Merrell Men's All Out Blaze Sieve Water Shoe

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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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After years of wearing Keen Newports for my amphibious excursions I decided to switch it up and give the Merrell All Out Blaze Sieve a shot. Before laying out the details I want to clarify that I have used these shoes twice. The first hike was 1 hour on a well maintained dirt trail to a river, followed by 3 hours clambering over boulders in the river and then 1 hour back to the car, wet. The second hike was a 1 hour transit to a site, multiple hours of work, and then 1 hour back to the car, dry. What has really stood out so far is the comfort of the shoe and lack of blisters in wet and dry scenarios. I like the neoprene portion around the ankle, it doesnt shift and holds, but not too tightly. Living in a relatively high humidity environment the leather gave me pause, but so far it has cleaned up easily and dries quickly. Time too dry is about 12 hours at 70-80 degrees (the shoes were used on Oahu, HI and dried overnight). I rated these 4.0, but would have given 4.5, if it was available. The grip on wet rocks was poor, but ill admit, that is to be expected with rubber-soled footwear. Im hoping these hold up given more use. Other reviews have suggested buying a half-size smaller than usual, which is great advice. I wear a 9.5, but bought a 9.0 and it first perfectly.

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I bought these shoes based on reviews and boy was I let down. These shoes may be ok water shoes if used in a pool or somewhere without rocks and river bed sand and pebbles. I bought them for day hiking havasupai Falls and within seconds of hiking through a stream they were loaded with sand and rocks that required removal or fear of blisters/cuts but even then after 12 miles of hiking in them with a couple miles being water I still got blisters from rocks/sand. For $88 I was hoping for a lot better performance. Everything I did with them that was NOT in the water they performed well. Hiking, climbing, rock jumping, etc they were great but in the water they were terrible and since theyre for water I was disappointed. Id also recommend a size smaller if you do plan on hitting water with them so they dont suck off of your feet while hiking thru rivers.

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