hiking shoes reviews

The North Face Safien GTX hiking shoes.

Gear Review: The North Face Safien GTX Hiking Shoes

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Hiking Shoes
The North Face Safien GTX
$140, 1 lb. 10 oz. (US men’s 9)
Sizes: men’s 7-14, women’s 5-11
Moosejaw.com

Few outings test the comfort and support of hiking shoes like a rim-to-rim dayhike across the Grand Canyon. So to take the full measure of the purported extra cushioning in The North Face Safien GTX shoes, I hiked them across the Big Ditch and back again over two days—a total of 42 miles and about 22,000 vertical feet of serious pounding on consecutive days—and finished feeling no small measure of relief that these shoes really are as cushy as TNF claims. They also have other strengths as well as some minor weaknesses.

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The North Face Ultra Fastpack III Mid GTX hiking boots.

Gear Review: The North Face Ultra Fastpack III Mid GTX Boots

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Hiking and Backpacking Boots
The North Face Ultra Fastpack III Mid GTX
$170, 1 lb. 15 oz. (US men’s 9)
Sizes: men’s 7-14, women’s 5-11
Moosejaw.com

Supportive, durable, waterproof-breathable, mid-cut boots that weigh under two pounds are a rare breed, so I was intrigued by the specs on The North Face Ultra Fastpack III Mid GTX boots. But I’ve also worn enough lightweight boots to know that many do not measure up when it comes to delivering solid support and stability for dayhiking and backpacking mountain trails. So I took these boots on a four-day, roughly 30-mile family backpacking trip in August in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains—and they aced every test.

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A backpacker hiking the Timberline Trail around Oregon's Mount Hood.

Are You Still Wasting Money on Outdoor Gear?

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By Michael Lanza

What if every time you laid down money for hiking, backpacking, or other outdoors gear, you always knew exactly what you needed and were invariably satisfied with your purchase for years afterward? What if you knew every time whether it was smarter to spring for the pricier piece of gear or go for the cheaper model? What if you always knew when and where to find the best gear at rock-bottom sale prices?

Read on to learn how you can become that expert gear buyer—just in time for ongoing gear sales at many online retailers.

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Salewa Wildfire hiking and approach shoes.

Gear Review: Salewa Wildfire Hiking-Approach Shoes

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Hiking/Approach Shoes
Salewa Wildfire
$129, 1 lb. 11 oz. (US men’s 9)
Sizes: US men’s 6-12, women’s 3-9
moosejaw.com

The term “approach shoes” can misleadingly imply that those shoes aren’t made for dayhikers who largely stick to trails, perhaps only occasionally wandering off-trail, when actually, that couldn’t be further from the truth. For years, I’ve found that shoes lumped into this category are my favorite picks for typical dayhikes of any distance, on trails ranging from packed dirt to rocky, and I’ve liked them for performance aspects that should appeal to most hikers: good fit and breathability, protective uppers, and outstanding traction. Hit those targets while making the shoe lighter and it’s even more attractive. That’s why I tried out the low-cut Salewa Wildfire on hikes ranging from a nine-mile, roughly 2,500-foot jaunt to Observation Point and Hidden Canyon in Zion National Park to hiking and scrambling on spring days at Idaho’s City of Rocks National Reserve.

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Gear Review: Brooks Cascadia 12 Trail Running and Hiking Shoes

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Brooks Cascadia 12 trail-running shoes.
Brooks Cascadia 12 trail-running shoes.

Hiking/Trail Running Shoes
Brooks Cascadia 12
$130, 1 lb. 10 oz. (US men’s 9)
Sizes: men’s 7-15, women’s 5-12
moosejaw.com

Lightweight, low-cut, trail-running shoes that cross over well to dayhiking and ultralight backpacking can look similar, but many share the same three shortcomings: inadequate support and cushioning for rugged trails; not enough toe space, especially for longer outings; and uppers that lack the durability for the abuse of rocky trails. Wearing the Brooks Cascadia 12 on fall trail runs of up to 10 miles, and on a 16-mile, roughly 5,000-vertical-foot dayhike of Utah’s 11,749-foot Mount Timpanogos, I found these shoes excel where other models fail at all three of those performance metrics—while still weighing in lighter than many competitors. Here’s why.

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