Comfortable and supportive, but they have durability issues

By Sean McQuillen Ranked #823 - Men's Hiking Shoes June 17, 2009

Long-term update:

I gave these a 5-star review when I first got them, and they were wondeful shoes for the first summer I owned them. They did everything well, and were comfortable straight out of teh box.

After less than a year, the tread is wearing unevenly on the heels and the stitiching at the mid-foot is busting at the seams. I don't know if it's due to the tread wear or some other breaking down in the shoe, but these started giving me shin splints when I walk in them.

I walk 2.5 - 3 miles each day (mostly on pavement), but I've had them less than a year (I didn't even wear them much of January and February, when I switched to my snow boots), and am very disappointed in how quickly they started falling apart. For now, I'm back to the XA Pros.

I wrote this in June, 2009:

I got the drifters after unsuccessfully trying for three years to replace my old Salomon XA Pro's with trail running shoes. I finally convinced myself that I use these shoes more for hiking and every day use, and rarely get to run on aggressive trails, so I went with a more hiking-type shoe, and couldn't be happier. Being a more "boot-based" shoe, these look like they will have a much longer life than similar trail-runner based hiking shoes. Construction quality is solid.

These have very similar fit to my mid-weight backpacking boots - roomy in the toe box and great (though not obvious) arch support. They are plenty stable underfoot, with a good amount of flex under the ball of the foot and toes. They are much lighter than my boots, though - I was surprised at how light they feel on my feet. I have flat feet with narrow heels - I usually wear SuperFeet in my hoes, and buy moderate-support running shoes, and I am very happy with the stock fit and footbeds of the Drifters. They run pretty true to size - I am typically a 10-10.5, and the 10.5's fit great.

I have not had a chance to take them off-road yet, but the Drifters have held up great for every day use, and have shown excellent support when toting my 30 lb. toddler on my back in a back carrier. They've also survived a soaking deluge - my Gore-Tex pants let wanter in, but my feet stayed dry!

Overall, highly recommended. The upper is pretty much all leather, so as long as it's treated, it will be just as waterproof as the Gore-Tex version, and stay a lot cooler in warm weather.

View Details: Patagonia Footwear Drifter Shoe - Men's

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