Merrell Men's Vapor Glove 3 Trail Runner

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I can speak for longevity yet, Ive only put 10 or 15 miles on them. So far I love these shoes. They are light enough to have that barefoot feel but with a strong enough sole to run gravel or road comfortably. As long as you watch for the bigger pebbles (ouch) these will keep you feet comfortable and free. The only thing I didnt like is the width of the toe box. The toe box has a strange bulbous shape that looks pretty strange, like Ronald McDonalds shoe. Theyre comfy, useful and look pretty darn good, I would pull less than half of a star off for that bulb nose so 4 3/4 stars.

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Excellent shoe! I have a 28cm foot. Two of them actually. For reference, I generally wear an old (7 years to be exact) pair of ASICS Onitsuka Tigers as my go-to shoe. For running, lately I’ve been using Hoka’s. While the ASICS Tiger are great minimalistic shoes and have held up surprisingly well, I wanted to try something even more ninja-like, with greater breathability. The Vapor Glove 3 fills this role perfectly. I wear a men’s US size 11.5 in ASICS, New Balance, Hoka, Vans, Adidas... However, to achieve the same fit in a Nike, I wear an 11. In a dress shoe, like Clark’s, I am a size 10.5. This was my 1st pair of Merrell shoes, so I just referred to their size chart and ordered an 11. They fit great. It’s possible that a 10.5 would fit even MORE like a glove, but I like the roomy toe bed. An 11.5 would have been too big for sure. Hope that helps anyone who may be on the fence about which size to choose. Pros: feather weight, sock-like breathability, durable and protective Vibram sole, low profile, great for jumping rope, leg days, trail running, posture awareness, etc. Cons: If the ground beneath your feet is frozen, you can tell.. So far, I don’t have any real objections. I might even pick up another pair for the right price. Let’s see how these hold up first though. Apparently, Merrell has improved upon the durability of the Vapor Glove with this 3rd iteration by adding some reinforcement in the higher-wear areas. Grab yourself a pair an give them a run for their money! You’ll likely be glad you did.

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Ive owned the Vapor Glove 2s for the last three years and used them almost daily for the gym and track running. The outsides slowly wore down and the fabric nearly failed so I picked up the newer version. All the failure points of the 2 have been beefed up and improved in the 3. The fabric on all the areas prone to wear have been reinforced with rubber. The tongue has also been greatly improved by slightly thicker padding and more surface area. The laces are flat and work well but I always upgrade to Lock Laces. They ditched the heel loop which really cleans up the design. The sole and interior remain the same which, if you liked the previous model as much as I do, is good to see. They fixed the little issues but kept the features that make the Vapor Glove great.

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Theres a lot to like about these shoes. I bought them to replace a pair of Trail Gloves Id had for years until a kid put them in the dryer. These are lighter, with more room in the toes, and the sole is if anything thinner. All GOOD things. But. The weird arch-hugging plastic rubs. It hurts. The shoes also tore holes in the tops of my big toes in a single 3-mile walk. I ended up walking the rest of the way barefoot, which felt great on this particular trail, but it wasnt the best shakedown cruise ever for a new pair of shoes. My old Trail Gloves never hurt my feet. I wish I could just buy more of those. These are still really good shoes...if you wear socks. I dont like socks. Typically I wander around without shoes on local trails, walking and running, and while Im not opposed to carrying a nice lightweight pair of shoes along as a backup plan, having to also carry socks (maybe even clean socks? I think I remember that being a thing) is seriously annoying. So weird that the only pair of shoes I own that actually says "barefoot" on it is also the only pair I own that requires socks. Maybe theyll eventually break in. Maybe not.

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These are one of my favorite shoes. They run a half size bigger but once you have the right size, they fit very nicely and are very comfortable. They dont breathe well. For those of you with sweaty feet, this is not the shoe for you coz they use a nylon blend material for the upper which doesnt have any pores for ventilation. Its almost like waterproof but they are not. No arch support or any bottom padding as expected coz they are barefoot shoes. The quality and construction is extremely poor from a company like Merrell which is deplorable. I use mine for regular walking and not for running. The seams are already coming apart. For a $60-90, I would expect at least one year of regular use but apparently they wont last more than few months. Im sure Merrells cost to produce these shoes are less than $10-15 per shoe given the type of low quality material and poor quality control they have in place. Buy them when they go one sale or buy a previous version for little cheaper. Not worth more than $40-50 bucks in my opinion.

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