Before choosing hiking shoes that have great importance for your performance and health, knowing the best hiking shoe brands gives you great convenience. The hiking shoes that carry your full body weight play a key role in your performance.
Your hiking shoe is maybe the only thing you can not forget to take with you when you go hiking. Whether you are hiking on a road located in the city park or a mountain road where you will encounter harsh conditions, hiking shoes protect you from all the threats coming from the ground on the trail.
Nowadays, there is an assumption that lightweight hiking shoes are the best, the important thing is to find the right weight and comfort for you. There are some variables you should consider while choosing the best hiking shoes for you. Some of the main factors are your body weight, the characteristics of the tracks you plan to hike, the hiking times and frequencies you plan to do. Perhaps the most crucial decision you need to make is whether you are hiking as a professional or for healthy living.
Hiking shoe brands are constantly improving the features of hiking shoes by combining both the innovations created by their studies about hiking and the different elements of the shoes produced for various purposes.
The competition of brands, whose aim is always to create the best hiking shoes, enables users to obtain more advanced hiking shoes every time. We have brought together the best hiking shoe brands that are part of this competition and listed them for you.
Salomon
www.salomon.com
Salomon is a sports equipment manufacturer founded in 1947 by Georges Salomon. The brand specializes in winter sports equipment during its first years. Established in Annecy, Rhône-Alpes as part of France's winter sports culture, Salomon has achieved many firsts and innovations with its solution-oriented innovation approach. The binding system, which they designed in 1957 and called the 'Le Lift,' replaces traditional leather binding straps. Exactly nine years after that, they made a breakthrough that changed the comfort of skiing. Salomon designed the first binding with a self-release heelpiece and introduced this innovative product at the Olympic games in Portillo, Chile.
Following the success of the brand, Salomon opened its new general center in Épagny-Metz-Tessy, France. Salomon's development and development of skis and alpine boats has been continuing for more than 70 years.
In 1992, Salomon decided to develop products for summer sports as well as for winter sports. Brand's first orientation was hiking shoes, and Salomon began to reach a different consumer base. Hiking shoes by their very nature appeal to a broader audience than winter sports equipment. Salomon recognized the advantage and made moves to develop hiking shoes using different and innovative technologies. Salomon even released a collection where they combined their two fields of expertise, launching winter apparel and hiking shoes together. Salomon drew attention with both winter and summer sports products developed, and was acquired by Finland-based Amer Sports in 2005.
User-friendly and performance-oriented technologies, such a Custom Fit Technology, have made Salomon hiking shoes popular across the most successful athletes in the world, such as Kilian Jornet. Kilian Jornet, Salomon's brand ambassador, continuing settings new records while wearing Salomon hiking shoes and apparel. Salomon offers a variety of products ranging from shoes to backpacks, glasses to skis, and brings together the most innovative models under the S/LAB brand and presents them as a special collection.
Salomon's Featured Hiking Shoe
Salomon X Ultra 3 Wide GTX
Salomon X Ultra 3 Wide GTX
Merrell
www.merrell.com
Randy Merrell combined his interest in shoemaking with his own lifestyle and turned to craft custom handmade boots for outdoor enthusiasts instead of industrial shoemaking and started to produce leather outdoor boots that he signed with blue laces.
Randy Merrell's hiking boots were a bit expensive because they were handmade and custom. In 1981, Randy Merrell's road intersected with Clark Matis and John Schweizer, who wanted to enter hiking boot business, and Merrell was born. While Randy Merrell was involved in the production and technical aspects of shoemaking, Clark Matis and John Schweizer, formerly executives for the Rossignol, demonstrated their expertise in branding and marketing and focused on launch to the market high-performance hiking boots at affordable prices. They aimed to make Merrell one of the best hiking shoe brands.
They produced the new Merrell hiking boot series in factories in Italy. They combined the structure of American cowboy boots with the Italian shoe industry's manufacturing process, and they launched the first Merrell high-performance hiking boot in 1982.
There are four values that Randy Merrell, Clark Matis, and John Schweizer care about since the first days; comfort, durability, design, and versatility. They want to be sure each Merrell boots has these values. For this reason, the Merrell brand focuses on using the most suitable raw materials, producing with utmost attention, and providing users with the best products for them. These values made Merrell one of the best hiking shoe brands.
Randy Merrell sold his shares at the company in 1986 to produce custom outdoor boots, as he did before and set a new (maybe old) path. Merrell retained both Randy's surname and the design and manufacturing philosophy he created, and continued to grow continuously. The company was acquired by Karhu in 1987 and was acquired by its current owner Wolverine World Wide in 1997 and continued to grow. Merrell's hiking boots are sold in more than 150 countries. Merrell meets consumers in its own concept stores, select retailers, and online stores, with its wide range of products including hiking boots, clothes, and accessories.
As one of the best hiking boat brands in the world, Merrell attaches great importance to sustainability in many processes from material selection to production phases. Merrell both designs and manufactures products for those who are intertwined with nature and maintains a sustainability policy that protects environment.
Merrell's Featured Hiking Shoe
Merrell Moab 2 Waterproof Wide Width
Merrell Moab 2 Waterproof Wide Width
Lowa
www.lowaboots.com
LOWA Sportschuhe GmbH has a tradition of shoemaking for nearly 100 years. Founded in 1923 in Jetzendorf, a city near Munich, LOWA is headquartered in the same town today. In order to maintain the quality standards and offer the best footwear, LOWA carries out all design, development, sourcing, and production processes in its factories in Europe.
LOWA adheres to the European Union's stringent manufacturing, environmental and labor regulations, and as a result, is among the best hiking shoe brands in the world. Considering sustainability in every sense, LOWA conducts policies that take maximum care both in production, in the process of protecting nature and in defending employee rights at the highest level. LOWA is aware of its responsibility to protect the environment and cooperates with many non-profit organizations.
In 1993, LOWA became part of the Italian Tecnica Group and significantly improved both its products and production facilities. Focusing on developing new technologies to be used in the shoes it produces, LOWA pays great attention to detail to create the best hiking shoes. It focuses on the fact that the outdoor boats it manufactures to meet all the needs of the user and realize the highest level of compliance.
One of the best hiking shoe brands in the world, LOWA is also known for its specialized systems designed for women. Although there is not much difference between outdoor boots when viewed from the outside, the interior systems are designed with the physiology of women in mind and provide extra comfort and performance for female users.
Alpine boots include features designed for mountaineers, and climbing shoes have different characteristics which rock climbers need. LOWA designs outdoor shoes with the principle that all types of shoes should be equipped with innovations and technologies suitable for its purpose, and uses many innovations in hiking shoes to ensure that users will be comfortable during long walks. Continuous improvement of shoes with an understanding of innovation makes LOWA one of the best hiking shoe brands.
Lowa's Featured Hiking Shoe
Lowa Renegade GTX Lo
Lowa Renegade GTX Lo
Scarpa
www.scarpa.com
SCARPA is a prestigious footwear manufacturer established in Asolo, located in the foothills of the Dolomite Mountains, and since its establishment in 1938, has kept its headquarters and production facilities in the same region. SCARPA's field of expertise was mountaineering boots in the years it was founded, but the comfort and durability of the shoes it produced made SCARPA famous in a short time, and the brand began to produce durable and long-lasting footwear for different sports activities. Hiking shoes are also one of the leading product groups.
Luigi Parisotto, who became interested in the production of handcrafted footwear at the age of 11, started to work in SCARPA in 1942 and specialized in shoe production for a long time. In 1956, Luigi Parisotto acquired SCARPA with the support of his brothers and his family, and the growth of the brand accelerated, and SCARPA reached across borders.
Italy has a history of mountaineering and climbing, and SCARPA has focused on it. The mountaineering and climbing shoes it produces have been used by renowned and successful alpinists. The Grinta high-altitude mountaineering boots, which SCARPA launched in the 1970s, were highly acclaimed and used by many climbers and explorers in the Himalaya and Antartica.
It offers comfort and performance to its users with the hiking shoes it has created with the knowledge it has acquired in the process of producing shoes that resist the challenging nature conditions. SCARPA, one of the best hiking shoe brands, is one of the leading brands in the shoe manufacturing industry with its innovations. The fact that it produces the first Gore-Tex boot is an indication of SCARPA's innovation approach and vision. Lightweight, durability, and waterproofing are the common denominators of SCARPA's hiking shoes. Using leather, suede, or other premium quality materials in its products, SCARPA is a footwear manufacturer that has built its production philosophy on quality and durability.
Scarpa's Featured Hiking Shoe
Scarpa Moraine GTX Men's
Scarpa Moraine GTX Men's
Vasque
www.vasque.com
Vasque is a brand of Red Wing Shoes, one of the oldest shoe manufacturers in the US, specializing in hiking shoes and boots. Red Wing Shoes was founded in 1905 by Charles H. Beckman and produced the boots of American soldiers who fought during the First and Second World Wars.
Vasque was founded by William Sweasy in 1964 with the goal of introducing the excitement of outdoor to everyone. Vasque focuses on creating an outdoor culture by durable, ergonomic, and stylish hiking shoes. As it has done for the last 55 years, it still works for the same purpose and manufactures innovative hiking shoes. Having succeeded in becoming one of the best hiking shoe brands, Vasque has been creating its own legacy by adding every new thing to knowledge it has.
Vasque creates cutting edge designs using quality materials. It then brings these hiking shoes and boots to the best possible form by testing them in harsh environments to offer them to outdoor enthusiasts and professionals for use in mountains, hills, and hiking trails around the world. Vasque, which specializes in producing leather and lightweight hiking shoes, develops special shoes according to the activity types and equips them with features suitable for the environment to be used.
One of the best hiking shoe brands, Vasque, under four different collections, Breeze, Grand Traverse, Saga, and Sundowner, manufactures a wide range of hiking shoes for men, women, and kids considering their physiological structure.
Vasque's Featured Hiking Shoe
Vasque Breeze LT Low GTX
Vasque Breeze LT Low GTX
Columbia
www.columbia.com
Columbia Sportswear Company, one of the leading sportwear, outerwear, and footwear manufacturers, was founded in 1938 by Paul Lamfrom and was named after the Columbia River, near where it was founded. The brand, which started to operate under the name of Columbia Hat Company, continued its activities as a hat distributor in its early years. The brand, which received the Columbia Sportswear Company, its current name in 1960, made its real growth move with jackets made of breathable waterproof fabric.
This decision has led to major changes not only in the company's name but also in its general policies, and Columbia has decided to produce its own products. This was the main move that helped Columbia gain international recognition. One of the areas of expertise of Columbia Sportswear Company is hiking boots and shoes. Among the best hiking shoe brands, Columbia tests the shoes under extreme conditions to make them comfortable, durable, and waterproof, and aims to maximize their designs with the data it provides.
Columbia designs and crafts hiking shoes to be lightweight and durable to ensure that users enjoy outdoor. Keeping the health of the users at the forefront, Columbia aims to keep the feet less stressed and make longer walks easier with its advanced cushioning and ankle-support when designing hiking shoes.
One of the best hiking shoe brands, Columbia, produces breathable and waterproof shoes and keeps feet dry and fresh. Hiking shoes are the only thing that prevents the external factors that can be encountered during hiking under challenging conditions. With this awareness, Columbia continuously develops materials and designs used in the production of hiking shoes and presents collections of new models every year. With products distributed in more than 70 countries around the world, Columbia is one of the most preferred hiking shoe brands for both professionals and outdoor sports enthusiasts.
Columbia's Featured Hiking Shoe
Columbia Men's Crestwood Waterproof Hiking Shoe
Columbia Men's Crestwood Waterproof Hiking Shoe
KEEN
www.keenfootwear.com
KEEN was founded in 2003 by Martin Keen and Rory Fuerst. With his design, which later became known as the Newport Sandal, KEEN's foundations were laid in 1999 by Martin Keen at Rhode Island in Jamestown. However, the first KEEN sandals and shoes started to be produced in 2003 and the brand became known for its protective black toe bumper.
Designing footwear for sailing, outdoor, and water activities in its early years, the brand constantly expanded its product range and even started to produce safety work footwear. Adding bags, clothing, and accessories to its product range in addition to footwear, KEEN caught a rapid growth trend and soon became a brand sold in stores across the country and even in international markets. Operating in its headquarters in Alameda, California in its first three years, KEEN then moved its headquarters to Portland, Oregon, and established its production facility very close to its headquarters. KEEN, one of the best hiking shoe brands, produces its products and raw materials in many different countries including United States, Cambodia, China, India, Mexico, Thailand, and Vietnam, and assembles the American Built collection at its facility in Portland, Oregon.
KEEN, which designs and develops its products considering outdoor sports and activities needs of professionals and enthusiasts, is among the best hiking shoe brands. KEEN, which offers consumers the opportunity to choose with its wide product range, is a brand that is interested not only in producing quality products, but also in doing this correctly. Adopting sustainable production methods, KEEN is one of the leading brands in the sector with its sensitivity to social responsibility projects since its first years. KEEN has been continuing to support different projects in different parts of the world since its first movement after the Asian tsunami that took place in 2004. KEEN, which makes shoes for making a difference, tries to touch the lives of those who do not have access to high-quality hiking shoes, with the motto "To Make a Better World."
KEEN's Featured Hiking Shoe
KEEN Men's TARGHEE III Waterproof
KEEN Men's TARGHEE III Waterproof
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