MerrellMoab 2 Mid GTX Men's High Rise Hiking Boots

This is my 4th pair of the above boots. The positives are that they are fantastically light @ 1148g per pair. They are water proof for only about 6 months however, The Goretex membrane obviously breaks down in the sandwich. I have never been able to reproof boots with spraying, They will withstand a shower or two but walking through wet grass kills the proofing dead. To offset this problem I simply buy new ones for serious walking and wear the still useful old ones for leisure use.The bottoms although bog standard Vibram, On these boots they seem to last far longer than any other I have ever worn. I wear the boots every single day, Town & Country, Despite the problem of the proofing lessoning over time, I would never wear any other boot but these. I am 66yrs old, I spend my money wisely!.

These boots would have initially have got a 4-star review. They are light and comfortable out of the box but my pair made a loud "windscreen wiper" flip-flop sound.However, after 6-9 months of fairly light use - mainly local dog walks with a couple to more significant undertakings, the soles still look to be barely worn - several of the materials around ball of the foot have split, separated or degraded to the point where any hint of water immediately soaks my feet.For comparison, my wife has recently bought a pair of boots from Decathlon and initial impressions are just as good but, if they also degrade as quickly, they were at least less than half the price.In short, not good enough for the "Mother Of All Boots".

Having said that I bought these at a discount of £64. I always go through Amazon and find the discounted stock.I think top price is about £120.00. Merrell make excellent footwear (in Vietnam). Heed the warning in the sales blurb and buy half a size too big ie I bought 10UK and usually take 9.5UK 43 European.I sinned when I bought these with the excuse that they cover the ankle. These are Goretex waterproof/breathable with a good sole, light weight and you don't know you've got them on. I wear my Merrell waterproof shoes I've worn every day for 3-4 years when I go out of the house. If you are foot-slogging around a town or city your feet would ache in a pair of sandals or ordinary shoes. Good for rough terrain too. Good for rambling but perhaps not built for the climbing sort of rambling. My excuse for buying this half boot style when my shoes are still good is that, when the monsoon rain came down (in Leicestershire) the other day, the water was getting in over the tops of my Merrell walking shoes.

Excellent lightweight walking boots from Merrell. They are very comfortable and I found did not need breaking in. I haven't tested them in very wet conditions yet but I am hoping the Gore-tex lining in these boots is as good as my old pair which never let me down - it was just the outside of the boots that eventually gave up

UPDATE: LEAKED on first wet walk - not very wet or very long. Accepted option to return :)Tried these after having Salomon GTXs for a few years.Nice and light but pretty narrow which meant I had to break them in - first time for a pair of boot like these.