Merrell Switchback

This boot is wonderful. This pair lasted about 1000 miles or so hiking in northern Wyoming and southern Montana last summer. I bushwhacked miles and miles everyday following mustangs around for a government project. these boots were comfortable and quite waterproof (I did not have the gore-tex model). The cushion was firm and the soles showed little wear even after all the miles. Vibram soles are great, very sticky, crossed boulder fields in the rain with no problem.

My one complaint - the stitching between the rubber and leather on the back of the boot eventually split (on both boots) which allowed water to leak in. It probably could have been repaired but i returned them in exchange for a pair of Salomons.

The take home - great midweight boot, typical Merrell comfort, but with a design flaw. Would I pay full price for it? Probably not. I did however just buy a second pair off of Sierra Trading Post for 64 bucks. If I'm willing to buy it a second time it says something. If you get a deal on them, it's worth it. I'm sure they would stand up much longer with traditional trail hiking.

These boots have not seen much use yet, but on the couple of trips out they have been used on, they preformed without flaw.

Comfortable right out of the box. My first true pair of hiking boots. They saw snow ranging from 1 inch to as much as a foot of snow in their first use. I would recommend Merrell products to just about anyone.

My feet stayed dry and toasty even though they spent the majority of their use so far covered in snow.

Developed blisters on both feet the first time out, on a four-mile hike on flat terrain. A ridge encompasses the heel portion and creates friction when wet from sweat.