Merrell Men's All Out Blaze Sieve Water Shoe

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While I only received these today I immediately took a hike through varied terrain (I live in the country), I wanted to post review number one because one of the biggest issues I had was what the heck size to order once I had narrowed my choice down to this shoe.. Its unbelievable how many opinions there are... almost as many as the number of different feet out there! In a nutshell, I wear a 10 and I have a wide foot. I almost ordered a half size larger but that would have been a mistake. Fit perfectly right out of the box and adjusted wonderfully in that years ago I broke my ankle and my left foot is now a bit larger than my right foot. I got these to replace my worn Tevas. I have not previously had lace type footwear, but its great. I can totally adjust my left foot to an excellent comfort level. Unlike my Tevas (which I could adjust) its not just a strap, its the whole. So no pressure points as they are diffused. I read so many reviews on so many different products, and finally narrowed it down to these. Im not a river guide, I travel a lot in Asia and I wanted highly ventilated footwear that I could wear all day, and if theres water so be it. I usually do a lot of city walking, but I have to say these vibram soles are amazing. I walked through gravel areas and was amazed at the ability of the vibram soles to absorb sharp rock. Walked down the asphalt driveway and experienced a comfortable support. In sum, unless something weird happens in India next month, I love these right out of the box. Ive never had any arch issues so I dont know what to say about that. Order your size. Update: Had these for a while now and I LOVE THEM! Im actually wearing them all day with socks as house shoes.The plan was to break them in before heading to Asia, but I could have worn these out of the box to Asia. I literally have these on 12 hours and then take them off without and residual feeling. They come off so easy with a toe push. They go on easily. As mentioned I have a wide foot so I leave them at full size, although for hiking I tighten them just a bit. Total comfort. After reviewing and agonizing over so many choices, I am happy to say this was as good as my choice could have been. No question... a great product. UPDATE: Back from India & Bangladesh. These are the only footwear I took on the trip. I also took one pair of socks (for wearing on the plane)... well, no surprise. They performed! Whether hiking down a rocky beach or through miles of urban Mumbai, they were comfortable all day. I travel with anti bacterial wipes so I would wipe them down and clean them every other day or so. Kept them nice and fresh. I suffer from Hot Feet syndrome, but not with these. Now that Im back home, they are my house shoes again, wearing all day with socks. Im not sure why several reviews mention that they run big. I wear a size 10 and have very wide and chubby feet. They fit perfectly with the size adjusting elastic left wide open! And they are so easy to take on and off. I love them. Every bit the 5 star product.

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Update after 8 days rafting the Colorado through the Grand Canyon. Okay, a no nonsense review: I wore these shoes exclusively for 8 days while on a rafting trip down the Colorado river through the Grand Canyon. I wore them to hike rocky slopes, wade streams, walk on wet rocks, walk up and down in and out and through fine sand areas, wade the river and so on. I, and they, were wet probably at least 85% of the time (waking hours). They met all my needs and expectations. They dried quickly. They were easy on and off to wash out sand. Note, I observed my fellow travelers with about every brand imaginable and they all get sand in them and they all have to be rinsed, etc. These were quick and easy to rinse, on or off. This was an extreme situation for such a shoe (I think). I have no complaints. Before I bought these I tried to read reviews and figure the best solution as we all do. I worried after reading about the Vibram soles being slick on wet rock as stated by some reviewers. I did not find that to be the case at all. They were stable and secure as could be expected. The rocks in this area were smooth and often wet, but the shoes held just fine. Lets be realistic, wet rocks, mossy rocks, muddy rocks are slick and nothing is going to hold 100%, nothing. These were fine. Before committing I often stepped to a wet rock and intentionally pushed and pulled to establish how slippery the situation would be. The friction and grip were always reasonable for the situation. For climbing and hiking they are stable and provide good protection against cactus pricks, stubbed toes and so on. I cannot speak to how long these will last as I have only had them a few months, but I am sure from experience that you will not wear out the Vibram sole. Over all, if you want a water shoe that is comfortable, stable, wearable and so on, these will do the job. Original Review: Ive only had these a week or so. So far I like them. I bought these to wear on a rafting trip through the Grand Canyon in September. I will do an update after that.

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I bought these after reviewing a number of water shoe comparisons and customer reviews. I was looking for a shoe for canoeing and hiking on trails where I crossed a number of streams and where I would be walking around water falls. Ive had the shoes for about a month now. The shoes fit well and are very comfortable - both with socks and without socks. I wear them going through airport checkin here in the states where we have to take our shoes off. In these cases, I wear socks with them. When hiking and canoeing with them, I wear them without socks. I have used them on up to four days of consecutive hiking, covering anywhere from five to eight miles per day over a mix of paved, gravel, and dirt trails. I did not experience any rubbing or other problems with the shoes. The trails included both up and down as well as flat trail surfaces and the shoes provided good solid protection to my feet from stones and sticks in the path. However, when crossing creeks/streams with large river rock type stepping stones (i.e rounded, not flat. and wet, not dry) and when walking over wet granite type rock, the shoes lost all traction and became more a hazard then a help. I also found when hiking over wet metal grates that have been put up around that have been used around some of the water falls that I have been hiking around, they also loose traction. I checked with other hikers in my group that were walking on granite and on the metal grating with traditional low top hiking shoes (not boots) and they didnt have the same problems I did. The shoes did fine in small river rock stream beds, in dirt mud stream crossings, and in lake shore mud flats/sand (canoeing) (they didnt do so well in clay mud but I have yet to find a shoe that does so I dont hold that against them). They were easy to clean off but did take a long time to dry if not left out in the sun. The few times when I left the out to dry overnight, they were still damp in the morning. I found that it was easy to clean any mud off of them by spraying them with a hose or by rinsing them off in lake or stream water after taking them off. I havent had any problems with pebbles/sticks getting in the shoes when walking on dry or mud that isnt deep. The shoes have gotten mud in them when walking through streams and lake shore mud flats but I just rinsed them off when I got out of the stream/mudflat and continued hiking in them wet. Again, I havent had any problems with them chaffing while either dry or wet. I have worn them on a sand beach. I would not wear them in dry sand but they did fine in damp sand. in the dry sand, they just kept getting sand in them that I would have to stop and shake out every two or three steps. Overall,I like the shoes a lot but they arent very good when it comes to wet rock hiking. If this is what you want shoes for, then I would say to keep looking. However, if you are looking for a show to use when canoeing, hiking over dry ground, damp sand, and mud, or gravel river beds, then I would say that these should would be a strong option.

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This review wont be for everyone, but if you have somewhat flat feet and notice that you sometimes find problems with shoes being too narrow in the middle, it might help you. They seemed ok quality- I could see areas for improvement especially in left over glue that caused some discomfort. But I chipped it off which wasnt hard, and it was easily remedied. However, the middle of the shoe is rather narrow and they dont fit my feet like my Merrell hiking boots do. I was extremely excited for these shoes and I could see people loving them if their feet fit in them properly, but alas, mine do not. The feel is essentially walking on a bare shoe sole- you get protection from the ground below without the padding of an interior shoe. If your feet sweat, they may stick to the bottoms inside a little. I could see them being great water shoes. They have very little arch support (which for me was just fine) and almost no padding. Wouldnt be good for long distances until you trained your walking style to be more body-flexible and not rely on shoe shock absorption. In the end Im wanting an all-purpose creek-bottom/hiking/paddling/biking/fishing/adventure shoe. I love the barefoot feel in the summer time and these DO provide that somewhere between Five Fingers and Teva or Keen -style hiking sandals.Im going back to Five Fingers (Treksport) for that. I wish these would have worked for me. Maybe in the future theyll modify it a little and it will fit. Good luck!

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Bought these for my husband, as he doesnt like to wear sandals and he had kept wearing his suede Merrell shoes when the weather warmed up in New England, only without socks and with shorts. He looked just a bit dorky. And he couldnt figure out why he kept getting athletes foot infections. He put these shoes on when they arrived and wears them every day now. He describes them as comfortable, they are easy to slip on and off, they let fresh air get to his feet, and their black/gray color combo goes with everything he wears. Best of all, they wash up beautifully, because they are water shoes by design, but I didnt tell my husband this and he thinks they are just another pair of great Merrell shoes made for warm weather wear. Men are so simple sometimes.....

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