****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I have very flat feet with moderate pronation and outward deviating great toes. Because of this I have problems with painful callouses on the great toes that rub up against any shoe. Merrell Moab Ventilator was my fourth purchase in the pursuit of a shoe that I could use for hiking on the rugged trails around Lake Mead near Las Vegas, Nevada. All of the others failed to give me any relief and even on short walks with my dogs, my great toe callous was sore and the balls of the feet hurt. A guy in a sporting goods store suggested that I try Merrell, and I said "why not," I have tried everything else. To compensate for my toe problem, I ordered a size 1/2 larger than usual and the widest offered. Much to my surprise and relief, the Merrell fit much better than the others. The key factor was the heal cushion that supported the heel strike and had a slight angulation that helped to compensate for the pronation issue and took the pressure off the great toe callous. I went back to my other shoes and each time my feet hurt after only a short walk, I tried the Merrell on 3 to 8 mile desert hikes and found that I ended the hike with "happy feet." Similar hikes in the other shoes that I had tried had left me with bruising and bleeding under the callous. Not so with the Merrell. The Merrell has Vibram soles and the mesh tops allow for real ventilation and cooling of the feet on hot desert hikes. The shoes allowed good traction when scrambling over rocks. The tongue padding was just right, not too thick to cause irritation and not too thin as to cause a band sensation across the top of the foot. The shoe sizes appear to be standard, but as noted above, I needed extra room and size to accommodate my foot abnormality. I have had the present shoes for four months and they are still performing. Once, in the dark I mistakenly put on a pair of the other shoes that I have and almost immediately I knew that I had chosen the wrong shoes. Quickly went back and got my Merrells.The only issue I do have with the shoe is that the Vibram sole is a bit thin for hiking in the rocky desert and I wished that the sole was a little thicker to protect the bottom of my feet. No problem, I inserted a pair of Dr. Scholl's Active Series inserts (that I had previously purchased to compensate for the faults of the other shoe brands; but did not help) and I have never looked back. Completed a 10 mile hike without problems.I have also tried Hi-tec and Keen, all good shoes, but they did not work for my particular problems. Those with normal feet will likely find these shoes meet their needs.This shoe meets my special needs. I am sure that people with "normal feet" will like this shoe as well. For regular walking on smooth surfaces, no inserts needed. I will be ordering two more pair of these shoes to have on hand in case the model is discontinued.I am typically a high end shoe guy (you get what you pay for more often than not and if you take care of your feet, they will take care of you) preferring Lowa and other top brands. In this day and age, all the craze is waterproof and Gore-Tex lined footwear which is great except for the summer and hot weather locations. I know Gore-Tex is supposed to be "breathable" but my feet just cant take the heat inside those materials. They sweat profusely, much faster than the material can "breathe" away. All that moisture, with the added friction of hiking tears my feet up - some of the worst blisters have been from wearing great boots that were Gore-Tex lined in the heat.My answer has been to start wearing boots and shoes that are mesh and highly ventilated. Yes my feet get wet when I step in a puddle or cross water. But not any more so than sweating all day, and they dry much faster than in Gore-Tex boots. I think it is a good trade off.Hence the Moab Ventilator... These are not made for hiking heavy packs. There is zero ankle stability or the stiff foot bed you expect from a high end hiking boot. These are more like tennis shoes or athletic shoes. Disappointing from that point (but you get what you pay for remember). What was pleasantly surprising to me was just how comfortable these shoes are. They fit like a glove (size is true), and are made in a manner to avoid hotspots and will absolutely allow your feet to breathe. Exactly what I was looking for and at a very reasonable price.These are not shoes to throw 100 pounds of kit on your back and hike up anything with. They are probably not for long hikes with just water on your back. (Sorry but there is just not the support for your feet). They are perfectly suited for all day wear around camp, working, and perhaps even post hiking (they are so comfortable, I can imagine taking very sore feet after a full day of heavy hiking or hunting and putting them in these shoes).Perhaps I do not give these shoes enough credit for being durable and appropriate for hiking, I am sure that there are those out there that have and do use Merrell for extended hiking. And they can write their own review. That is to say that from my perspective, (someone who owns a lot of high end hiking boots and shoes) that these shoes are great. Very comfortable, and do provide that missing niche in today's waterproof boot craze, particularly if you don't expect too much out of them in an heavy weight or long distance hiking situation.I highly recommend these shoes in spite of my ranting against them, and have since purchased a second pair.Purchase a set, you wont be sorry even if all you use them for are camp shoes.This is the seventh pairs of these Merrells, purchased over the last 2 years, for various family members. The soles are fantastic, wear for ever. The tops are hard wearing and look smart with little or no maintenance.The only problems we have had with two of these pairs, is the join between the sole and the shoe.. One pair (18 months ago ) failed there after a month and was promptly replaced. Those replacements are still going strong with daily wear. A second pair wore well for eight months and then came apart in similar place. This pair had endured very heavy wear, so now I am replacing that pair with these just purchased.Four other pairs including my own are still going strong with various adult family members.Despite problems as described ,these shoes are still the best I can find anywhere, in the £60 and under price bracket. ( yes they can cost a lot more but I shop around!)They are very comfortable to wear, but some sizes seem a little small, so I usually buy half size bigger than normal.I thought this price was too good to be true and unfortunately I was right. I suspect these shoes are fakes or seconds as they looked and felt slightly different to the genuine pair I owned previously. As it is they were comfortable and good to walk in for the 6 months I have used them. However, shortly after I started using them a small hole appeared where the sole joins the uppers near the toe of one shoe, As the photo shows that has now turned into a bigger hole and looks like a manufacturing fault rather than wear. They are also wearing out the padding on the heals. My first pair lasted 2 years, so 6 months is just not good enough.I say these fit as expected because I knew to buy a little larger size than I actually am based on other reviews I'd read...I'd advise buying half a size or a size larger than you'd normally wear, especially if you have wider than average feet. They are very comfortable from the moment you put them on and only get better the more you wear them. They feel like they're very good quality and the chunky sole feels very robust. They are a little heavier than say a salomon shoe but they are thicker and more cushioned than similarly priced salomon shoes so that's where the extra weight comes from but it's a matter of a few ounces I'd say. Over all these are great shoes, well priced (£60 when I purchased them) and in future I shall also be looking to purchase the boot version of these shoes.I bought a pair of these 5 years ago and was so pleased that I ordered initially the waterproof version of this. They fitted completely different from my previously bought ventilating Moab so I returned these and I decided to order exactly the same shoes as I had before. That is what I assumed! Unfortunately the fit of the new pair was much narrower than expected and I returned them. How could this happen? I found out when I had a proper look at the box which said MEDIUM fit. This was not mentioned in the advertisement but it strongly suggested that Merrell has or had a WIDE fit as well. The wide fit is probably the one I really liked. I compared the sole of my old pair with the new pair and indeed the new pair is narrower. Shame but I again returned these shoes. Note that the medium fit is not a bad shoe but not OK for me. Also note that both pair came from Vietnam, so no difference there.These are a nice pair of shoes, very comfortable & look nice in my opinion.They were reduced & offered fair value as they suffer from the usual Merrell quality issues. The material on top of one of the shoes started fraying after 2 weeks (see pic) & I fully expect the sole to start detaching from the top of the shoe after about 12 months, the same as every other pair of Merrells I have purchased in the last few years.None the less they were cheap enough to keep hold of - Merrell were willing to exchange them except they didn't have any in stock, but wouldn't offer me any other form of compensation.Amazon had none in stock to offer an exchange either.
