The “dressy hiking boot” look is one we’ve seen before from makers such as Viberg and Oak Street Bootmakers. Mimicking the rugged appearance of traditional hiking boots—D-rings, padded collars—these kinds of boots typically lack a super-chunky lug sole, and feature leathers that are more stylish and comfortable rather than exclusively tough and rugged.
Unfortunately, these dressy hiking boots tend to be either on the pricey side (in the case of Viberg) or are discontinued/hard-to-find (RIP?) Oak Street’s Summit Boot).
Here to fill the hole in this niche is Meermin with their brand-new Hiking Boot. This model is built upon the new Onyx last, which was specifically designed for said Hiking Boot. The Onyx last is described as being spacious and accommodating, and claims to features a wide toebox despite its shapeliness. If you’ve found Meermin’s other lasts to be a bit too much on the narrow side, this might be one worth trying.
As for the Hiking Boot itself: it’s made with Meermin’s own Ultraflex construction, which combines the classic Goodyear welt build with an insole partially lined with memory foam. On top, you’ll find a padded collar, a full-bellows tongue, and some sturdy speedhooks and D-rings. On the bottom, Meermin has outfitted these boots with their proprietary commando sole (or, on the calfskin variant, a lightweight cleated sole).
There are eight versions of these Hiking Boots currently available in Meermin’s Made To Order section. You can select from Tannerie D’Annonay’s black boxcalf, or a bunch of colors in their Thibet pebble-grain leather. There are also a few options in C.F. Stead’s stupendous waxed suede, aka Waxy Commander—Black, Rust, and Caper Green.
As always, you get a terrific bang for your buck from Meermin—each pair of Hiking Boots retails for $265. Only thing: while we’re unsure of the future outlook on this style, for now these particular models will only be available to order until the middle of next week, so hike on over (so very sorry) to Meermin’s site to snag a pair while they’re still around.