User Review: Merrell Men's Moab Ventilator Mid

Summary

I would highly recommend these! Used only two pairs on my thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail in 2012.

I could not recommend these shoes enough. Let me explain.

I had no idea what to do for shoes while prepping for my Appalachian Trail thru-hike, and I spent a ton of time researching. I had a list of a dozen or so different brands, styles, sizes, etc.,  and I knew that I wanted a mid size because I thought it would be a good compromise between ankle support, weight and sturdiness. I came across these Merrells which retail right at $100, but I happened to find a good deal somewhere online for only $60. So I bought them. I think I tried them on maybe once at REI, but that was about it.

They came in the mail, and I was pleasantly surprised. Right out of the box they are extremely comfortable. That doesn’t tell you much until you start hiking for 8-12 hours a day in them though. So when that started, I was again pleasantly surprised. Normally you’ll have to purchase boots several weeks in advance, and then spend that time breaking them in, but honestly I didn’t do a bit of breaking these bad boys in.

They’re pretty breathable and so dry out fairly quick. As a side note, definitely do not get a Gore-Tex boot, because those will take days to dry out and will make your feet miserable.

These Merrells had another couple of awesome surprises. My first pair lasted for 1600 miles all the way until Massachusetts. In fact, they looked brand new all the way until I got to the awful state of Pennsylvania which pretty much shredded them. When I was in Virginia, a fellow hiker had told me about a deal that Merrell had specifically for AT thru-hikers, in which they would replace your boot for free one time only, and send it to you anywhere on the trail. Let me repeat. Fo’ free. 

Mine were sent to Dalton, Massachusetts and my second pair lasted all the way to Katahdin. So I essentially spent $60 on two pairs of boots. I heard of people having to purchase 3-4 pairs of shoes, spending upwards of $300. These were extremely popular on the trail, and I saw dozens of other hikers with these exact same shoes.

I’m very happy with them, and combined with my Superfeet insoles, they made for some extremely happy feet.