Since these shoes are designed to be highly versatile, I wanted to put them to the test in a wide range of use contexts to help shed light on where they excel and where they fall short. While the Merrell Vapor Glove 6 does a good job from a hybrid outdoor and indoor context, I don’t think it’s going to be the best barefoot shoe for daily wear and more serious training.

For multi-directional work and plyometrics, the 2mm lugs give you enough grip for most surfaces and on turf and rubber gym floors, this model did a good job of providing me enough traction to push my performance.

Welcome to Backpackers.com.We are a small, independent team writing gear reviews and useful outdoor guides.

If you have notably wide feet, then I would say tread lightly when looking into this shoe. This shoe should work for most, but again, if you have a flatter midfoot and arch, then you may not enjoy this shoe’s overall fit. Again, this shoe does remind me of a water shoe in many ways and I’ll definitely be using them this summer for my hikes that have creek crossings and for rainy or muddy excursions.

In addition, the EVA foam insole and Vibram outsole are also composed of at least 30% recycled materials. If you care about the materials used in your shoes, then I think this will be a nice pro that comes with the Vapor Glove 6. Merrell Vapor Glove 6 Cons

Timeless Upper with Functional Properties

For hiking, I like the Merrell Vapor Glove 6 and think it will fare well for casual hikes in warmer months. The high level of breathability with this shoe is great for warm contexts, but this won’t be your barefoot shoe for hiking in cooler months, in my opinion. To assess the performance of the Merrell Vapor Glove 6, I’m going to cover their performance in a wide range of contexts. I’ll discuss how they perform for lifting, versatile training, short runs, hikes, and daily wear. For those just transitioning to barefoot running shoes, or those who find constant pavement pounding to be hard on their joints, we suggest looking at a different running shoe that offers slightly more cushioning in the midsole or insole. However, I think if you’re wanting a barefoot shoe that you can wear to train and hike in and wear more formally, then you may have a hard time doing so in this shoe. You might want to look into something like the Vivobarefoot Primus Trail II FG.