Salewa Rapace boots review
There aren't many reviews of these boots about so I thought I'd do a little on them. I got them last year in Keswick partly because they were on sale and partly because they had been recommended by a friend. They are sold as light weight mountaineering boots for easy climbing and tough hikes. For the most part they have been comfy and climbed well, but there are some issues. They sport Salewa's 3F system designed to bring comfort and lock your heel in. After a year or so here is what I've found:
Whats Good?
The Rapaces are genuinely light for what they can do. They feel pretty nimble on steep ground and climb well. The built in 'climbing zone' comes over as a fad, but the boots do edge reasonably well. I've used them comfortably for long walk-ins and via ferratas in Europe as well as on the Cullin and around the Lakes. The sole is flexible enough to walk well on the flat and stiff enough to cope with the steep stuff as I mentioned. The support is good enough to feel confident on the rough stuff but not to high on your ankle to reduce your freedom of movement. They take a semiautomatic crampon well and I've had no problem with my Grivels coming off, despite being decently flexible. On a vane note the boots look pretty good and I've had a few people say they like them.
What's Bad?
The lacing system. My biggest problem with these has been lacing them up. The thin laces they came with made it difficult to get them evenly tensioned and to avoid too much pressure in the wrong places. The system makes it tough not to end up with the laces very tight over the top of your foot...right where the 3F system attaches. I'm pretty sure that's not the desired effect. After faffing for a few minutes you can sort the issue, but it's a pain at first.
The other problem is the rivets / eyelets for the laces. It's also a problem that doesn't get better with time either. I noticed quite early on that any of them bent way more easily than any other boot I'd owned before. I'd get back to the car an find one out of shape and have zero idea how it'd happened. Eventually I got back to the car and found one broken not just bent out of shape.
I have to mention that I have contacted Salewa in the UK over this issue though and they have been great. They have offered to replace the boots with the new version without any argument what so ever and felt with the matter really fast. I'm keen to get my hands on the new pair and see if they are a little better in the lacing dept (Note: since talking to Salewa I have tried a different pair of laces and they work much more comfortably even with the missing eyelets so I have high hope for the new pair!!).
Quality
My first impressions were definitely strong for the Rapaces. The rubber rand around the boot feels bomber and the leather upper withstands the riggers of climbing a ferrata or the gabbro of Skye. I was really impressed how they hold a crampon despite being rather flexible. I do wonder about the design behind the lacing on the Rapaces and hope that on the new version they work better.
Alternatives
The boot market is getting increasingly crowded and there are a couple of alternatives you could go to. The obvious classic being the LaSportiva Trango S Evo or newer Alp Evo. On steeper winter ground (above a II) I'd skip these and go to my B3's...they're not that solid and you'd be feeling rather exposed.
The verdict
These boots were a bit of a let down after initially promising so much. There's a lot of potential here and when they worked they did the job well while not being the same as every other booth out there. Knowing a friend who has worn his a lot more than mine and loved them I'd probably advise a friend to give the Rapaces a go but keep the receipt. If the eyelets hold out I don't think you'd be disappointed on intermediate ground. Salewa's service was great and if you do have trouble I can't recommend talking to them enough.
I'm quite excited to get my hands on the new pair and see what they can do.