Wanting to do some hiking.. more for fitness than anything.

Researched shoes and the lasportiva raptors get good reviews.


Their website says factories in italy. China and vietnam.

For a $200 shoe, guessing china made.

My only experience with hiking shoes are merrel moabs.


Hiking will be mostly flat ground and hilly state parks, etc.. nothing technical.

Anything better in that price range?

Wide sizing is a must….

I like la sportiva, specifically karakorum and Aequilibrium LT GTX. I would venture a guess they're better than anything Merrell makes.

Thanks.


You can get bogged down in online reviews…

They go from one end of the gamut to the other. Good to great to craptastic…

Fyi some people report they are narrow. I can't comment either way I just know they fit me.

Like Jackson said above, that’s a pretty narrow boot. Tried on a broken in pair a couple weekends ago that a buddy wears . I have a 4.25”(10.8cm) wide foot and they were noticeably narrow for my foot.

You tried the standard ( D) or the wide?

From the reviews, even the wide is on narrow side.

They were the wides in my usual size.

Thanks.

I’ll scratch those off the list…

The Salomon Quest 4 is in that price range and comparable other than being a little more stiff. The Salewa Mountain Trainer 2 Light is as well. I have a pair of those on the way to try.

I'd stay away from a goretex/waterproof liner - HOT.

I’ll look into those.

Also looking into the Lowa Explorer II.

Not many reviews on the second version, original seems to be good.

Definitely skip the goretex. I started using trail runners to hike everything a few years ago now. Topo athletics are nice and wide in the toes but still hold the heel in place. Altras are also nice and wide but don’t have the awesome traction of the topos.

Looked at the salewa site.

No wides? Or no simple way to filter by width?