AKU Slope GTX

Excellently made, good looking boot; perhaps better for people without wide feet!

I ended up using these on a five-week trek across the rocky spine of Crete, despite having recently bought a pair of Salomon 4D2's. There were a couple of factors in choosing the Akus:

1. They looked better. This was sort of important for me because I was going to be going in and out of social spaces, family friends' weddings, etc. My pair are a sort of pale sage nubuck with leather heel-pieces
2. They seemed cooler in temp. Their 'AIR8000' side panels seemed to work pretty well, and though still protected by Gore-tex, seemed a tad more breathable than the Salomons.

I found the Vibram soles in these to be really good, though they have a slightly unusual pattern. Good grip on loose surfaces, good on rough and sharp rock, which I was often walking on.

Decent ankle support, despite not being particularly high-cut. Reasonably lightweight. Good value for money given that they are Aku's cheapest model I think (~180$)

The only thing for me is that these are a typical euro form factor—the forefeet in these are quite narrow. I'll still use these until they fall apart, but I occasionally need to give my feet a rest on a full-day walk (a couple of minutes intensive torsion and massage!), but that probably speaks about my (shovel-shaped) feet rather than the boots!