Merrell trail Glove 5 – Minimalist Hiking Shoes
Merrell trail Glove 5 – Minimalist Hiking Shoes
Stephen Starks
I Bought the Merrell Trail Glove 5 shoes with 2 things in mind.. Trail running and lightweight footwear for 14ers. The person who recommended and sold me the shoes said these were perfect for that. This review is based on the shoes ability to conquer thise arenas.
Merrell trail Glove 5 – Stephen Starks of Engearment
The Trail Glove 5 is a take on a barefoot “minimalist” shoe. While it has all the lightweight feel and breathability of a barefoot shoe.. the solid rockplate and midsole stability take away from that a bit. That being said, I found the shoes to be incredibly lightweight, comfortable, and still felt relatively minimal. I loved running in them weather flat terrain or trail running.. I did find think the rockplate a little underwhelming from a protection standpoint though.
As far as 14ers.. while they faired pretty well, they durability just wasn’t there for me. I climbed Mt Elbert, Longs Peak, and La Plata Peak in these shoes, but I fear 1 more 14er would be the end of them. The midsole is starting to separate a bit and the grip may as well be non existent on down hills. I do take responsibility for that though, I just don’t think these shoes were built for such long days with varying terrain, and that’s ok, they are still great for less intense activities!
I say these shoes are best used for running of any kind and less ambitious hikes! I’d give them a solid 3.5/5 however, I’d bump that up to a solid 4 IF I hadn’t beat them up doing 14ers.
Stephen Starks
Steven Starks
Pic credit Steven Starks
Pic credit Steven Starks
Follow Stephen on Instagram – www.instagram.com/Starksstrong
