Five Ten Daescent

Just got done cleaning out my gargage and nosted that I had a stock pile of approach/ decent shoes I don't use any more for one reason or another. Found a pair of aquasocks, lightweight, but I almost killed myself due to the non-sticky rubber soles. Then there's the teva sandal's, I use to clip into my harness for Red Rocks, but I almost tuck a toe off once from the lack of foot protection from such hazards as rocks and cactus. My track flats from high school worked OK until the sole separated from the shoe on a hot day in the Black Canyon.

Last year I started using Five Tens new shoe the Daescent. They are the best lightweight approach shoe I have ever owned. They have sticky rubber, lightweight, low profile on your harness or in a pack. They have hitch hiked on my harness on many adventures in the Black Canyon, Eldo, Moab, and I have never felt like throwing them off. The next time you are in the market for a super lightweight approach shoe consider Five Tens Daescent.

That shoe is what Five Ten originally made their "Five-Tennie", the one with an "X", to be. All our modern approach shoes have their roots in the original Five Ten shoe. That shoe, like everyone elses, was put on steroids to make most of the shoes we have choices in now. They have gotten heavier, stiffer, and generally more usefull on trails, but they have lost what many of us wanted in an approach shoe: something that gets us their and back and is so minimal it doesn't create a problem when climbing with it.
The daescent does that. You barely notice you have them clipped onto your harness. I might add I used mine on the Desert Shield and they work well as aid shes. Being lightweight I doubt they will hold up as long as a heavier-duty shoe, like the Guide tennie, but they do work well in etriers.

Daescents:

Pros:
-lightweight (really dont get in your way like other approach shoes do when climbing that are more rigid)
-highly collapsable (climbing chimneys all over the valley, they squish instead of poke me in the back like other shoe that maintain their shape with plastic inserts)
-sticky ruber
-Sick

Cons:
-very little padding, bad for descents with heavy haul bags or long approaches
-very lightweight material, I can't tell if they are going to bust on me, but after a hard season in the valley, they still look and work like new... so who knows.

Other comments:
I've taken these up Zodiac and they held up, much to my surprise and delight! They made busting from aid to free very easy since they are so similar to a free shoe.
I take these shoes on big day trad climbs in the valley before any other shoe. I don't take them doing alpine though with 3+ mile approaches, it would totally destroy my knees.