Etnies The Tip Skate Shoe Review

Etnies The Tip are cool new rough and ready skate shoes designed by Rune Glifberg. Lightweight EVA footbead increases board feel, while the perforated leather upper helps your foot breathe. The Etnies “E” looks spreaypainted on the side for a hit-the-streets look. The shoe is lightly padded but double and tripple stitched to last as long as the action leather or suede the shoe is made from.

Rune Glifberg has been skating for a long time – he started almost twenty years ago when back in his homwetown of Denmark, Copenhagen a buddy introduced him to the sport. He’s been winning big ever since, and is well known as a funny, friendly guy who just loves to skate.

Etnies The Tips are the first skate shoe designed by Rune. They're a light weight shoe, perfect for serious, aggressive skating. The suede or action leather upper is double stitched all over the place, making the shoe strong. The toe cap is tripple stitched on, and the 400 NBS rubber outsole is double stitched to the shoe on the front half. This shoe is built for destruction. The good kind.

The tongue and collar have padding to help the shoe grip your foot, and to protectthe top of your foot. There’s not as much padding as you might see in the larger, boxier moon-boot skate shoes, but these Runes are built for a slightly different crowd. Runes do make a statement, but it’s a more rough, industrial one – symbolised by the spray-painted logo on the side pannels.

Drawbacks would be the lack of anything cool and new. I’m a sucker for air bags and special ollie pannels. These shoes aren’t cheaply built – they simply aim for thick, tested, durrable designs rather than gadgets and gizmos. This also helps keep them lightweight. If you have skated for long, and haven’t tried thinner soled shoes yet, these would be a great one to try. These shoes are built for serious skateboarding.