BEST BUY: Halti Fara Mid 2

Price: £100
Weight: 700g (size 6.5)
Best for: Day hiking and hillwalking
Key attributes: Lightweight, waterproof, well-cushioned, great value

With great out-of-the-box comfort, low weight, plenty of cushioning and an attractive price tag, this lightweight mid-cut walking boot from Halti ticks plenty of boxes for day hikers. The emphasis is on lightweight, all-day comfort for relatively undemanding terrain, though they are equipped with a waterproof lining to enable you to tramp through the wet stuff without too much concern.

The synthetic textile uppers and foam rubber midsole means they are very light, so they’re well-suited to women who don’t like or need chunky clodhoppers. The uppers are made from a mix of recycled polyester (from recycled PET bottles) with synthetic reinforcements. They’re lined with Halti’s own waterproof-breathable technology, a PU-based membrane called DrymaxX. There’s also a moisture wicking polyester mesh lining for added comfort and breathability.

Underfoot, the outsole is a Halti GripmaxX Antislip rubber outsole with a phylon midsole made from EVA foam. The sole unit is not the most aggressive, with fairly shallow lugs that are better suited to easier, hard-packed trails than anything too loose or technical. The EVA midsole gives plenty of cushioning and shock absorption though, aided by an anatomically-designed insole that gives you a little more structure and padding for the heel, instep and ball of the foot.

Selected for our Outdoor 100 2021/22. Read our full Halti Fara Mid 2 Women’s Walking Boot review

La Sportiva TX4 Mid GTX

Price: £165
Weight: 970g
Best for: Mountain walks and scrambles
Key attributes: Lightweight, sturdy, grippy

If you’re into more technical mountain walking then this is the boot for you. It’s lightweight but there’s still a good bit of sturdiness to it, along with a reliably stiff sole that’s perfect for handling rocky and uneven terrain. What’s probably most notable about it is that there’s a climbing zone on the toe to allow for really precise edging on the narrowest of footholds. What else? Well, there’s the sticky rubber compound, clever lacing system – we could go on.

Read our full La Sportiva TX4 Mid review

Keen Innate Sherpa Leather Mid WP

Price: £140
Weight: 982g
Best for: Day hikes and countryside walks
Key attributes: Lightweight, ethically made, comfortable

The leather that’s been used in the Keen Innate Sherpa is from a Leather Working Group (LWG) approved tannery and what that means is that it meets a number of ethical and environmental standards of production. Today, 80% of leather is tanned using chrome, a highly toxic process that results in a significant amount of toxic waste being released into waterways and serious harm to industrial tannery workers. With a LWG approved product, you can be sure that none of that nasty stuff has gone on.

What’s more, for every pair of these sold, €15 goes to Room to Read, an organisation that seeks to transform the lives of millions of children in low-income communities by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education. We like that.

More more on the tech specs, read our full Keen Innate Sherpa review.

Haglöfs Eclipse GT

Price: £150
Weight: 990g
Best for: Hiking, hillwalking and backpacking
Key attributes: Comfortable, sturdy and supportive

Haglöfs have really upped their eco efforts in recent years, so much so that you could say they’re right up there as one of the most sustainable big brands out there. You certainly won’t find any of those nasty PFC chemicals in this boot, that’s for sure. Instead, the brand have developed an alternative durable water repellent treatment that’s kind to the environment.

Overall the Eclipse is a reliable, light trekking boot with nice ingredients, including a Gore-Tex membrane, nubuck and seude leather upper and a gel injected midsole for shock absorption.

Read our full Haglofs Eclipse GT review.

Danner Mountain Light

Price: £286
Weight: 1190g
Best for: Day hikes and town-to-country wear
Key attributes: Comfortable, retro styling

The Danner Mountain Light is the modern relaunch/update of Danner’s classic boot from the 90s, which some might recognise from the film, WILD. It features a one-piece leather upper with minimal seams, solid metal lace-loops and eyelets, a chunky sole and those distinctive red laces. Although the style is somewhat retro, the design features modern comforts, the main example being its Gore-Tex waterproof membrane and PU footbed.

Read our full Danner Mountain Light review.

Hanwag Banks Lady GTX

Price: £210
Weight: 1050g (size 8)
Best for: Hiking and hillwalking
Key attributes: Comfortable, sturdy, well-made, wide range of fits

The Hanwag Banks is a well-made three-season walking boot that are a particularly good option if you sometimes struggle with fit, since the Banks comes in a variety of different styles and widths designed to suit multiple foot types. This includes the Banks Straight Fit Extra, for those with a wider forefoot, the Banks Narrow and the standard Banks Lady.

The latter has a roomy toe box but a snug, close fit around the ankle. The inner lining is really soft and the boot feels fantastically cushioned overall. Overall performance is impressive. A nubuck upper with a Gore-Tex lining offers reliable waterproof-breathable performance. Grip underfoot is also good, since the Vibram Endurance Pro outsole gives sure-footed traction on both slippery grass and rocky, uneven trails.

Selected for our Outdoor 100 2021/22. Read our full Hanwag Banks Lady GTX review

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Lowa Wendelstein

Price: £225
Weight: 1240g
Best for: Mountain hiking and hillwalking
Key attributes: Durable, comfortable, well-made

The Wendelstein might bring to mind old sepia photos of mountaineers doing their things in the Alps, wearing knickerbockers and the like, but the boot itself is technical and modern in all the ways it needs to be.

The upper material, made from good old-fashioned leather which is chromium-free, has the perfect toughness-flexibility balance, while the carefully designed seams reduce the risk of friction and serve to enhance the Wendelstein’s extremely durable nature.

Suitable for a variety of terrain, the outsole has fairly aggressive lugs of about 4mm and a slightly narrowed toe that allows precise edging, so as well as your standard rolling green hills it can also handle the rocky stuff.

Read our full Lowa Wendelstein review.

The North Face Vectiv Exploris FutureLight

Price: £160
Weight: 750g
Best for: Trail hiking 
Key attributes: Long-distance comfort, innovative design, good breathability

Though these are trail shoes, not boots, they pack in plenty of tech and some impressive innovation. First up, there’s the Futurelight waterproof membrane, then there’s the Vectiv carbon plate. These are both big innovations that have really been turning heads within the outdoor world. We’ve tested them both in a number of different products from The North Face over the last couple of years and we can confirm that they’re very impressive.

The Vectiv carbon plate, which was originally unveiled in The North Face’s Vectiv trail shoe collection, brings a number of benefits, the most notable one being increased energy return with each stride. Basically, it propels your feet forward, ultimately helping you to go for longer. On top of that it also provides a decent amount of protection from sharp roots and rocks.

The outsole has 4mm lugs with a large central cutout to increase traction and save weight. It’s not the most aggressive of soles but our testers found that it’ll do the job on all but the super slippery and muddy stuff. The compound offers a bit of grip on wet rock but, as you often find with most three-season hiking footwear, there are limitations there.

Selected for our Outdoor 100 2021/22. Read our full The North Face Vectiv Exploris FutureLight Trail Shoe review.

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Merrell Moab Speed GTX

Price: £125
Weight: 315g
Best for: Trail hiking, three-season use
Key attributes: Good eco aspects, light but sturdy

Merrell have developed a new iteration of their classic walking shoe, designed for those who prefer to feel light-footed and agile on the trail. It’s a hybrid-type trainer, one with the comfort of a running shoe or sneaker but the protection of a walking shoe. At just 315g, it’s 130g lighter than the previous Moab, but during our tests, we’ve found it just as stable, comfortable and protective.

Most impressive, however, are Merrell’s new sustainability efforts, aiming to lower the overall impact of their products on the environment. They’ve swapped out a bunch of materials for recycled ones including the laces and the mesh lining, for instance, which use a material produced from recycled plastic bottles. The footbed additionally uses a 50% recycled top sheet material and the Vibram sole is made from a minimum of 30% recycled rubber.

There’s both a mid cut and a low cut model, as well as a version without the waterproof protection of the Gore-tex membrane. All models come with 4mm Vibram Traction Lugs, an EVA foam midsole, built-in rockplate for underfoot protection, removable PU foam insole, cushioning around the ankle and then a big rubber cap to protect the toes.

Full Specifications

Recycled laces and mesh lining / 50% recycled footbed / 30% recycled Vibram rubber / low cut and mid cut version available / 4mm Vibram Traction Lugs /  EVA foam midsole / built-in rockplate / removable PU foam insole / cushioned ankle / rubber toe caps / standard fit / Gore-tex liner.

Selected for our Green Gear Guide 2021/22 – Read our full Merrell Moab Speed GTX review. 

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Salewa Mountain Trainer Lite Gore-Tex

Price: £145
Weight: 368g
Best for: Technical approaches, scrambling
Key attributes: Gore-Tex lining, good traction

The Salewa Mountain Trainer Lite was born from the now-classic approach shoe, the Salewa Mountain Trainer which is most notable for its lightweight, yet stiff platform that climbers can use on the typically rocky and technical approaches to the crag. Now this, the Mountain Trainer Lite offers an even lighter and more streamlined package.

A Pomoca rubber outsole offers reassuring and durable grip thanks to plenty of deep lugs, in a variety of shapes and sizes, peppering the sole unit. A sticky rubber toe box also stretches around the front of the shoe, which helps to provide protection when you’re jamming your feet into cracks, or knocking them off sharp rocks.

The whole shoe is wrapped up in a durable synthetic fabric upper which features a Gore-Tex Extended Comfort lining to bring a high level of water protection without too much of a breathability sacrifice.

Full Specifications

Available in men’s and women’s / heel stabiliser / rubber toe cup / Pomoca outsole / climbing lacing / 3F System.

Read our full Salewa Mountain Trainer Lite Gore-Tex review

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