REASONS TO BUY
Extremely versatile
Adjustable
Excellent balance of support and flexibility
REASONS TO AVOID
Not the stickiest rubber
Not the most durable
Astral discontinued the TR1 Junction.
Astral TR1 Junction Review
These shoes are a jack-of-all trades that we feel confident using in practically any sport involving water
Credit: Astral
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Our Verdict
Our Editors' Choice for best water shoes handily goes to the Astral TR1 Junction. We evaluated shoes for this review in a variety of environments, from canyoneering to pack rafting and hiking in the pouring rain. No matter what we threw at these shoes, they never let us down. Their thoughtful design is comfortable and adjustable enough to pack in insulation for warmth, and they deftly balance foot protection with sensitivity. Their only drawbacks are their less-than-stellar traction and potential durability issues. That said, if we could only have one pair of shoes for all the activities we do in and around water, we would confidently pick the TR1 Junction to add to our footwear lineup.
Our Analysis and Test Results
The TR1 Junction is a somewhat oddball shoe among others we've tested. They are low cut, like kayaking shoes, but feature a relatively high-cushion and deeply lugged outsole. They have great drainage but also burly rubber rands to reinforce the upper. They aren't exactly specialized towards canyoneering, kayaking, hiking, or anything else. Instead, they combine some of the best features of kayaking shoes, canyoneering boots, and hiking shoes. The Junctions truly buck the notion that a jack-of-all-trades must also be a master of none.
Performance Comparison
These shoes perform surprisingly well in canyons, on the water, and on the trail.
Credit: Ellen Daugherty
Comfort
The TR1 Junction features a primarily smooth, synthetic interior with minimal stitching. With a well-designed lacing system and good reinforcement design to allow easy flexion in the forefoot, we liked how our feet felt in these shoes, whether wearing thin socks, 5 mm neoprene socks, or even barefoot.
With 1 mm heel-toe drop and a wide toe box characteristic of Astral shoes, these feel like minimalist running shoes in terms of heel drop. The sole is moderately thick and is bonded to an outsole with decently thick tread and multiple layers of padding. The Junctions strike a nearly perfect balance between foot protection and sensitivity with this construction. Walking over and between boulders, we could confidently jam our feet in tight spaces and not worry about stubbing our toes.
Our lead tester jammed his feet in this crack during a slick, tricky downclimb next to a waterfall. A slip here would have been pretty gnarly, but the TR1 Junction protected his feet comfortably and stuck well.
Credit: Dan Scott
Comfort in a water shoe depends a lot on adjustability, as you will likely need to alter your sock layers depending on water temperature. We loved the lacing system on the Junction because it was easy to adjust tightness throughout the midfoot and maintain our adjustments with the somewhat thick laces. This meant easy adjustments for the approach and descent for canyoneering, making our feet more comfortable overall.
The Junctions also have a top lace hole that enables a lace lock, if you really want to clamp down your ankle.
Credit: Dan Scott
These shoes are designed with drainage in mind, with multiple holes around the shoe's perimeter and a generously sized mesh panel atop the toebox. We could easily splash through streams in the morning and have bone-dry feet just a few hours later.
After hiking through some mud in the middle of a rainstorm, these shoes dried off surprisingly fast.
Credit: Ellen Daugherty
Traction
As an all-around shoe designed for canyoneering, boating, and even hiking, the TR1 Junction's have an outsole that balances traction on soft and hard surfaces. Their tread is relatively aggressive compared to most water shoes but isn't as sticky as softer, sticky rubbers. This is one area where we feel the Junctions have the most room for improvement.
On soft surfaces, the deep, aggressive lugs dig in great. We had no problem ascending steep, muddy banks or running down sluffing trails.
The relatively deep lugs do very well on soft surfaces.
Credit: Dan Scott
On slick, wet rock, the outsoles didn't do quite as well as the stickiest water shoes we tested. This is an acceptable compromise given the performance of these shoes on various surfaces. Still, we found ourselves wishing more than once (especially during sketchy downclimbs in wet canyons) that we were wearing stickier shoes. These soles will do just fine for 90% of the time, but if you need uncompromising traction on wet rock, they might not be the best for you.
On slick, wet granite, the Junction's stuck well, but not quite as well as more specialized canyoneering or kayaking shoes.
Credit: Ellen Daugherty
Warmth
For well-drained shoes, warmth is entirely dependent on adjustability. The TR1 Junction checks all the boxes we look for to enable layering within the shoe.
The lacing extends down to about the ball of the foot and is entirely separated from the tongue. This enables a lot of adjustability in the midfoot. In combination with the already spacious toebox and removable insole, we had no problem stuffing these shoes with insulation for cold days on the water.
These shoes had no problem accommodating 5mm neoprene socks.
Credit: Dan Scott
Like any mesh shoe, these will allow running water to pass through the shoe quickly, which kept us from giving them higher marks for warmth. If you find yourself frequently boating or canyoneering in the winter, you might want something with less drainage and more warmth, but we think these shoes allow for enough insulation for most activities.
On this rappel-assisted slide, the Junctions let through a bunch of water, but that wasn't a big deal considering that we had such an easy time fitting in thick neoprene socks.
Credit: Ellen Daugherty
Versatility
These shoes are kings of versatility. We would happily reach for these shoes for canyoneering, hiking, running, rafting, kayaking, biking, cragging, and hanging out around town. That's an impressively long list for a single pair of shoes.
They're an easy shoe to justify bringing on trips with how lightweight they are. On the water, they have an ideal combination of drainage to manage moisture and temperature on hotter days, along with a huge range of adjustability to enable insulation for warmth on cold days. They support and protect your feet on land while providing an excellent ground feel.
We loved having both comfortable and sticky footwear, as we splashed through puddles and ponds on this hike.
Credit: Ellen Daugherty
While we like to have very specialized shoes for certain activities, it can be really nice to have a single shoe that can do it all without letting you down. These provide the support and comfort needed to keep feet happy in a vast range of conditions, from short days to long epics.
Sensitivity
The Junction strikes a nice middle ground between highly flexible and thin-soled booties and burlier canyoneering boots. We were initially dubious that we'd like such a compromise, but it ended up winning us over.
The flexible sole is paired with moderately stiff but relatively thick cushioning. These don't feel like a maximalist shoe by any means. Instead, they felt more like a traditional running shoe, with a slight bounce but plenty of stiffness to prevent ankle rolling when walking over cobbles.
The Junctions feature an easily flexed sole that provides good proprioception for walking on uneven surfaces.
Credit: Dan Scott
We found that it was still easy to feel the undulations of rocks surfaces and wrap our feet slightly around logs. While some prefer stiff boots for canyoneering or creek walking, we loved the moderate support for offering a good balance between proprioception and foot protection.
With a moderately flexible sole, we could easily wrap our feet around logs while creek walking.
Credit: Ellen Daugherty
Durability
As with most of the clearly high-performing shoes we tested, we really tried to beat the crap out of these things. All the performance in the world doesn't mean much if your shoe falls apart after a few uses.
After a day of canyoneering, we managed to fray and break the laces on these shoes. That was after probably over 100 ft of sliding down abrasive granite (i.e., scraping the sides of the shoes down the rock descending waterfalls). The brass eyelets wore down slightly, but the Cordura took it like a champ.
After a bunch of sliding in Dingford Creek Canyon, we cut the laces but didn't manage to do any serious damage to these shoes.
Credit: Dan Scott
While these are marketed as a canyoneering shoe, our experience in canyons tells us that they'd probably crap out after a solid season of use in abrasive canyons. After only a couple of months, we managed to tear some of the stitching. After a full season of hard use, we punctured holes in the mesh as well. If you are comfortable with shoe repair, these would be easy to glue and keep from totally falling apart for a little while, but don't expect them to hold up like burlier canyoneering boots.
While these shoes aren't the most durable, they are backed by an outstanding warranty. Our test pair developed a loose lug on the outsole (indicating glue failure), and after a brief call to Astral, we had a new pair headed our way in the mail. We were extremely impressed by how well Astral stood behind their shoes and superb workmanship.
On the fence about these shoes? Don't be - whatever you need them for, they will do just fine.
Credit: Ellen Daugherty
Should You Buy the Astral TR1 Junction?
The Astral TR1 Junction is a cross between a canyoneering shoe, a hiking shoe, and a kayaking shoe. With excellent design and comfort, they provide a stable and protective ride over rough terrain while still maintaining the sensitivity we value in water shoes. While they aren't the stickiest out there, they are good enough for most activities and have the construction and materials to last in tough environments. Whether you are looking for a dedicated wet hiking shoe or a shoe just to have fun around water, these won't let you down. While these are on the higher end of the cost spectrum for the water shoes we tested, they provide a lot of performance and versatility for their price. Booties and low-cut kayaking shoes are generally cheaper but nowhere near as versatile. While extremely high-performing, Canyoneering boots are only really useful around water. These shoes combine some of the best aspects of many water shoes and offer them at a reasonable price.
What Other Water Shoes Should You Consider?
It's tough to beat such a versatile shoe, but if you don't need the versatility, then the price could be a show stopper. Not everyone plans to make the most of these shoes, and a more activity-specific shoe could save you some money if it meets your goals. If you need a simple shoe for kayaking and less versatility won't hurt your adventure plans, then the NRS Paddle Wetshoe and the NRS Kicker Remix are both budget-friendly options to consider. Depending on your love of ankle protection or warmth, one of these two neoprene booties will be a good fit. The Paddle has a higher ankle and performed better in our tests for comfort and warmth, while the cheaper Kicker has a lower ankle and is easier to pull on but doesn't offer as much warmth.
—
Dan Scott
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