Merrell – My Honest Review
Is Merrell a good hiking brand?
Sadly, I’d have to say no. And it’s not easy to speak badly of someone you loved so much for so long, but if I’m being honest in my review of Merrell, I’d have to say the quality is poor.
Let me tell you all about it. But first let’s look at a summary of Merrell’s offering, pros and cons.
Merrell in a Nutshell
Merrell is a relatively affordable hiking boots, shoes and leisure footwear brand.
They sell through their own website as well as through a number of other retailers.
I’ve had 5 pairs of hiking boots and 3 pairs of trainers from Merrell. It started well. But it is not ending well…
Merrell Pros and Cons
Merrell Pros
- Affordable compared with other brands
- Very comfortable, for the most part
- Wide fit options available
Merrell Cons
- Poor quality
- Merrell's waterproof boots consistently fail
My First Merrell Hiking Boots
I bought a pair of Merrell mid Bravada boots back in July 2021 from their own website.
It was these ones seen here on my epic boot dryer:
Well, actually, it wasn’t this specific pair. This is the third pair of those boots that I bought.
I loved my first pair of these so much that I bought two more from other retailers (I’m on the third now). And I also bought the winter knit buff version too.
That’s how much I loved how comfortable they were.
Now, make no mistake. As comfortable as these boots were, I did not feel like they were “waterproof,” as they claimed. I did wonder how fabric uppers could be waterproof to be honest. And really, they were not. BUT they were so, so comfortable on long hikes that all I did was buy a pair of Salewa hiking boots to use for wet terrain hikes or on wet days.
But the comfort on these was amazing. And despite hiking very many miles on rocky terrains, these lasted so, so well. I still have my third pair and there’s loads of life in them yet. The soles held out well, the uppers stayed in tact. And with the first two of these, I wore the sole down after a lot of scrambling and a LOT of miles, but even then, the uppers were still in great condition.
All the Merrell Hiking Boots and Trainers I’ve Bought – Rated
Product | Bought? | Rating out of 5 | Good | Bad |
Merrell Bravada Mid Women’s Hikers in the Blue/Green Colour | 2021 | 4.5 | So comfortable . Decent price. Great, grippy soles. Bought 3 pairs in the end! Great quality. Lasted ages | Not waterproof as advertised but I just didn’t use them on wet walks cos the comfort and quality was worth it |
Knit bluff bravadas | 2021 | 4.5 | Very comfortable again! Grippy. | As above |
Agility Peak 4 Women’s Trail running shoes | 2022 | 4 | So comfortable with really grippy soles. Well priced. | Inside fabric wore away quite quickly |
Embark sneaker Moc in Black | 2023 | 3 | Comfortable | Sizing seemed off compared to other footwear. My usual size was far too big really |
Moab Flight trainers in Navy | 2024 | 1 | Comfortable to start with | Inside fabric wore away so quickly at the heel causing blisters. Sole came away too within 4 months. |
MQM mid 3 Gore Text women’s walking boots | 2024 | 2 | Comfortable | Not waterproof. Water was leaking in on the first wet walk. Tape coming away already |
It just seems that the quality is not what it was. I used to regard Merrell as a really good value hiking brand that also delivered on quality and it’s just hard to justify that opinion these days.
For example, the Moab Flight trainers – within 4 months this is what the back of the inside looked like:
These were the same size as the previous trainers I had owned (5.5) and they seemed to fit well. But the fabric wore away within 4 months and eventually the hard material behind was exposed.
At the same time, the sole started to come away too:
I had owned them for 4 months and by no means wore them all the time and this was unexpected given my previous experience of long lasting Merrell products.
I decided to give it one last shot with the MQM Gore-tex boots.
Let me be clear that I LOVE how these boots look and I think they’re really comfortable straight out of the box which is massively important to me.
I decided on the GoreTex ones because I wanted waterproof. I really wanted waterproof.
My first few hikes in them were dry so I didn’t properly get to test them. But the first time I went on a wet terrain hike I ended up with wet feet.
Water gets in behind the laces. And the waterproof taping effect is coming away which I suspect is leading to leaks too. This is happening on both boots:
So this pair will need to be replaced with an alternative pair of waterproof boots.
So, is Merrell a good hiking brand?
Well, I would so love to say yes because it started so well. But no. Sadly, I feel that Merrell’s good value products are offset by the poor quality and speed with which they need replacing. Now granted, I’m no expert reviewer, I’ve not lab tested the materials and I don’t own their whole range. But my review of Merrell on the whole, based on the last couple of years, is that I simply wouldn’t buy from them again.
Nobody needs wet feet on a mountain hike!
Merrell Alternatives
So, the one thing that Merrell really does appeal for is the fact that its boots are very affordable compared to other hiking brands.
I’m currently testing some alternatives including some significantly pricier boots (which I won’t include here but will fully review once I’ve finished testing). Some of these are not thoroughly tested enough yet to fully review, but I wanted to these are alternatives at the sub £150 mark.