Keen Targhee Mid Boots Review

So following my escapades with the Merrell Mid Moab boots I took a jaunt over to Pickering to see a chum of mine at Trailblazer Outdoors, which is where I got my Meindl Bernina Boots (review here).

As soon as I tried them on  the difference was overwhelming. I have got strangely wide feet, sufficiently so that a sixth toe probably wouldn't look out of place. These boots however accommodated my mutant feet amazingly well, even with the 2 pairs of socks I'm starting to wear in my quest in how to prevent blisters.

I tried the Keen Gypsum boots also but the ankles on these were far higher and they seemed a beefier boot, despite being really comfy they didn't fulfil the brief.

Needless to say the purchase was made. I took them on a run out on the Leeds Country Way hiking trail to see how they went. They've got some kind of weird laces that are kind of wavy. That sounds odd but there is no real way to describe it otherwise (so I've taken a photo, see below). I presume this is to aid in them not coming undone, fair play the only time I had to re-tie them was when I took my boot off to check for blisters (there weren't any at that point it was an issue from the Merrell Moab Mids).

The insole isn't as cushioned as the Merrell Mid Moab boots either but it is pretty comfortable, this can of course be substituted for another insole which could be purchased separately. I found also that there isn't as much support for the bridge of the foot. I have issues in this department and whilst the Keen Targhee Mids don't fail here by any means they aren't quite prefect for my feet.

On the outward leg of the hiking trail (about 7 miles) they performed amazingly well with the only discomfort being around the bridges of my feet (I'll look at insoles to combat this later). On the return leg (around 4.5 miles) I got blisters on the balls of my feet, which I kind of anticipated, I seem to be unable to avoid it when walking at around 4 mph.

All told the Merrell Mid Moab boots didn't fit my feet (although I thought with a narrower foot they would be the boot of choice) and the Keen Targhee Mid boot were the perfect substitute, not extortionate with a price tag of around £100. A must as a lightweight option for someone with feet as wide as they are long like myself.

An addendum to my iPhone Walkmeter App vs Satmap Active 10 Review

It crossed my mind once I'd posted the Walkmeter vs Satmap Active 10 review that I had omitted something which was quite crucial. It is with reference to the Satmap Active 10, the Walkmeter review I feel is fair and true to the best of my knowledge.

The Satmap Active 10 however is inaccurate as an out of the box unit. Unfortunately at the outset I found the battery life to be substandard and was only really of use to record/log routes as any attempt to use it as a navigation tool drained the batteries like the fury. Obviously it was great to record certain routes in the wilderness as running on satellite the Satmap Active 10 was never out of service however the Walkmeter did suffer from this being reliant on it's mobile phone carrier signal.

The cure was to buy the rechargeable battery for the Satmap Active 10 which makes it an awesome piece of kit and can thunder on all day long on a lengthy one day hike.

Walkmeter vs Satmap Active 10

So of late I've been using the old iPhone with the Walkmeter app (review here) far more than I've been using the Satmap active 10 (review here). Why? A number of reasons but that's not to say that the Satmap active 10 has been made redundant - no way, its an awesome piece of kit!

So where does the Walkmeter iPhone app trump the Satmap Active 10? Firstly its convenient... The iphone is a handy piece of kit, fair play it's not as robust as the Satmap but as we all know it's compact and lightweight and you barely notice it in your pocket the Satmap, whilst not a brick, is considerably larger and is fairly weighty to take out on the hiking trail. What I like most about the Walkmeter app though is the mapping facility. It writes maps directly to google maps and the facility of emailing these or pasting them into google couldn't be easier. I find it also more accurately details the average pace, time walking etc. along with the pace and altitude graphs. It's perfect (or so I feel but haven't yet come across an app to beat it) mapping and diarising your walks.

The Satmap active 10 will always have it's place however. Whilst I've not yet found a way of swiftly and easily transposing the Satmap active 10 maps to my computer or email I wouldn't dream of being without this on anything other than low level pathways and bridleways. It locates with ease where you are and shows your location on an OS map which is imperative when off the beaten track. As this uses satellites too rather than 3g it never has any reception issue which the Walkmeter does when out of reception. I suppose though that the Walkmeter wasn't specifically designed for this kind of thing whereas the Satmap was and in this field it excels. It is a robust piece of kit too so you know you can rely on it. That said I would never ever suggest relying fully on this, it is always necessary to take a map and compass and more importantly know how to use them.

So in summary - Walkmeter app for low level walking and Satmap Active 10 for off the beaten track. Or put another way, Walkmeter to track and record your progress/route, Satmap active 10 as a navigation tool.

Merrell Moab Mid Boots Review

Merrell Mid Moad Boot

So then following on from my previous post in the hunt for a lightweight boot and my purchase of the Merrell Mid Moab Boots here is my findings of what joy I came across.

I tried them on and at first try the Merrell Mid Moab is a really comfortable boot. It seems to be really well built and is really lightweight, which is exactly what I was looking for - the best of all worlds! They felt a touch tight to start with but that was no surprise really as I have desperately wide feel anyway (see my post on the Meindl Bernina Boots). The length however was fine so I gave them a shot waiting for them to give a bit as all trainers do, after all the Merrell Mid Moab boots are made of the same stuff, or so it appears.

I went on a 5 mile mosey round the park and whilst they were tight they weren't ridiculous, the inner soles were liking walking on a cloud they they were exceptional. It was nice to get them off however.

After that and with training for the Oxfam Trailtrekker in mind I thought I'd go out and break them in once and for all and set off for a meander up the Leeds Country Way. They started to give me a bit of grief after about 5 miles so I taped the tender parts up with micropore and ploughed on. The long and short of the matter is that when I got back I had a blisters on the sides of my heels where the footbeds are actually too narrow for my feet and whilst there is seemingly enough room width ways for my toes I had a blister the size of my little toe on the end of my little toe, rather a large watery growth at best.

I thought that would really have sorted them so again I gave them another shot the following week once the blisters had settled down to see if they were going to give. Same results, this was only over about 7 miles but still. It's the actual footbed around the middle of the heel of the foot that is too narrow so I feel no amount of breaking in is going to sort these unfortunately. I feel I've given the Merrell Mid Moab's a fair go but after 35 miles they are still giving me grief so I will go back to the drawing board. A pal of mine has pointed me in the direction of the Keen Targhee Mid Boot so I'll give them a shot next.

To surmise I have a friend who swears by the Merrell Mid Moab boot but for my wide feet there is just no way will these boots do, well not in my size anyway. Naturally if I went up a size then they could well work but then I'm nervous that the flex point over my toes will be too far forward and cause me discomfort there. So if you have normal sized feet from a width perspective I think these could be possibly the most comfortable boots you could come across however very very sadly they are not for me.