Garmont Men's Zenith Mid GTX Trail Hiking Shoe

I really like Garmont shoes, after owning a pair of Nagevi's that I wore to death. I was in the market for some hiking shoes for an overnighter and these came on sale so I got them. I wasn't disappointed.I have long flat feet with long toes. I find it hard to get shoes that fit me well, but Garmont's seem to fit perfectly. I especially like the ADD features of the space for your first metatarsal and the differentially padded tongue. Because of my long toes, having space for them to move around is a god send. And I always have issues with the tongue of shoes moving around, but these Garmont ones seem to stay in place no matter what.I wore the boots in over about a week, wearing them for about 1-2hrs a day just walking around the house. I then did an overnight walk in them for 26km, wearing a heavy pack. They performed perfectly. I had no blisters from them andI had to cross a couple of creeks, and the goretex worked as expected: dry feet.I also have bad knees, and using the provided insoles, they seemed to really save my knees. Other full leather boots I've had from Scarpa and Zamberlain have had unforgiving soles, but these seem to have some give, whilst still being very supportive.The only issue I have had with them is that the top of the boot rubs my leg. It wasn't enough to rub them raw or anything like that, but it was a little annoying. It got less and less the longer I wore them, so I assume it will go away over time completely.

I had a pair of Garmont T8's for my combat boot and they were great. I beat the crap out of them and they performed exceptionally, so I figured I'd try out their hiking boots. So far I'm loving these Zenith's as well. The only reason I didn't rate them 5 stars is that I don't feel I've had them long enough to give a thorough review..Good stuff:- Roomy-ish toe box/forefoot: I say "roomy-ish" because although I do have a wide foot and these fit fine after a short break-in. they don't have quite as much room as Keen boots. But they have more than other brands who don't seem to give a flying crap about people with normal and wide feet (I'm looking at you Salomon and Adidas. Your normal stuff runs quite narrow, and I can't even find wide in the majority of your products.)- Comfort: For cushioning, there's not too much and not too little. I'm 72" tall, 180 lbs and they feel great. (Note that as of yet I've only worn them with a light pack; 20 lbs or so.) Too much cushioning = foot movement = friction = blisters.I can wear these in excess of 12 hours and they feel great.- Breath-ability: Plenty of ventilation. Not as much as a boot with no Gore-tex or other waterproof lining, but the Gore-tex is worth it. I live in Utah and they are fine for the warmer temperatures. I have not worn them through the middle of summer yet, so we'll see how that goes.- Support: ankle and arch support feels great. At first the upper ankle of these boots is quite stiff and may rub. After a short break-in that goes away and the ankle support they provide is more then adequate. The "heel lock closure system" works well.- Outsole: Grippy, even on wet stuff.- Durability: I really haven't had these long enough to give a good review of durability. HOWEVER, they feature certain things that usually lead to long-term durability; metal eyelets, Vibram outsole, short break-in (boots that require a break-in have always been more durable in my experience), real leather, double stitching in most areas, etc.- Gore-tex: It works. I've worn boots which had a Gore-tex lining but proceeded to let water get my foot anyway. Granted, Gore-Tex isn't meant for wading through deep water, but walking through shallow seasonal water ways and rain shouldn't be a problem. The Gore-tex works in these boots. (I like walking through shallow streams and water ways just to test it.)The bad...sort of:- The only negative thing I can really say at this time that the upper ankle portion is quite stiff and may rub at first. But as a stated previously; the stiffness goes away after a short break-in (just like with any good boot). And in my experience, footwear that requires even a short break-in tends to last longer than "No-break-in-required-amazing-awesomeness!" footwear.- I suppose Garmont could offer a few more color options, but the two available look great so its really a non-issue for me.

First surprise, I always wear 13 wide (Lowa, Asolo, Nike, Vasque) but since these boots are not made in wide size, I was rather reluctant to purchase to begin with. There was no need to worry. The width was not problem, The boots fit my feet perfectly - plenty of toe room. (Maybe even a bit more than my Vasque Elias wides.)After wearing the boots around the house a couple of days, I decided to test them out on a short hike. I was not expecting much from a pair of boots that I bought on sale for less than ninety dollars...Long story short, I was quite surprised, again, how well the boots felt on the hike. They performed so well on a no more than moderate difficult trail, that I wound up hiking over 4.5 miles. My flat feet were not sore for one second. In fact, my feet felt so good I did not want to stop hiking!I like the quasi firm Vibram sole, but I added/bought better insoles.If you your foot is narrow, look else wear.I have not tested these boots in rain/water.The Garmont Zenith Trail Gore-Tex® Hiking Shoes fit the exact same way, but some ungodly reason are very smelly. These boots have no odor.

Bought these online because REI no longer carried this brand. My first pair was fantastic; but these were fabricated at a different time and in a different country. Same size and model; but the new ones are a bit tighter; and would did not break-in after several long hikes. Ready to discard; but bought Footfitter stretchers; and eventually fixed my problem. Now I'm loving my new boots.