GEAR: POPULARITY STICKING 5-10'S CANYONEER KEEPS WEARER SURE-FOOTED.Byline: Bill Becher Special to the Daily News When rappelling down a slick 200-foot rock chute through a waterfall, you don't want to slip. I didn't slip or slide wearing 5-10's Canyoneer shoes on a three-day class in canyoneering canyoneering Canyoning Sports medicine An 'extreme sport' in which the participants slide, jump or rappel down waterfalls and mountain streams through a canyon, clad in wetsuits, helmets, life jackets, and climbing harnesses, combining the skills of caving, with the Zion Adventure Company. The shoes hooked up like gecko gecko (gĕk`ō), small or medium-sized lizard of the family Gekkonidae. The more than 300 species are distributed throughout the warm regions of the world, mostly in the Old World. Despite folklore to the contrary, their bite is not poisonous. toes. Originally designed for this rather narrow niche - exploring canyons using rock-climbing gear - Canyoneer shoes now are appearing on the feet of river guides, kayakers, fly anglers, or anyone looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. sure footing in wet places. The key to the shoes' success is the special rubber used on the soles. In a serendipitous ser·en·dip·i·ty n. pl. ser·en·dip·i·ties 1. The faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident. 2. The fact or occurrence of such discoveries. 3. An instance of making such a discovery. flubber-like accident, Charles Cole, an avid rock climber and mechanical-engineering graduate of USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. , happened on the rubber formula. Cole had borrowed $20,000 from climbing buddies to start a company to make climbing shoes. He worked with rubber manufacturers to come up with a substance that would provide good friction for climbing and have high abrasion resistance. With his limited capital, Cole couldn't afford mistakes, so he was worried when his rubber supplier called up and told him they'd gotten the rubber he specified wrong, and could Cole come and check it out. Cole found the rubber was noticeably better than previous generations. ``I asked them exactly what did you do?'' Cole said. The new rubber was refined and christened ``Stealth'' in 1988. Cole came out with an ``approach'' shoe that combined a running-shoe design with the Stealth rock rubber. The shoes were a success and Coles' company, 5-10, named for a rock-climbing difficulty rating, went on to produce a variety of climbing shoes. Cole said his company developed nonmarking rubber for use in wading shoes after L.L. Bean approached him for a substitute for the standard felt soles. Bean was getting tired of replacing the felt soles under their lifetime guarantee. With the advent of whirling disease, which can be spread to trout via the felt soles of anglers' wading boots, the rubber- soled wading boots are becoming even more popular. I used the Canyoneers as wading boots fishing the fast-moving Kings River and found they worked well. They are designed for water, climbing and hiking. The ankle collar has doubled 3mm neoprene neoprene: see rubber. neoprene Any of a class of elastomers (rubberlike synthetic organic compounds of high molecular weight) made by polymerization of the monomer 2-chloro-1,3-butadiene and vulcanized (cross-linked, like rubber), by sulfur, for support, comfort and a no-itch fit. The breathable breath·a·ble adj. 1. Suitable or pleasant for breathing: breathable air. 2. Permitting air to pass through: a breathable fabric. mesh upper is lightweight, synthetic and also durable, says the company. The buckle won't loosen in fast water, stays out of the way in cracks and cinches down tight for climbing. Any water that doesn't drain out of the shoes is squeezed out as you move by a self-bailing compression-molded midsole mid·sole n. The middle layer of a sole, as of an athletic shoe, often designed to disperse weight or provide stability to the foot. . Available in black/yellow only, sizes 7-13. $96, www.fiveten.com, (909) 798-4222. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: no caption (5-10 Canyoneer) |
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