ProView – Astral Women’s Techyak Review

This spring, I reviewed the Astral Techyak. They are advertised as a minimalist trail shoe, but the tread resembles a sneaker, and the uppers — a water shoe. 

It was my first time wearing a natural-shaped shoe, which I always found to look a bit like hobbit shoes. I wore these shoes for a little over a month for day-to-day activities, walks with my dog around the neighborhood, light hikes in the woods, and a long weekend camping. I even took them mini golfing because spoiler alert…these shoes proved to be more of an all-around day-to-day shoe for outdoorsy people than a “trail-shoe”. 

Fit/Comfort  

This was my first pair of barefoot-shaped shoes. For years, I have jammed my feet into tight ski boots, climbing shoes, and low-volume trail runners. Putting on the techyak shoe felt like a breath of fresh air for my feet, with how unrestrictive the natural toe box was. 

I found them extremely lightweight and liked the roomy toe box. I have a narrow heel and struggle with most shoes that aren’t low volume. I often get heel lift and then blisters in most mid to high volume shoes, but these fit really well. They have a snug heel pocket and get wide right after the arch to open into a roomy toe box. It was a bit foreign to be able to spread my toes out so much, but I grew to like it.

Given how narrow my foot is, I did think I needed to tighten the laces more than I’d like to. When I tied them, it pulled the two “halves” of the shoe together so much that some of the material wrinkled. I think overall this shoe would be better suited for someone with feet that are medium width.

I found the insole a bit uncomfortable. They are definitely different from a traditional insole since they feel like a denser foam, and they have ridges on them, which I found strange. I could feel the ridges with my feet, especially with thin socks on. I found it most bothersome when I was just hanging out and became keenly aware of the texture under my freemoving toes. I also thought a little more arch support would have been nice.

Look/Style

I have never really found barefoot shaped shoes to be that aesthetically pleasing, but the low profile of the shoe and the nice navy helps. I didn’t love the lace style, which tended to come undone and appeared bulky compared to the minimalist style of the shoe.

Features

The insole is advertised as a “rechargeable insole” and Astral says they are replaceable. I found this funny since really most insoles are replaceable and there is a large market for aftermarket insoles.

However, if you really like these original insoles for the shoe, they do sell them separately so you can replace them. I like the idea of being able to replace the insole if it packs out, but at the same time, I find most shoes I wear have the tread wear out around the same time as the insole. I only tested these shoes for a few weeks, but a longer test would let you know if the tread of the shoe would outlast the insole, allowing you to replace them and continue wearing the shoe. If I were going to replace the insole,s I would buy an aftermarket insole.

Weight/Packability

The shoes were so light that they floated. I wear a Women’s 8, and it weighed in at 280g on my scale.

Function/Performance

I’m a big fan of light, breathable, quick-drying shoes in the summer. While camping, I left the shoes outside the tent at night, and it rained. The shoes dried incredibly fast, and I didn’t even pull the insole out, which would have helped the process. I also washed them off after a muddy day and they dried extremely quickly in the sun.

Durability/Construction

The tread of the shoe was perfect for light outdoor activities. I took them on local short hikes. The New England trails I took them on were rocky and rooted. It has been a super wet spring here, and I did find the shoes didn’t grip well on wet, slick rocks hiking, but otherwise it was perfectly fine on packed dirt and lightly rooted trails. The tread is not overly aggressive, and I felt that the tread under the ball of the foot was much closer to a street sneaker than a hiking shoe.

Friendliness to the Earth

The uppers and laces are made from 100% recycled material. This is something that I really appreciated and you don’t see all that often. I definitely give credit to Astral for their commitment to making an eco-friendly shoe. 

The Final Word

Overall, I liked the shoe and think it’s good for wearing around outside, light hikes, and water activities. This shoe is a good choice for someone with a medium-width foot looking for a natural-shaped shoe to wear from trail to town.

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