a more than solid usage and I’m happy you haven’t had major issues. The creases failing in the upper…I mean it’s pretty thin mesh material so not shocking. I have high hopes for the Olympus! Thanks for checking out the vid and providing encouragement for my 2024 test:)

[@Pavsaund]

I had a pair that didn't last more than 135 km's, where the issue with the lugs coming off occurred. The current pair I have is creeping up to around 580km's (a bit shy of 400 miles) and still going strong. They've been on all kinds of terrain, and have held up really well. I'm really looking forward to te Olympus 6 where they've supposedly made major durability improvements and should have a ride more akin to the Olympus 4's.

[@myersa31]

@@PavsaundI’m on my second pair with 70 miles on them now (back to back 50k’s plus a few bonus miles) and they’re starting strong. I got into Altra’s just last year, so missed the Olympus 4. How does that ride differ from the 5’s? I also heard they’d be going back to something more similar to the 4.

[@Pavsaund]

@@myersa31 It's been a while, but I seem to remember the O4's feeling a lot better underfoot with even more responsiveness, where the O5s midsole kind of feel dead. I'm no shoe reviewer, as you can tell 🤣. I'm planning on getting a pair of Timp 5's for a 50 miler I have coming up. Will see how they run over the next weeks and either use them or find a pair of O5s on sale

[@rossnairn6488]

I have just completed my 2nd Camino (in Spain and Portugal) and have about 300 miles in my Altra Olympus 5's. I can see very little wear so recommend them. I would not wear them in an extreme rocky environment though

[@zacmagers]

Howdy there! Well thats a good chunk of miles, Im happy to hear these are working out for you! Being super new to backpacking, Im not experienced enough to have a well thought out and tested set of gear per the conditions Im heading in, but one thing is pretty clear, Im going to beat the hell out of these if I keep using them on some of my frequented trails local in LA. I wish I could fins something lite, vibram sole, non gortex for use in my favorite spots with scree, wet rock, scrambling, and regular trial...the holy grail for me. Otherwise these are just short lived expensive experiments. Open to suggestions! Thanks for checking out the vid :)

[@fecardona]

Hi there. Just finished the camino frances 2 weeks ago, I used a NB more v3 trail but I saw a lot of Olympus 5 being worn by pilgrims. It is a good choice for the type of terrain of the Camino, very few difficult rocky areas.

[@zacmagers]

Howdy there ! That’s very interesting, seems like a popular shoe there. Hope you had a great time on Camino ! This feed back kind of solidifies that these shoes will be just fine and better used for more continuous flat trail conditions or pavement. Although I did notice these shoes seem to run about a half size smaller tho…

[@fecardona]

@@zacmagers Howdy! Yes I believe you’re right on the sizing. Precisely at Santiago de Compostela, there’s a good hikers store where I decided to try on the shoe. The sales rep + my trying it confirmed it does run snug, thus recommending me to go half a size up. The reason seems to be the padding on the heel, which hugs that part of the foot well enough so that the front displaces a bit forward (this happened to me in similar ergonomics in running shoes like the Asics Nimbus 25 and Saucony Triumph 20, where they have heftier heel support). Since it’s not easy to find stores that carry Altra’s, after that try-on I decided to purchase them since they’re on good sales because of the upcoming release of version 6.

[@GarryCollins-ec8yo]

Thinsulate is also used in some jackets. I've given up on Altra. I've become a fan of Hoka.

[@zacmagers]

Hey Garry! Hope all has been well:) Interesting that it’s used in jackets. It does make sense tho, it’s very familiar to the fill on some camping pillows. Yeah seems like a lot of folks are. I’m really curious to see if VF Corp decides to sell off low performer little guys like Altra, or load off a couple big brands. The CEO I’m back working with wears Hoka so I’ve had my eye on them. Definitely some cool color ways! I’m glad those work for you :) I need to read up more on them and their approach to backpacking / hiking

[@GarryCollins-ec8yo]

@@zacmagers I'm doing well, thank you. I just finished setting up a rare car camp in Indiana awaiting the solar eclipse. So many years backpacking I've forgotten how to car camp! The grip on the Hoka Speedgoat is the best I've found and the toe box is still reasonably good. As always, great indoor video with well thought through opinions.

[@zacmagers]

Good to hear you are well! Hope you all have a great time:) Car camping usually means much better food and drinks ha. I’ll have to research them more for sure. And thank you, Garry. Be well !