Review: Scarpa Mojito Hike GTX Hiking Boot

Most people probably think of gin, lime, mint and tropical beaches in the sun when they hear the word Mojitos.

Not Scarpa, though. They think of hiking boots, and nice ones at that. The Mojito Hike GTX boots are designed and styled on the classic Scarpa Mojitos, with the added benefit of Gore-Tex liners and a few technical updates.

The Mojitos are a simple, stylish looking mid-height boot with a few noticeable differences from the numerous other boot choices available on the market.

I’ve been on a shoe search for some time now which seems to be never-ending. I started with multiple full-size boots. Tried out several trail runners and still wasn’t happy with either usually coming home with sore feet for varying reasons. Enter the Scarpa Mojitos boots. Lighter and lower than my previous boots but slightly heavier and taller than the trailer runners I’ve tried. With the size 44 boot weighing in at about 540grams per boot, they are about 100 grams less per boot than my last pair and about 100 grams per shoe more than my last trail runners. A good middle ground, I think.

The upper of the Mojitos are made from 1.8mm water-resistant suede in a subtle grey colour with very small orange stitching. The highlights are on only the side of the boots and in the laces and although subtle, they break up all the grey nicely. The Mojitos are available in other colours such as blue and green if loud colours are more your style although stock of those colours may be hard to get in Australia with grey being the most common colour online. Regardless of the colour, you choose they all come in one main suede colour with the subtle highlights in another colour.

The toe of the boots has a thick rubber cover on top of the boot and the sole of the shoe wraps up over the centre at the front with a solid X lug on the tip. The design means your toes are well protected if you happen to kick anything or are digging your toes in on terrain to get traction.

The inside of the tongue and very upper rear of the boot are made from a nice soft material that resembles neoprene in appearance. The soft upper internal is softer around your leg when the boots are done up tight which most people should find more comfortable. The rear of the boots also have inbuilt ankle padding inside to adapt to different leg shapes. The combination of the two may be less prone to blisters being a softer more pliable material that will flex more. It is a lot more forgiving on the legs than traditional boots I’ve had in the past. It’s something that I immediately liked when wearing the boots and one of my major gripes with my last pair of boots. I couldn’t wait to get them off when I got to camp on hikes each day.

The tongue inside the boot is gusseted meaning there are no gaps between the tongue and shoe. This helps with moisture ingress and also helps to keep rocks and dirt out of your boots. It’s a small detail but it’s not a nice feeling having a small rock or similar wedged between your foot and shoe when walking.

The boots are lined with a Gore-Tex® performance comfort lining keeping your feet dry when worn in wet or damp conditions. This liner is what makes up the gusseted tongue I mentioned above. The sole has an inner sole structure made of EVA and an anti-torsional TPU frame. The sole is firm underfoot but gives you a positive, stable feel with every step. The sole of the shoe bears the Vibram logo as do most high-quality walking boots these days. The sole is quite chunky and has very defined lugs running from front to back which assist with traction and the design is also shock absorbing. The design of the lugs is also self-cleaning meaning they should resist blocking up and becoming slippery if you’re playing in the mud. It’s a bit dry in my neck of the woods at the moment to properly test the self-cleaning out but it’s nice to know it’s been factored into the design.

The sole of the Mojitos is quite stiff at the rear up until the midpoint on the sole where it allows a slight flex which increases more towards the toes. The boots twist from side to side enough allowing it to flex with your ankle and leg comfortably. Overall the soles are firm but not uncomfortably so and feel nice and confident underfoot. The inner soles themselves I found pretty comfortable with no real complaints on that front. The innersoles are removable as well for cleaning or replacement or if you need to replace them with orthotics.

The main and most noticeable difference on the Mojitos to a standard boot is the lace set up. The lacing system runs from the top of the boots all the way down to the toes. Scarpa have derived this fully adjustable lacing system from climbing shoes and the difference is more adjustability in the lower section of the boot when fitting. It allows you to adjust the tightness further down the boot if you have harder to fit feet. I have one foot that is slightly larger than the other which does make shoes hard to fit at times. I liked having that adjustability right to the toes as it allowed me more adjustment to compensate for my strange feet.

Lastly, a pet hate of mine is slippery laces that constantly undo themselves. It’s a minor thing but it just annoys me. Thankfully the laces on the Scarpa Mojitos aren’t like this, and once done up they stay done up. A small detail, but something that I always take note of since the last thing you want is to trip over a lace coming down a hill with a full pack on. I’ve seen it happen and the results aren’t pretty and can make for a pretty abrupt end to a trip.