Customer Reviews Hoka Anacapa Mid GORE-TEX®

Love these shoes, but a little annoyed that the heel is disintegrating within 30 days.

first - this review is not really one to say if Hokas are for you. This is more for people who have Hoka shoes and are considering boots. Good: they are hokas. if you like yours you will like the feel of these. they are waterproof, but to be clear I have only mildly tested that. the quick hooks or whatever the top 3 lace things are called are great in that they lock the laces in place so you can pull to your snugness level and not have that change when you are tying your not. They have really great traction (more on this in a second) Cons: these are not warm. they are not even slightly warm. This, of course, could be a benefit. But in winter you feel the cold instantly. The length of the soles. This ties into the great traction. These soles are thick of course as Hokas are. That is great. But they add like 1.5 inch length all in the back of the shoe. This means your weight is now distributed over a greater contact patch which helps on slippery ground. BUT there is a real tradeoff here and one that can make these more dangerous to wear and this is on stairs (and probably some technical hiking terrain). Since there is 1.5" extra sticking back that is unlike every shoe you have worn all your life, that part tends to grab on the stair step edge you are coming down from. This will trip some people and tripping down stairs is always bad. Mostly when I am wearing these I am not doing many stairs so that is okay. But I took these on a trip to NYC recently when I first got them as I knew I would get a ton of steps and I needed waterproof based on forecast. Subway stars are short to begin with, I wear 11.5, and these are like 13's - so I was having to go foot at 45 degree angle on all steps and I had to hold on to the rails, which honestly is disgusting as a mild germaphobe. :). Also even driving is impacted by these if the footwell is small. So in short, these are basically mini snowshoes and there are some downsides.

The shoes are super light and you almost spring when you walk. I have not done a big hike yet, but I can tell they will work well and be more like sneakers with great grip and super ankle support. My only complaint is that I seem to between size 11 and 11.5. I’m normally an 11 in almost all other shoes. I wore in the snow last night and they kept me dry although I’ll use a heavier pair of boots when there is more than a few inches of snow.