Inov8 Roclite G 315 GTX Review When Used for Hiking, Backpacking, and Alpine Scrambling

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“Fells” are wet. As I say in the video, the term is prominently used in the UK’s Lake District, a place that sees a lot more rain than my climate in the Rocky Mountains. That simple fact is the thing that drove me to try the Inov8 Roclite G 315 GTX shoes for the first time. I was hopeful of finding a shoe that could deal with the wet conditions of spring hiking in my local area. The spring is wet in Colorado for the simple reason that we get our snow melt, then. It isn’t unusual to find trails that are dry on eastern and southern exposures but wet or even still snow covered on western and northern exposures. So, I was looking for a waterproof shoe, and the Gore-Tex on the Inov8 Roclite G 315 GTX was a selling point.

When I took them out into the field, the Gore-Tex did it’s job, as expected. But I was really surprised by the traction advantage I got. As most of us who have done any hiking or backpacking know, wet shoes on rock - or wet rocks, themselves - make it easy to slip. When I’m on the side of a mountain, a slip can mean more than an embarrassing short trip to my butt; it can mean a slide or a cartwheeling fall down the side of a slope. So, when I was finding my shoes biting into wet rock or still maintaining traction after crossing a snow field, I was somewhat shocked.

Now, I don’t want to pretend that the wet traction is as good as dry traction, but it is so much better than any other footwear I have that these shoes have become my shoes of choice for variable terrain that moves from wet to dry (as long as I don’t need to be wearing full crampons or some such for technical snow or ice). In fact, I tend to wear these shoes on any non-technical foray into the expanse above tree line. The grip is just that good.

Like I call out in the video, they make good scrambling shoes, too, so long as the scrambling isn’t getting into lower fifth class climbing that really needs stiff soles for edging performance. If it’s just grip I need over slabby rock, these shoes really do a great job.

Anyway, those are the standout features of the Inov8 Roclite G 315 GTX shoes, but check out the review video to get my complete thoughts. And if you are thinking of a purchase, you can find the men’s version, here: Men's Inov8 Roclite G 315 GTX shoes and the women’s version, here: Women's Inov8 Roclite G 315 GTX shoes.