I bought a pair of Vasque Equalizers when they first came out. I found the bizarre lacing system to be horrible -- the cord tabs immediately came off when pulled, the cord locks for the lower laces would not lock, and the upper webbing straps would not hold. Eventually (after 15 miles total) both upper webbing buckles broke, leaving me to downclimb class 4 with the shoes just hanging off my feet.

I have written polite e-mails to vasque with no response. I hope they have changed the lacing design.

If you bought these shoes with the old design, take heart. I replaced the non-functional lower cord locks with those from a pair of defunct water shoes, and replaced the webbing with regular laces. And now, the shoes work.

I'm sure the prototypes worked well, and then some money-grubbing corporate sh*thead decided to use cheaper non-functional materials for the lacing system.

And Chief: the shoes are made in China.