vibram soles

S

sasha

Joined
Feb 28, 2006
Messages
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Hi guys. My hiking shoes are worn out and im going to need to get me a new pair very soon. Today i been looking at some of the merill shoes. They got very high remarks on here and thats good for me. Looking at them i like them. How good are the soles they feel very good and soft.. But do they last long??? I tend to wear out the soles of the shoes before tops tear up. Just wonder how long should i expect them to last with hard hiking rock hoping and rough terain everyweekend????

Sasha
 
i own a pair of Merrll light hiking boots and like them just fine, good fit, nice support, and nice and cushy.

i have another pair of boots, some Survivors, that have vibram soles. these boots are my hunting, camping, serious hiking in bad terrain. ive had them for 15 years and theyre still very good soles. i cant beleive how tough vibram is, and it grips very well in dy, wet, snowy, rocky, and icy conditions. you wont go wrong with a combination of Merril and vibram. - Eric
 
MERRELL's are great boots, I am wearing a pair right now, it says continuum on them.
I have about 4 or 5 pairs of merrells and they last a long time, amazing value. Most are in the 100 to 130 range.
 
I own one pair of danner boots with vibram soles. The vibram soles are soft, and provide great traction. But the downside, in my experience, is that the vibram outsoles wear out on my boots in about 18-24 months. But since danner recrafts boots for a nominal fee, I just box up my boots and send them back to danner for recrafting. Problem solved.

Andy
 
thanks guys. I dont think on Merrells you can replace the soles. They seemed to be glued. With the price i would like them to last longer then the cheaper ones but i guess if they grip good in rough and climbing on rocks it should be worth it. I just hope they would tear chunks of the sole on some very sharp rocks and im out of shoes in a year.

sasha
 
Its a catch 22, the better the grip the softer the sole the faster they wear out. Buy a few pairs that fit when they go on clearance. I would say a year to a year and half is decent for every weekend.

Skam
 
I thought he was referring to these:
IMG_9279.jpg
 
J.S. Carter said:
:eek:Ninja:
those are the Gayest friggin shoe's I've ever laid eyes upon...
Click to expand...

What kind of sound do you make when you burst out laughing and catch it with your hand and turn away?
I won't attempt to spell it but you can imagine it, or you probably did it yourself.:D
 
Another for Danner here. I work and play in mine. I get about 2 years out of my outsoles, and as was stated already, they can be rebuilt. For the price, they can't be beat.
 
I have a pair of Merrell boots that I have had for at least 15 years. I have resoled them 5 or 6 times. The leather uppers are tough. The main part of the boot is made of one piece of leather, very water proof and warm in the winter. If you look around you may be able to find some that are not glued. I paid about $200.00 at the time I bought my boots, I feel I have got my money's worth out of them.
 
I just checked the web site and the boot I have is the wilderness boot. They show it having a retail price of $250.00.
 
I have a pair of Lowa Seeker GTX boots. Vibram soles and very lightweight. I used them for upland hunting and hiking. They are like wearing a pair of sneakers, but they are warm, the cover the ankle to the mid calf, and tough. They aren't cheap either. $194.00 normally, but I found them at a local store with one pair left in my size...$95.00.

Asolo hiking boots also have vibram soles and you can find some deals on www.sierratradingpost.com for them.

They have some Lowa hiking shoes on the site as well, I just prefer the boots.
 
I like my Merrels too. Vibram is pretty nice stuff but like cool_hand_luke says, they do wear out over time. From my experience (extensive hiking in the Whites+ Philmont) they do last longer than many other types of foot soles.
 
For outdoor use I think Vibram is international standard for quality outdoor boots and is quite proven: most are happy with the wear.

Now if you plan to use those a lot in the city... Well I had a pair of Meindl vibram sole trails that I once used as everyday shoes, and I must say that wear was quite quick compared to usual city shoes or sneakers.

So:
for outdoor use OK.
for "urban" use not so good.
 
Thank you guys for all the responce.. Im going to go for the boots now im going to find which ones i like the most and get them... Ninja what ever everyone says i think they are cool. I wonder how well they would do on grip of rocky terain???

Sasha
 
There are different kinds of Vibram soles with different durabilities. In general, the softer the rubber, the more grippy it will be and the faster it will wear out. Overall, Vibram is a good company, and I've had good luck with their soles, in terms of both grip and durability.
 
I've got a pair of Herman Survivors with Vibram soles that are 30 years old, plenty of good tread, and still very comfortable, and would be my first choice if I had only one pair of boots to choose for survival. I have worn them for snow conditions, hill country, through ponds, etc. I will not give them up.

On the other hand, they are heavy, and mostly I like a lightweight trail shoe in the summer. So I buy no-name brands that have soft soles with good traction and throw them when they're worn out.
 
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