Comfortable Hiking Shoes...

The Story:
Shoes again...yeah. I know. This time it's hiking shoes!

So the other week I went hiking up Koko Head Crater and since I knew my inov8-150s would not be a good choice and my old hiking shoes were falling apart. I decided to use my Nike Frees. They were pretty comfortable, although it took some time to get used to all the cushioning. During the hike the hard part was on the way down. Since you are pretty much going up and down a long flight of unsteady steps that are falling apart, covered in dirt and rock, a stable shoe is nice. My Nike shoes were fine going up but going down was a bit unstable. So I decided to get some new hiking shoes.

A couple of days after I was at Total Fitness USA looking at the rigs (plan to build one) and noticed they had the Inov-8 hiking shoes too. I ended up talking to the guys about the shoes and found out that Inov-8 started out by making comfortable hiking/walking shoes. I took a look at them and they seemed nice. They had 2 sizes there and while one of the was not my size, it fit. Didn't really mean to pick up new hiking shoes that day but I took it as a sign...

The shoes I got were the Inov-8 X-Talon 212s.  Decently priced around $110.

I took these shoes out on a morning hike on Earth Day. It had rained the night before and a bit that morning so the ground was wet and a bit muddy. I thought, "perfect time to test my new shoes!"

I was pleasantly surprised at how comfy these shoes were. The start of the hike was muddy and the spiked sole was perfect for this. I felt very sure footed in and out of the mud. The only thing is that the mud started to cake up to the sole. So every so often I would tap the mud off on a rock. Half way up the hike I even told my friend "I think these are the most comfortable hiking shoes I have ever owned." Well to be honest I was talking about how great these shoes were the entire hike. I think she must have thought I got a job with 

Inov-8 in their marketing marketing department (would be nice). 

When we finished the hike I sat near the car about to tap out the mud but by the time I got to the car a majority of the mud had fallen off. 

The Review:
Comfortable! Most of the time after a hike I have to take my shoes off because they are either on fire (water resistant hiking shoes don't breath at all) or my feet just hurt. Not with these. At the end of my hike my feet felt great and need to take my shoes off. Amazing shoes!

Great traction on dry, wet and uneven surfaces. One thing I did notice was that when walking on cement or asphalt, to the hiking entrance, the shoes felt tacky or sticky, as if I were slightly sticking to the ground. It was very slight. I actually like this feeling. I felt that if I had that much traction on solid flat ground I would be fine on dirt and mud. Later I noticed on their website that the compound is...Sticky. That explains a lot. I have to say, it is nice to see a company with a technical spec that isn't just marketing hooplah.

As far as the durability of these shoes. I cannot comment at the time since I have only used these once so I can't comment on durability yet. I'd like to try some of their other shoes, but these seem like they are going to hold up for quite some time. So more on that later. 

Again I have wide feet and these still felt comfortable to me. Your best bet is to try some on and hit up a  mountain. 

If you have a question please feel to ask. I won't have fancy answers about but I can give you my opinion best I can.  

Pros:

Very Comfortable

Spiked Sole Great for Traction 

Reasonably Priced

Cons:

Haven't found any yet.

Inov-8 Site with the technical stuff:
Inov-8 X-Talon 212