GripGrab Arctic overshoes

The Grip Grab Arctic Overshoes are a great example of what was needed during late January and early February, when the UK saw consistent temperatures below freezing. You needed decent overshoes at that time, and I was lucky enough to have these, which provide excellent insulation and very effective waterproofing. With 80% neoprene, these were always going to be warm, but I was also impressed by their ease of fit and the adjustability.

One of the first elements of an overshoe that I always notice is the ease of fit. I often find that neoprene shoes can be difficult to put on simply because they have a much thicker material which has less flex. However, due to the lack of material at the base of these, this issue is largely avoided. They are relatively easy to put on for such thick and well insulated overshoes, but you cannot expect them to be as easy as a higher polyester percentage overshoe, which would have poorer insulation.

The overshoes are also good for adjustability around the foot. Sometimes With thicker overshoes, they suffer from not being particularly supple and thus can sometimes be baggy around your shoes. Although these could certainly be more flexible, they benefit immensely from a velcro strap around the bottom, which means you can set them up to however tight you want them. This meant that the fit itself was tight and managed to keep excess material to a minimum.

I used these through driving rain in the freezing cold and as well as keeping my feet warm, they also did a good job of keeping them dry. They manage this through taped seams and effective neoprene protection, which manages to keep out every drop of water they saw.

They are some of the best overshoes I have used in terms of insulation too. I used them down to around -4 °C and my feet stayed toasty throughout the review. They manage this through a hollow fibre technology within the material as well as a considerable amount of fleece within the lining.

In terms of looks, they are stylish, managing to keep the outline of the foot without creating the 'clubfoot' that you can sometimes get with similar deep winter overshoes. I like this as especially when training in the terrible weather, you want to have as little flapping or excess as possible. These certainly manage that.

They are also well designed with effective reflective elements, both on the side and rear of the shoes. This is especially important at this time of year, when it is dark for considerably longer.

As well as being both warm and waterproof, the shoes are very durable. The stitching is strong across the body of the shoe and the toe and rear of the shoes are fitted with rubberised and hardened grippers. These add to the already impressive durability. I also like the zip on the back, oversized, easy to pull and hard to break.

They are expensive for overshoes, coming in at £60, I managed to find them online for £48 but this is still quite a bit to pay. However, the quality means that to some extent the price is justified and could be comparable to Rapha or Castelli equivalents which come in at around the same price.

When reviewing, I need to try and find fault with anything to make a fair comparison. With these shoes, the only fault I could find was that a couple of the stitches on the flap covering the top of zip looked loose. Aside from that, it is genuinely difficult to find anything wrong with them at all.

Verdict

Expensive, but almost unrivalled warm & dry deep winter overshoes