Wear Test: Vans Sk8-Hi – Still a No. One Skate Shoe?

For my current wear test, I chose a classic skate shoe model, a real dinosaur. In early 1978, the sneaker was released under the name „Style 38“. With this shoe, Vans put the second shoe with the typical „jazz stripe“ on the market. Despite the age of the Vans Sk8-Hi, the shoe is still hip. And in the course of the retro style hype, the old school classic is more modern than ever.

Fit & Feel

The central distinguishing features of the Sk8 Hi are the higher silhouette and the characteristic seams along the leather and canvas panels. The sneaker features a wider and spacious shape for a nice wearing comfort, even with wide feet. Additional, the shoe is equipped with the famous Vans Waffle sole which gives the Sk8 Hi a nice board feel and grip. Regardless of the tricks, I felt very comfortable and the shoe features nice flick for flip tricks and technical manoeuvre.

Due to the High-Top shape, you’ll get a lot of support for your ankles and protection against painful collisions with your skateboard deck. In a few situations, I was really grateful for that.

Even after long sessions, the solid support in these shoes remains remarkable. But to be honest, this feeling eased slowly after a while. The sneaker got softer and lost stability. For me personally, the shoe got too soft. For skateboarding, I prefer tightly fitted shoes.

Another drawback is the missing cushioning. I do not recommend skating gaps, stairs, and other big stuff with this shoes. However, one has to be aware that I skated the usual Vans Sk8-Hi shoe and not the Sk8-Hi Pro. The Pro models are equipped with a removable and molded UltraCush™ HD footbed to feature more cushioning for more comfort.

Durability

The shoe has not been updated over decades so I had low expectations. But wait! All in all the Vans Sk8-Hi satisfied with a nice wearing comfort and long lasting materials. After several skate sessions, the shoe showed normal wear marks including little damages on the vulcanized sole and the side panels. Only a few spots on the Ollie area and the toe cap suffer from more abrasive. I’m used to greater damage after a similar number of skate sessions what pleases me.

Conclusion

With the Vans Sk8-Hi, you will get an old school classic, not a technical high-performance shoe. But I have to say, that the shoe features first-class board feel and grip. In addition, you’ll get a classic design and plenty style! The missing cushioning was the only disappointment. But, as I said before, Vans put a Sk8-Hi Pro line on the market with a UltraCush™ HD footbed. Go with the old school flow!