New Balance 811

No shoe without a waterproof membrane (like Goretex) is going to keep all the water out, and IME those with a membrane will just soak your foot from the inside with sweat instead. Remember, if the water goes in fast, it comes out fast. One of my last trips in the fall, I had to cross a creek (pronounced 'crick' here in farm country) twice at around 2PM. I walked right through wearing some Smartwool medium weight socks in my NB MT811ATs. The water was over the top of my shoes. I walked until 6:30 or so, sat around camp for a couple of hours, and when I went to bed my feet were already dry and the shoes were close. This day was overcast, high <60, low 43, very humid, and they were almost completely dry when I put them back on around 6AM. They performed very well from this standpoint.

They do leave the bottoms of my feet sore every time I hike in them though. If you are interested in performance in other areas, do a search for them as I know there have been a few threads recently that they were mentioned in.

-Tim

On a hot summers day, there have been times when we have deviated to walk briefly in the creek, just to cool our feet down.

Good thick wool socks – essential.

Cheers

I have heard comments about the 811s being a bit thin on the ground and sore feet resulting.

I just tried out both the 811 and 907 in a nearby shop, stepping on the contoured metal device they use to measure one's feet (the best I could do other than make off with both pair for an extended backpack).

The 811s do feel less padded underfoot and I could feel the metal sides of the device pushing through a good deal more than the 907s. So I bought the latter. It might be the better shoe for walking on rough, pointy terrain.

Marty Cooperman