Salomon - XA Elevate

Have Salomon XA Forces, and they just keep going regardless of what you throw at them - mud, blood, acid, the ocean, quick spray with a hose and they’re good to go again.

Salomon XA Forces - milspec and survive everything - mine have survived ocean, acids, burning embers, and hundreds of kilometres of sprinting, running and jumping fences over the years. Waterproof/goretex.

Contragrip wet traction was the best - it was on the XA Alpine and XA Elevate and the Sense Ultra, Sense 6. But since then it has gotten worse. The Ultraglide 1s were pretty terrible.

Salomon makes wide versions of most of their stuff, although color choices are sometimes limited I've never had an issue with durability over the last 10+ years or so or wearing them, mostly the XA's BUT I also don't get gore-tex shoes - it's not necessary (and a bit hot) in my climate, & in my experience the goretex elements always fail long before the shoe/boot gives out, no matter what the brand, but I'm also kinda hard on shoes.

I just ordered a pair from my local running store, only commenting to suggest you try them on first. I'm a 12 in Salomons and a 12 to 12.5 in Hokas, and I had to size up to a 13 in the 001s.

A pair of Salomon trailrunners. Durable and comfortable.

Over the years I’ve worn trail runners from Merrill and Salomon, or standard running shoes from Nike and NB. A comfortable fit was the main criteria. Even on wet ground I’d rather have fast drying sneakers than boots.

Salomon trail runners. They’re my goat shoes - the only thing they don’t get a grip on is wet wood.

Absolutely, did all of the ABC trek in trail runners (Hoka, Salomon). You really appreciate the lightness of them.

I’ve walked thousands of miles with Altra, Salomon, and New Balance trail runners. I just switched to Brooks Cascadias and have done about 250 miles on them so far in India, Sri Lanka, Portugal, and Spain. I love them, best shoes I’ve had so far. For a quantitative approach to which shoe is the most popular right now among long distance walkers, here you go: https://www.halfwayanywhere.com/trails/pacific-crest-trail/pct-gear-guide-2024/#shoes

I’ve never found boots to be heavy and I like the stability. I normally wear Merrell Moabs, but I got some Salomon trail runners on clearance for $10 at Sierra, so I decided to give them a try (I think the only reason they were still there is the price tag fell off!) I like the trail runners on regular trails, but I took them for a hike on the AT and I didn’t like the way they handled on rocks. The entire shoe shifted sideways and felt less stable than my boots. I’ve been having pain from a Morton’s neuroma in one foot, so the trail runners helped with that. What I need is a boot with a trail runner’s cushioned sole. It will really be a matter of where you hike and what you prefer.