Patagonia EVERlong

I've used these for about three months now and have some mixed feelings. They are extremely light and comfortable and I wear them fairly often. But, for some reason my knees seem to hurt after I wear them too long during the day.

The design seems to offer a pronation where the inside of the shoe forces the ankle outwards just a bit. I don't think this is really a fault, but my knees slightly go in and I think the shoes are putting a bit of stress on them.

The one thing I'll call a con is the tread is not very aggressive and the shoes seem to slip more than I like, especially for being a "trail" running shoe.

These are one of the pairs of shoes I won in a contest here on Trailspace several months back. The other is the Patagonia Activist which I review here. I wanted to wear them for a while before reviewing them and I now have some opinions.  

First, these are actually some really comfortable shoes on the feet. They are very lightweight and breathable. When I first received them, I thought the electric orange was going to be a bit too much for me, but now I think the color is kind of cool.

I'm not really much of a runner but I have worn them on the trails a few times and have a like/dislike for them. For the reasons above, I really like them. You hardly know you have shoes on. But, the tread design isn't too aggressive and they tend to slip on the scree trails we have here in Colorado.

As I noted in the Summary, I have slight knock knees. These shoes appear to have the inside portion of the shoe slightly raised (pronated) which forces some pressure on my knees that they are not accustomed to. The three yellow patches on the inside heel area of the shoe feels like a harder compound than the black patches, which likely sets up the pronation. I don't really fault the shoe design because this is probably OK for most people, but if I wear these for more than a few hours of walking, my knees hurt.

All in all, these are decent shoes. If I were a runner, especially a trail runner I'd rather they have more aggressive tread to ideally limit some of the slipping.

The EVERlong is a lightweight, fast-drying shoe that makes you forget that you're wearing shoes.

I've been wearing my EVERlongs for almost a year now, required zero break-in, and they're still my favorite and most comfortable pair of shoes. I was sad to hear that this model is being discontinued.

I have had zero blisters or rub points, even after continuing to hike after river crossings. Uphill or descents both felt the same, unlike with other shoes I've worn that pinched on ascents or let my toes become bruised from hitting the fronts while going downhill. My feet get a tiny breeze the faster I go, thanks to the great breathability, which speeds up drying and keeps feet cooler.

Mine are a Women's size 10.5 and weigh 16.32 ounces. The construction is very good, although because they are so lightweight, I don't expect the mesh uppers to last many years. I've snagged the toe of one side on something and may have gotten it with my trekking pole, and the tiny holes are becoming larger as I wear them.

The laces are also very light, but with care they should last the life of the shoe, as I don't lace my shoes very tightly.

To me, these shoes lean towards being a minimalist style, and every rock can be felt due to the fairly thin sole. I have to choose my footing well if I don't want to bruise the bottoms of my feet when making my way through sharp-rocked areas. I did like the 4mm drop, but I want to try a 0mm drop (Altra) next because flat soles feel more natural to me.

They grip sufficiently for my taste, and I have not noticed that I am slipping any more or less than I have with other shoes.

The photo below shows the mesh uppers full of silt after crossing the Sandy River at the PCT in Oregon. We forded mid-morning and they were almost completely dry by mid-afternoon.