Which hiking shoes/boots would you recommend?

Pretty easy title. Looking for some mid height boots.

I've had my eye on the Merrell Sawtooths because so many people at the dept have been wearing them. For use on tactical oriented jobs they are really nice..

However I'm not sure I want to go hiking/caving in shoes that aren't waterproof.

As a side note.. the spray on water proofing stuff.. does it actually work?

If you have narrow feet take a long hard look at the Salomons. Pretty much all of their boots are straight up awesome, including the Quest 4D and the XA Pro 3D.

If you're like me and have wide feet, however, you might be better served with Keen or Lowa, particularly the Lowa Zephyr.

You'll also find some great Asolos in both wide and narrow sizes as well.

Merrell makes fine boots, but I think the others mentioned have an edge in comfort and stability.

carrot said:

If you have narrow feet take a long hard look at the Salomons. Pretty much all of their boots are straight up awesome, including the Quest 4D and the XA Pro 3D.

If you're like me and have wide feet, however, you might be better served with Keen or Lowa, particularly the Lowa Zephyr.

You'll also find some great Asolos in both wide and narrow sizes as well.

Merrell makes fine boots, but I think the others mentioned have an edge in comfort and stability.

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I've found a few pairs of Keen locally I like a lot and was wondering about their reputation/quality.

I've already drooled over the Quest 4Ds but I'll have to convince myself I'll actually use them enough to justify the price.

I have a pair of Asolos (TPS 520 GV) that I've hiked and climbed hundreds of miles in. They are some of the most comfortable, stable, waterproof and durable hiking boots I've ever owned and for anyone serious about hiking they are worth every penny.

Aquaseal waterproofer/conditioner works very well but it's a silicone paste you need to work in. I recommend it over the spray on kind.

Search said:

As a side note.. the spray on water proofing stuff.. does it actually work?

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Not spray on and requires the boots to be warm to apply, easy on a nice warm sunny day.



I've been using it for at least twenty years, the best I've found.

Norm

Search said:

I've found a few pairs of Keen locally I like a lot and was wondering about their reputation/quality.

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When I worked at a place that sold Keens and other brands, my footwear colleague asserted that Keens were at least Merrell level of quality and possibly slightly higher. To my knowledge they seem to wear pretty well.

I am usually wearing Scarpa's or Aku's and sometimes Zamberlain's. Check these out. They are really great boots...Robert

Norm said:

Not spray on and requires the boots to be warm to apply, easy on a nice warm sunny day.

I've been using it for at least twenty years, the best I've found.

Norm

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_____^^

I'll quote the whole thing because I couldn't agree more.

Many of my shoes & winter boots get the treatment along with my work gloves.
Use a hairdrier to heat up the SNO SEAL for best results {good even application}
I get the jar.


Keeping it simple often works the best

After reading a lot of reviews of the Salomon Quest 4D GTX I decided to buy a pair.. Found a dealer that sold them for roughly 175 shipped so I jumped all over it.

I've read a lot of good things about those Asolos but pulled the trigger before I checked back to this thread

Looks like I'm too late. I was going to suggest Vasque Breeze hiking boots. They're one of the most popular boots for hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail. That says a lot about them. Hikers generally replace them about every 500 miles on their hike.

I'm not a big fan of "hikers". I am wearing a pair of Asolo hikers that I bought about 8-9 months ago for hiking, but it turned out that they took forever to get adequately broken in, and prior to that they were too stiff and uncomfortable. Crazy thing is , these were voted best hikers of the year when they came out somewhere between 2000-2002. That's why I bought them, but they've been relegated to casual wear, and not for hiking. Actually, the insoles in them were so thin and the footbed pretty much just sits right on top of the hard, unforgiving soles so they were unbelievably uncomfortable to walk in til I bought aftermarket insoles and put them in top of the factory ones. But even then they aren't as comfortable as the hunting boots I've always bought for hiking.

I have bought nothing but Rocky brand lightweight hunting boots for over 22 years now. They are usually lighter than many hikers and there is usually zero break in period. I've bought new pairs and taken them out on long backpacking trips with little to no break in, and they were perfectly comfy with no blisters. Plus I'd trust the soles on them more than these Asolo soles for traction.

Look for hunting boots made with Cordura nylon outers covered by leather around the heel and toes for reinforcement. I find that I can almost always order Rockys and they will be true to size. I like the Rocky Lynx hunting boots as hiking boots. they arent the best looking boots ive ever seen, but theyve been great on the trail and arent too expensive once you look around online. Just dont buy them at the Rocky store cause they charge full MSRP, whereas most other stores charge at least 30% less generally. I have been wearing a pair of all leather Rocky Ridge Top hikers for work boots for over a year.

I see you made your choice and they look great.
I do alot of approach hikes
and I need the best possible grip
if anyone is after comfort and the best grip in wet and steep rocky terrain
I found any of Five Ten shoes with the stealth rubber sole to be the best
there is supposed to be an Adidas all terrain terrex with the stealth rubber sole coming
but it cant find it anywhere yet
anyone seen them i'd like to buy some
(they are only low cut but I prefer that)

Salomon are nice, these ones are waterproof and kick ***: http://m.rei.com/mt/www.rei.com/product/828701/salomon-xa-pro-3d-ultra-mid-2-gtx-hiking-shoes-mens

Just to reiterate, I did buy the Salomon Quest 4D GTX boots..

Wore them off and on for about a week and broke them in the best I could. Last weekend I did a 23 mile hike at Natchez Trace Nation Park in Tennessee and was extremely impressed..

I overloaded my 5.11 Rush 12 backpack with extra stuff to test it's comfort along with the shoes comfort with a heavy load. When I finally made it back to my truck my back, legs, and shoulders were a little sore but my feet felt like I hadn't even been hiking. So all in all I'm very happy with them. As long as they don't fall apart I am pleased.

Hiking on a 90 degree day was interesting. Was my first decent hike of the year. 16 tics and a few chiggers later I remembered how important bug spray is in the summer

started to say, I lost respect for rocky boots. I haven't had a pair that lasted me anymore than 3 months here lately. off course i do rough work and they really get used a lot, but i used to get a lot longer life out of them. I normally now just buy whatever is on sale at wal mart on boots. i haven't found a pair here lately that can last me more than 6 months.

+1 on the Asolos. You can check out the Fugitive.

I also have the Asolo Superfly which are very similar but much lighter: they are good if you want to go light and fast but on more rugged terrain or if you have a heavy pack you are better off with something heavier.

I have heard great things about Meindl hiking boots too.

Frijid said:

started to say, I lost respect for rocky boots. I haven't had a pair that lasted me anymore than 3 months here lately. off course i do rough work and they really get used a lot, but i used to get a lot longer life out of them. I normally now just buy whatever is on sale at wal mart on boots. i haven't found a pair here lately that can last me more than 6 months.

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It depends on what they are made of. I have noticed that some Rocky boots have dropped in quality a bit over the past 5 years, but I have a pair of Rocky Ridgetop Hikers(all leather) that I've worn only as work boots, and in the worst conditions where they get wet all the time, are soaked in chemicals and bleach here and there, regularly muddy, to the point where the soles are nearly flat, and they have lasted 13 months so far. I had a pair I bought in '08 of their all leather boots last me over 2 years as work boots under the same conditions.

But I made the mistake of turning a pair of Rocky Lynx hunting boots into work boots, and they are made with Cordura nylon outers, with just a little leather over the heel and toe, and they didnt last long as work boots because nylon isnt made to hold up under extremely abrasive conditions like leather, and the nylon tore and holes opened up in a few months. But I shouldnt have used them for that purpose to begin with. I have a pair of insulated, cold weather Rocky hunting boots that I havent hardly worn yet, and they have one of the best sole patterns Ive seen for tough terrain and they are extremely comfortable, which seems par for the course for 90% of the Rockys I've bought.

I'm on the late train just wanted to mention the Danner Mountain Light IIs. These are very comfy and recently have become available in Black (for tactical purposes). Danner also has a Combat Hiker it also came out in black but have not seen them available recently dont know if they got discountined.