Salewa Wildfire Edge GTX Mid Hiking Boot - Men's for Sale, Reviews, Deals and Guides

then this boot is for you. Putting these on is a painful exercise in futility. I have an easier time putting my ski boots on! Once on, they are comfortable, but IMO, the effort is not worth it. If they wanted a cuff seal, they should have gone with a zipper or something.

As a trail builder, I was attracted to these boots for several reasons: light weight, durable materials, the built-in gaiter, and nice lugs on the sole. I was going to be wearing them 10 hours a day for five days a week. I was blown away by the quality for the first month or so, although the gaiter feature made the boots very difficult to put on, difficult to take off, and did not keep debris out of the boots. A better option is to purchase regular boots and a set of gaiters. About one month in I had shoelace loops on both boots break, not a huge deal. Here's what they look like after six months of use. I'm very disappointed in their longevity, given the cost of the boots. They are not "a true workhorse" as their employee review suggests. They have some good features, but the main feature was a pain, and they just didn't last at all.

*Full Disclosure* I am employed by Oberalp NA, the parent company of Salewa, so make of this review what you will. This is my favorite boot in our line. I have been able to use a few others, but nothing did the trick for me like this one. It is important to know that this boot is fairly technical, so your daily wear-to-work boot this will probably not be. This boot is made to be on technical trail and off trail terrains. The edging plate in the forefoot gives it added stiffness for when you are really trying to get a purchase on small footholds for technical scrambling, and the full down-to-the-toe lacing system means you can dial in your lacing and lock down your foot as precisely as possible. Not scrambling up the side of mountains? No problem. I recently got my dad a pair for use at our family cabin, and he loves all those same features to work in the rugged uneven terrain surrounding the cabin. It is waterproof, rugged, provides plenty of grip and stability, and keeps out pesky rocks and shrubs with its integrated gaiter. The only issues I have ever had with this are the sizing and the gaiter. For sizing, since this is a more technical fit, I generally suggest going a half size up from your standard size to give both precision and comfort. As for the gaiter, it just takes some getting used to ;)

Sizing is right with Merrell MOAB's, not a single blister yet, The lacing to the toes is new to me but I like being able to adjust the width of the forefoot somewhat. Great traction.