RABBIT HIGH COUNTRY
Anytime an apparel company releases their first trail shoe, I don’t have very high expectations. However, the Rabbit High Country completely blew me away. What Rabbit gave us in the High Country is a shoe that is very well thought out, has all the right features us trail runners want, and man this shoe delivers! So sit tight and let's get to all the reasons why I love this shoe, and why you may too.
STATS
Well first off lets talk about the Stats of the High Country. It is a neutral trail running shoe, and as you can see it is pretty stiff. I am using quite a bit of strength and not getting much flex from this.
For the stack height in the mens, the rear is 38mm tall, and the front is 33mm tall, giving us a 5mm drop. I really like a 4 or 5mm drop in my trail shoes, and this was great for me. One of my all time favorite trail shoes was the Hoka Mafate Speed 4, and it had a 4mm drop. The newer Mafate 5, has an 8mm drop which isn’t great for me.
As for the weight of the High Country, my men's size 11 weighed in at 13.1 ounces or 374 grams. Certainly not a lightweight shoe, but with the technology in this midsole it never felt heavy running. For reference, the Hoka Mafate 5 in the same size weighed 12.4 ounces.
For the fit, overall it fits true to size for me. I was able to get the same size I wear in Hoka and it fit me great. More on the fit in just a moment.
UPPER
The upper of the Rabbit High Country is an engineered mesh made from 60% recycled materials. The material feels very similar to the Jacquard mesh in the Hoka Mafate Speed 4, and feels comfortable over the foot.
Rabbit claims this upper vents out heat and keeps debris out. Well lets take a look at the tissue test to see if that claim is accurate. With the hair dryer on low, you can see the tissue comes up a pretty good amount, and when switched to high, the tissue comes up very quickly showing you this is a breathable upper. The result was very similar to the Hoka Mafate 5, however, I feel when running I feel more airflow in the Rabbit High Country than I did in the Mafate 5.
Rabbit also claims the upper dries fast, so I had to test out the water drainability and drying. On one of my runs I completely submerged my feet for about 20 seconds to really let the water soak in. When I got out of the creek, you can see the water draining out. When I moved my foot around even more water came out, so I think these do drain pretty well. Here in Colorado the air is dry and shoes do dry pretty quickly. However, if you were back east or in a humid climate I think the heel collar may hold some moisture. I would say these appear to drain as well as the Mafate 5’s.
Now let's talk more about the fit of the High Country. The toe box is ample and feels about the same as the Mafate 5 in my opinion. I have an average to narrow width foot, and my toes had plenty of room. I never had any hot spots or rubbing. Also at the front there is a reinforced toe cap and bumper to help protect your toes from rock or root impacts. One thing I really like about this toe box is that the material doesn’t seem to stretch over time. With the Mafate 5 it has Hoka’s dynamic vamp, and it stretches quite a bit. I like that I can get the fit right and tie the High Country, and not have to worry about it changing over time.
Moving to the midfoot of the shoe, again it fit my average to narrow width foot really well. I never had any hot spots or rubbing, and it felt very comfortable. I think Rabbit did a great job with the fit and last they used to form this upper, as it should accommodate a wide variety of runners.
The tongue is gusseted so it won't be moving around on you, and the tongue itself is quite nice. It is a thinner tongue, but at the top there is some padding to help protect your feet from the laces. I like this tongue way better than the tongue on the Mafate 5, as it was too short and too thin. The tongue on the High Country feels like a great compromise of weight savings and protection.
The lacing system does its job well. I never had the lay flat laces come untied. One thing I noticed about the High Country lacing system is the shape and design is different than most shoes. Most shoes the lowest lace starts wide and then the eyelets either go straight up or they taper inward. With the High Country, the lowest lace is closer together then goes outward and tapers back in. I really like the way the HIgh Country’s laces hold my foot; it feels very secure and comfortable.
At the rear of the shoe there is a very padded heel collar, and it is quite plush. It feels similar to the Mafate 5 in padding density, but the material itself is very unique. It has more of an almost silky feel to it. This helps the foot slide in easily, and with this lacing system, I never experienced any heel slippage. My heel felt secure, protected, and comfortable. The heel collar does feel lower than on the Mafate 5, so if you have experienced ankle discomfort from the heel collar in other shoes the High Country may fit you well.
Overall, I really like the upper on the Rabbit High Country! It is very comfortable, protective, and secure in my opinion.
MIDSOLE
Next let's talk about the midsole of the Rabbit High Country. There are quite a few parts to this midsole, so let's break it all down.
The first thing under your foot is the insole, and Rabbit actually gives you two different insoles. The one I have been using the most is the Blumaka Non-Slip Konnect™ insole with ZONAL GRIP™ tech for locked-in foot stability and zero slippage. When they say zero slippage, they mean it. In order to get the shoes on with this insole inserted, I have to really loosen the laces a lot, because I can’t just slide my foot in these otherwise. The sock grips to the insole and bunches up under my foot if I didn’t really loosen the laces. When running, I never had any slippage, even after soaking my feet and socks. Rabbit also includes an additional EVA insole for those that prefer a more familiar feel.
Directly under the insole is Rabbits Flowstate Foam midsole for long-lasting cushion and lightweight responsiveness. Flowstate Foam is designed to offer all day comfort and protection, and I found this midsole to be really comfortable, even over rocky terrain or gravel.
But what makes this midsole different is below the Flowstate Foam, and that is their Patented Carbon Trax™ plates housed in an EVA cavity for adaptive support and energy return. These are two separate carbon plates that are parallel to each other under the midfoot to the heel. Flipping the shoe over you can see the orange EVA cavity where the plates are, and the plates run from about here to here. Normally I am not a fan of carbon plates in trail shoes, as so far I haven’t found one that I really liked and felt comfortable in over technical terrain. What is great about Rabbit’s Carbon Trax is these plates are fairly short and narrow, and the way they are positioned more rearward has resulted in a more stable shoe in my opinion. When those plates come into the forefoot, I have found those tend to feel more unstable. Now with the plates being more rear to midfoot, they also won’t be as propulsive, but to me that is absolutely fine in the High Country as this is not meant to be a front running racing shoe in my opinion.
Like I said earlier, one of my all time favorite trail shoes was the Hoka Mafate Speed 4; I have run three 100 mile races in that shoe, including the Leadville 100. What I loved about that shoe was the comfort, protection and stability. The Mafate 5 completely changed that in my opinion, and I was left wondering what shoe would I want to use for another 100 now that my favorites were gone? The very first time I ran in the Rabbit High Country I was smiling and thinking to myself, Oh man, this feels like a Mafate Speed 4 clone! I was so excited. Everything I loved about the Mafate Speed 4 is in the High Country. Running in the High Country, even over rocky terrain, my feet felt comfortable, protected, and more importantly stable. No, these are not the propulsive La Sportiva Prodigio Pro, but what Rabbit has done with this midsole in the High Country is pretty special in my mind.
OUTSOLE
The outsole of the Rabbit High Country is their proprietary 360 GRIP™ outsole with precision-placed lugs for traction in every direction, wet or dry. You can see the lugs are multi directional, and the black portion is the 360 Grip material, while the orange lugs are just rubberized EVA.
The lugs are 4mm in depth, which is plenty for most types of terrain, and offers really pretty great traction overall. The 360 Grip does the job, but it is not as tacky as say the Vibram Megagrip outsole. This was noticeable when jumping from rock to rock. Otherwise, the 360 Grip performed fine, and should work over a variety of terrain.
The lugs are spaced well, so mud shouldn’t clump too badly on these, although I didn’t really have the chance to get them in any mud as we have had quite a dry winter so far.
As for durability of this outsole, that remains to be seen as there isn’t any history with this outsole to draw from. So time will tell.
PRICE
The Rabbit High Country retails for $180 USD, which is 5 bucks cheaper than the Mafate 5. Overall, for what you get with this shoe, I think the price is decent.
BOTTOM LINE
Well the bottom line of the Rabbit High Country is this was a very surprising shoe to me, but in a good way. I was not expecting much since this was Rabbits first trail shoe, but I have really come to love this shoe. I was so disappointed in Hoka when they changed the Mafate so drastically with the release of the 5, but I am SO GLAD the Rabbit High Country can fill that Mafate Speed 4 void! I think the HIgh Country would be a great option for almost any 100 mile race, and certainly long adventure runs. So if you loved the Mafate Speed 4 like I did, and are looking for its replacement, then look no further than the Rabbit High Country; I think you will really like it.
Well I was late in getting this review out, so hopefully you all have had some time to try it; let me know below what you think of it. I would love to hear your thoughts.
Thank you Rabbit for sending the shoes, and thank you all so much for watching. I’ll see you in the next one.
Video Review: https://youtu.be/zX-DkVLcf9k
