u/RBH_Euphoria

My wife and I are heading to Sedona for 4 days of hiking in about a week, and after that we're planning trips to Oregon, Washington, Montana, and Wyoming — so I'll be hiking a lot over the next year.

Quick background on me:

• 2 years hiking, max 8 miles on easy trails
• 5'8", 170 lbs, pretty athletic
• Flat feet, wide toe box, run hot easily
• Prone to ankle rolls, need good shock absorption

What I've tried so far:

• Merrell — tried 5 pairs, heel slips out on all of them, writing off the brand entirely
• KEEN (own a pair) — haven't stress tested them yet because I don't want to lose the return window. Seeing a lot of reviews about soles delaminating and comfort dropping off after the first mile

Brands I keep hearing about: Salomon, Adidas Terrex, and Asics keep coming up. I'm familiar with all three as brands obviously, but I genuinely can't tell what's real performance versus expensive marketing. Same question for the hiking shoe space in general — are there other brands I'm not even thinking about that are actually worth looking into?

Budget: Under $150, ideally closer to $100. Still figuring out what I like so I don't want to drop $200 yet.

What would you actually recommend? Looking for something non-waterproof (desert heat), wide toe box, good ankle support, solid shock absorption, and durable enough to hold up across multiple trips throughout the year.

My wife and I are heading to Sedona for 4 days of hiking in about a week, and after that we're planning trips to Oregon, Washington, Montana, and Wyoming — so I'll be hiking a lot over the next year.

Quick background on me:

• 2 years hiking, max 8 miles on easy trails
• 5'8", 170 lbs, pretty athletic
• Flat feet, wide toe box, run hot easily
• Prone to ankle rolls, need good shock absorption

What I've tried so far:

• Merrell — tried 5 pairs, heel slips out on all of them, writing off the brand entirely
• KEEN (own a pair) — haven't stress tested them yet because I don't want to lose the return window. Seeing a lot of reviews about soles delaminating and comfort dropping off after the first mile

Brands I keep hearing about: Salomon, Adidas Terrex, and Asics keep coming up. I'm familiar with all three as brands obviously, but I genuinely can't tell what's real performance versus expensive marketing. Same question for the hiking shoe space in general — are there other brands I'm not even thinking about that are actually worth looking into?

Budget: Under $150, ideally closer to $100. Still figuring out what I like so I don't want to drop $200 yet.

What would you actually recommend? Looking for something non-waterproof (desert heat), wide toe box, good ankle support, solid shock absorption, and durable enough to hold up across multiple trips throughout the year.

My wife and I are heading to Sedona for 4 days of hiking in about a week, and after that we're planning trips to Oregon, Washington, Montana, and Wyoming — so I'll be hiking a lot over the next year.

Quick background on me:

• 2 years hiking, max 8 miles on easy trails
• 5'8", 170 lbs, pretty athletic
• Flat feet, wide toe box, run hot easily
• Prone to ankle rolls, need good shock absorption

What I've tried so far:

• Merrell — tried 5 pairs, heel slips out on all of them, writing off the brand entirely
• KEEN (own a pair) — haven't stress tested them yet because I don't want to lose the return window. Seeing a lot of reviews about soles delaminating and comfort dropping off after the first mile

Brands I keep hearing about: Salomon, Adidas Terrex, and Asics keep coming up. I'm familiar with all three as brands obviously, but I genuinely can't tell what's real performance versus expensive marketing. Same question for the hiking shoe space in general — are there other brands I'm not even thinking about that are actually worth looking into?

Budget: Under $150, ideally closer to $100. Still figuring out what I like so I don't want to drop $200 yet.

What would you actually recommend? Looking for something non-waterproof (desert heat), wide toe box, good ankle support, solid shock absorption, and durable enough to hold up across multiple trips throughout the year.