REASONS TO BUY
Light
Great smearing
Compact
REASONS TO AVOID
Not great at edging
No traction for dirt
Not much support
The Five Ten DAescent has been discontinued.
Five Ten DAescent Men's Review
Five Ten - Daescent approach shoe
Credit: Five Ten
Price: $85 List
By Chris McNamara ⋅ Founder and Editor-in-Chief ⋅ Mar 18, 2010
Our Verdict
This is our favorite shoe for multi-pitch climbs because it is so light when clipped to the side of your harness or put in your pack. Because it looks good, it can double as a street shoe — something we can't say about many other approach shoes. The Five Ten Guide Tennie and La Sportiva Ganda climb much better (especially edging) but the DAescent has solid friction on slabs. Compared to the Five Ten Camp Four, the DAescent is much lighter but not nearly as durable or as good on long hikes (it edges equally well). It is also nice to wear around town if you like featherweight shoes that breathe well and go on and off quickly — a few non-climbing friends have bought them after seeing mine.
Our Analysis and Test Results
Likes
The Five Ten DAescent is one of the more light and simple approach shoes. It has a thin sole and no tread on the forward half, which gives it great sensitivity on slabs. In some cases these smear better than normal climbing shoes. This was the lightest “full feature” approach shoe we tested and also one of the most breatheable shoes we tested. It will dry faster when wet and not cook your foot on the hot days. Because the sole wraps around into the rand, you don't have to worry as much about the toe rand delaminating. It is awesome for warming up at boulder problems. It is one of the few climbing approach shoes we feel looks good around town.
Dislikes
Because it does not lace all the way to the tip of the toe and is relatively flimsy, its edging is not that precise. This is especially pronounced if you have narrow feet. We can see the dilemma Five Ten probably faced: have it lace to the toe, edge well and look dorky, or not lace to the toe and keep some street style. We think they made the right call.
The smooth and flat treadless forefoot is awesome for slabs, but put them on a steep dirt trail and look out! They are slippery on a dry dirt trail and much more slippery on a wet trail. We love these shoes but will not hike on the dirt with them anymore after having slipped a few times with a heavy pack on.
After a year of solid use, the insole on one of the shoes comes out with our foot about half the time we take it off. This could be a fluke with this pair. So far they have held up in every other way.
Value
These are a solid value. The are some of the least expensive shoes and also pretty durable because it is hard to blow out the rand. Because these double as street shoes, we get a ton of days out them for our dollar.
—Chris McNamara
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