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New Five Ten Guide Tennies Review

Original Post
David Lottmann · · Conway, NH · Joined Nov 2012 · Points: 152

I'm really digging the updated Guide Tennies. Please check out my review and enter to win the best climber foot powder on the planet!

Five Ten Guide Tennie Review and Friendly Foot Giveaway

Five Ten Guide Tennie

that guy named seb · · Britland · Joined Oct 2015 · Points: 236

Mine have a huge hole in the side, the sole has cracked and is peeling away where it's to fine the heel has completely worn through to the eva, all this after just 9 months of daily use. Not happy with how fine the base bit of rubber is and the durability of said rubber, they have also become so flexible i cant climb in them, for the first 3 months in them i could easily climb 6b in the gym in them then they started to soften up and become too flexible for anything but the biggest foot holds and smearing. In conclusion, not a everyday shoe.

Moffatt P · · Juneau ak · Joined Oct 2014 · Points: 0

I'll have to concur with above poster about lack of durability. Mine started to blow out where the rand meets leather on the medial side within a month and is now completely blown out. While it pains me to say that I almost exclusively used them for work on hard wood office floor that's the case and they still failed to perform.

Marc Squiddo · · Mountain View, CA · Joined Jul 2008 · Points: 15

I keep trying five tennis in various versions but all seem to leave me with quality issues. Just over it....

Chadley · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2014 · Points: 0

I also agree with both above post..
I have the Guide also the Camp Four..
The Camp Fours souls Have completely separated from shoe, with very minimal wear..
Im curious to see how the Guides will hold up.. I've had them up two big walls and they already show quite a bit of wear..
I've always been a fan of the moccasins, but these shoes are really a disappointment for me

JeffL · · Salt Lake City · Joined Jun 2012 · Points: 65

My guide tennies initially rubbed my heels and were very uncomfortable for any uphill walking. They are very stiff so they edge pretty well, but I'd rather free climb in the old version of the camp fours. I like them a lot for jumaring. But I only paid $50 for mine..: can't imagine paying over 100 for the value of the shoe

Bill Kirby · · Keene New York · Joined Jul 2012 · Points: 480

I bought a pair of Guide Tennies two years ago. While not the newest model I haven't had any problems with mine. I don't have an exact number but I'm sure my Tennies have at least 100 days of use. I only wear them when the shoes would be helpful on an approach.

I also have a pair of 5.10 Freerider that are like 8 years old. They too are in good shape.

Bill Lawry · · Albuquerque, NM · Joined Apr 2006 · Points: 1,812

"... all this after just 9 months of daily use. Not happy .... "

Is there a better, comparably priced approach shoe? I have some very comfortable running shoes I use as approach shoes - $100. Brooks Cascadia. Not great for scrambling but that's ok. I don't expect them to last 9 months, Or am I wasting my money?

Joy likes trad · · Southern California · Joined Jul 2012 · Points: 71
that guy named seb wrote:...after just 9 months of daily use. Not happy ...
wow what shoe do you like. If I wore a shoe every day I'd be happy if it lasted three months and certainly would never expect six
Klimbien · · St.George Orem Denver Vegas · Joined Apr 2009 · Points: 455
Shoes

1. La Sportiva Exum Pro = 10/10 (resoled Twice, and they got better with the resole) See other MP post about this, page 7. mountainproject.com/v/10800…

2. Five Ten, Whatever model it is in the photo... grey and yellow, front row, left side of photo. 8/10

3. Five Ten, model: Access, made around 2005, upper was hand sewn to sole, and was incredibly light. not shown in photo. 8/10

4. Salewa, Alpine Extreme. Not to comfortable for long approaches, but can still get the job done, surprisingly good grip for the rubber despite it not being made by 5.10 or La Sportiva, 5/10

5. La sportiva Xplorer.... weak sauce, IMO, 4/10

6. Anything made by Garmont, 4/10. Rubber is horrible for grip on rock.

Five ten and La sportiva, make some awesome shoes, My wife uses Scarpa approach shoes and attests to the quality, but I've not owned a pair.

I would be excited to give the new 5.10 guide tennie a try. Their customer service has been good to work with in the past. There used to be a guy named Isaac that I have worked with and the dude was solid, 5.10 is an awesome company that I love to support. Im disappointed to read so many bad reviews for this shoe from others. Hopefully they will see these comments and can make some appropriate adjustments.

NEALpineStart got it right in his review about not using the approach shoe on days when not rock climbing.... the rubber is way to soft for just daily living. They can handle it, but you're significantly decreasing the life span of the shoe.

The newer, bulkier heal works perfect for strap on crampons. I'd be interested to know if the guide could handle a pair for just a a small amount of steep snow travel.
Noah Haber · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2010 · Points: 78

Just one more person to add an opinion.

I just bought the new style 5.10 Guide Tennies. They are my 3rd pair of guide tennies, and I can confidently say one thing about the new style:

DO NOT BUY.

They are awful. It's basically like they looked at the tennies, and changed or removed everything that was good about them.

Sticky rubber sole? NOPE. Whatever they are using for their sole nowadays isn't nearly as stick as the classic C4 dotty rubber. It could be their new fancy molding process hardens the rubber too much, or something else, but it doesn't matter. It sucks.

Tight toe box (for better climbing)? GONE. New toe box (and heel for that matter) are boxy and bulky. Forget shoving them in a crack or trying to smear. Sole is also way too stiff. Not even close to stiff enough that they would edge at all (which would require a full mountain boot shank for shoes like this), but way too stiff to smear decently.

Total waste of money. Mine are for sale. Who wants them?

Gunkiemike · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2009 · Points: 3,492

WHY HAS THIS THREAD NOT BEEN MOVED TO THE PROPER FORUM??

bearbreeder · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2009 · Points: 3,065
Old guide tennie

My current pair of old guide tennie .... Ive had several pairs and they seem to last around 2 years of daily use, roughly 400 days outside

As you can see seam grip/barge cement around the stitching, joining and abrasion areas go a long way to extending the life, as with any shoe

Cant speak to the new model, i bought 4 pairs of the older ones when they were clearing em out doe 29 yankee dollahs

;)
David Lottmann · · Conway, NH · Joined Nov 2012 · Points: 152

Thanks for all the posts and comments on your experiences. It may have not been clear in the first post but if you want to enter the contest, or just check out my review, please click this link:

http://nealpinestart.com/2015/10/19/five-ten-guide-tennies-review-and-friendly-foot-giveaway/

Contest ends 11/18!

John Cameron · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2008 · Points: 275

i wouldnt buy them... blew out the leather ones when they came out in 8 months or so of light hiking.

Jeffrey Arthur · · Westminster, CO · Joined Mar 2008 · Points: 290

Damn what a freaking coincidence! I never saw the original post about these shoes, saw them at Waterstone last week at the New River Gorge where they were 40% off, but in Green. Ordered the color I wanted off Amazon (paid full price because I ain't wearing no booger green shoes!!!) and they arrived today. Opened up MP and the first post was about these shoes. I hope I have a better experience with them than you guys, because it seems as if they kinda suck.

Willie Wilson · · America · Joined Aug 2010 · Points: 125

The new Guide tennies are straight garbage compared to the previous models. They basically turned them in to a pair of skate shoes, with some what stick rubber. I purchased a pair last summer. I was road tripping at the time so they saw quite a bit of use. I wore them a couple day before using them for a big day. The first big day i used them for was approaching and climbing the west ridge of Mt. Conness which really isn't that big of a day. After this day the rands around the toe box of both shoes were shredded.

I was road tripping and needed functioning par of approach shoes so I shoe gooed the rands back together and continued on. I used the shoes a couple more months for the remainder of my trip, and they continued to fall apart. I pretty much kept gluing them back together all summer. I was pretty disappointed with the new version of the guide tennie.

I live in Souther California so I eventually took the shoes to the 5.10 store in Redlands CA to see if I could get a new pair or refund. They told me since
I glued the shoes back together I voided my warranty. They diid however offer to sale me another pair at half off the shop price so basically like 70% off. I used this offer to buy a pair of the old guide tennies; which totally rock and needed no change or redesign.

I ended up throwing the pair I got from the 5.10 store in the closet and kept using the new version. I wanted to get as much use out of them as I could. Went road tripping again this summer and they completely delaminated on one sole. A good friend of mine had the exact same thing happen to him. I got less than 100 days of use from these shoes. I will no longer be buying any more 5.10 shoes. Their rubber is awesome the best out there, their shoes are utter shit. Iv'e had multiple bad experiences with the quality of 5.10 shoes.

guide tennie

Noah Haber · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2010 · Points: 78

Also, as an FYI. If you bought yours from Amazon and they didn't meet your needs, you can return them. I certainly did.

Klimbien · · St.George Orem Denver Vegas · Joined Apr 2009 · Points: 455

All these bad reviews for 5.10 are making me depressed. La Sportiva had perfection with their Exum Pros. I have a good friend who found out they would be discontinued and bought 5 pairs..... Wish I would have known.

Now, the same thing with five.ten... Going to Ebay now to see if I can find any straggling older model before there aren't any approach to buy at all.

Chris W · · Boulder, CO · Joined Oct 2003 · Points: 15

Can anyone tell me how the old Camp Four sizes compared to the new Guide Tennie? I can't find any tennies around here to try on and am considering (despite all the flames on here) a pair of Tennies since my Boulders blew out. Would be people go w same size for the camp 4 and Tennie or size up/down? I've got a pair of 9.5 camp four (old style).

David Lottmann · · Conway, NH · Joined Nov 2012 · Points: 152
Chris Weber wrote:Can anyone tell me how the old Camp Four sizes compared to the new Guide Tennie? I can't find any tennies around here to try on and am considering (despite all the flames on here) a pair of Tennies since my Boulders blew out. Would be people go w same size for the camp 4 and Tennie or size up/down? I've got a pair of 9.5 camp four (old style).
I found the sizes between both models to be equivalent... I am a size 9 in both the Camp Four and the Tennie
Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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