Adidas Terrex Swift R Mid GTX

Excellent all-around hiking and trail running shoes. Very rugged, yet comfortable.

I bought these shoes to make the transition between hiking boots and trail runners as I lowered my pack weight. Adidas is not that popular in the hiking scene, but being a product designer, I saw many attractive features, so I decided to pull the trigger when I found a good deal on them.

The outsole lugs and rubber compound provide excellent grip on all surfaces, except wet, smooth rock. The traction does diminish as the lugs wear down, although this is to be expected. The midsole is flexible and provides excellent cushioning, while the thick outsole provides great protection. In fact, these are so comfortable that I wore them around the house often when I first bought them. These shoes did not require a break-in period at all and were very comfortable right out of the box. 

The upper is made of a ripstop textile (I suspect 420D Robic nylon, but don't quote me on that). This material is incredibly rugged and hardly shows any signs of wear after more than a year of hard use. I often take these off-trail in harsh, unforgiving terrain and they show less wear than my old leather boots did in similar terrain. The rubber toe rand is very protective and also provides some grip for wedging during more technical scrambling.

These are marketed as trail running shoes, but I use them as long distance hiking and approach shoes, and they perform very well at that. I don't do a lot of trail running, but they've also served me well for that purpose. I have hiked many, many miles on end with these shoes and never had a problem. I've done 40+ mile days without discomfort.

The only downsides for me (and this is due to how I used them) is that they are less breathable than I'd like, and they are slow to dry out if water gets in. This, of course, is to be expected with Gore-tex, and I'm sure the non-GTX version would be great for me.

If you don't do lots of canyoneering and river crossings these are a great option. If you spend a lot of time in water, I'd look at other options from Adidas, probably with Stealth rubber outsoles and without GTX. If your pack weight is on the lighter side, I'd look for something with a Boost midsole.