User Review: Merrell Summit II

Merrell Summit II
Above: The current Summit II, which may differ slightly from the version reviewed.

Reviewed October 1, 2007 by Keith Patton

Rating: rated 0 of 5 stars
Materials: Leather uppers plastic rubber lowers
Use: Back Packing
Break-in Period: negligable
Weight: Medium
Price Paid: $150

I am a geologist and have owned a lot of boots in my career for work and pleasure. My first pair were leather hard shell "berg shue" I purchased in Germany. A lot of other boots died along the trail. I purchased a pair of Merrell's prior to a trip to Yellowstone and the Tetons 4 years ago. After the trip they sat in my closet until this weekend.

The boots were comfortable and I had no complaints and was impressed until I backpacked into the wilderness area of Enchanted Rock in Texas. BOTH soles detached the evening of the first day.

I was leery of the injection molded construction process they use on most of their boots in place of the Norwegian welt stitching. My opinion was justified. On inspecting the first blown out boot, I found that the adhesive/rubber bonding compound affixing the Vibram soles had just disintegrated into a gummy dry powder that you could rub off with your finger. This is common of untried compounds. I had the same thing happen years ago to the foam suspension ring on a pair of high dollar Infinity speakers too.

DO NOT purchase any Merrell boots with the non-stitched sole unless you want to throw them away after a year. We are apparently in the age of the disposable running shoe/boot. Boots should last a lifetime and be resolable. I still have a pair of Merrell's Wilderness with the Norwegian Welt sole that I bought in 1985 and are my warm weather boots and are still going strong. If the welt isn't stitched don't touch it. I doubt if any of their high tech looking boots which look more like running shoes anyway, are resolable. I am in the process of trying to get redress, but I am sure any warranty has expired.

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