Vivobarefoot Magna Lite WR SG Mens

I first experienced hiking when I went on a walking holiday that my school arranged and I seem to remember them making a huge fuss over getting the right kind of shoes and making sure to break them in before the holiday. Of course, teenage me knew much better and, motivated by my (extremely questionable) fashion choices, ignored this, insisting on my absolute favourite trainers being adequate for the job… You can imagine what happened and I didn’t make that same mistake when I went again the next year! Nowadays, you don’t need massive hiking boots – technology has come on such that you can happily wear hiking shoes like this pair from Vivobarefoot that I think teenage me wouldn’t have minded wearing at all.

As well as looking like a comfy pair of shoes instead of some huge pair of hiking boots, these things are packed with tech to make hiking in them a breeze. For starters, the insole is thermal with built-in temperature-regulating technology that ensures your feet stay cool when heated up and warm when it gets cooler. The outer sole is soft and flexible and is only 2.5mm thick allowing you to feel the terrain you’re walking in and so giving you the ability to make micro-adjustments in the same way you would be able to if you were walking barefoot – maybe not so surprising given the name of the company! The rubber it is constructed from is ‘sticky’ and the lug height is a decent 5mm so giving you a good grip on unstable terrain. The tread design is ideal for wet and slippery conditions such as you may find on a muddy trail.

As well as being designed for speed these shoes are made from recycled plastic also so, not only are you getting a well-crafted piece of footwear, you can wear them safe in the knowledge that you’ve minimised your impact on the environment. RRP £180

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