Live Ultralight Podcast | Backpacking, Travel, and Adventure · Outdoor Vitals

EP 188: Ask OV 5: Upcoming 100 Miler, Shoes, Socks & Sleep Gear

·46 min·3 clips

He says he is "very against waterproof breathables" unless snow or dew makes them necessary.

The episode opens with the team setting aside time for listener questions and keeping the conversation shorter and more useful. They explain that questions get vetted so the ones chosen can help more than one person. A listener asks about the Hoka Speedgoat line. The team walks through how the 4s were well liked, how the 5s pushed some people away, and how the 6s are still being tested. One speaker notes that he put more than a hundred miles on the 5s and still did not love them. The newer pair is getting a fair test, even if it may only be adequate for the upcoming 100-mile challenge hike. They also talk about how model-year changes matter more than people expect. Fit is a big part of that. One person says the newer shoes felt narrower and that he would probably have gone with the wide version if he had more time. The team keeps coming back to the same point: a shoe can look fine on paper and still fall apart in the field. More testing gives a clearer read on what your feet can handle, and some people would just return a pair if it cost that much and did not feel right. The conversation stays practical throughout, with the 100-mile challenge hanging in the background and a strong emphasis on testing, judgment, and what actually works after repeated use.

As heard by us

A focused gear conversation that stays practical about fit, mileage, and how a shoe can change model to model.

Ask OV 5 is a practical gear check built around listener questions and an office catch-up. It uses the Hoka Speedgoat line as a tidy example: the 4s were a favorite, the 5s did not land the same way for everyone on the team, and the 6s are still getting a real test with a…

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Why you'd press play

If you want blunt trail-shoe judgment before a long push, start here.

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