I have narrow feet, and really narrow heels, so Salomons are the greatest thing ever for me personally, but yeah, their wide offering is really pretty much every other shoe companies regular. I used to have trouble with my heel swimming in issued boots... thank God for Bates and Danner, because all of the supply issued brands would just tear my heels up bad.
For a wider foot I would look at the Altra Lone Peak 5. They are a lower drop shoe but are built on a wider last than many other athletic shoes and have a pretty forgiving toe box.
https://www.altrarunning.com/shop/me...nId=300#hero=3
"So strong is this propensity of mankind, to fall into mutual animosities, that where no substantial occasion presents itself, the most frivolous and fanciful distinctions have been sufficient to kindle their unfriendly passions, and excite their most violent conflicts." - James Madison, Federalist No 10
I can tell you don't even think about buying these and if you do keep the receipt because you will be returning them. They were delaminating at the outer toe reinforcement after a couple of months and also the soft cushy lining material inside was completely worn through at the heel. The Smartfeet insoles are worth 20 times what these things are. Of course I tossed the receipt or I would have returned them and I don't return stuff. Ever. They were nice and cushy inside though. They are certainly not trail grade as I wore them inside my house 90% of the time.
Wearing Keen Targhees right now. Had several pair of Merrill Moabs both waterproof and not and had good life with them. I bought the Keens because they were a bit cheaper and also on sale. They seem to be a solid shoe so far.
This.
I’m wearing a pair of Altras at work right now and love them. Super wide and roomy toe box. I don’t measure as a wide but have a weird structure and narrow shoes kill me. I can wear Salomans while moving with no problems but once I’m stationary my toes start hurting. I have a couple pair of Altras and no issues.
Arrived today. Width is close to my ASICS running 8.5EEE, and not far from my Moab 8.5W.
Left, Moab’s, right, new Saucony’s:
I’d say these are basically sneakers with am open, chevron-lugged sticky rubber sole. I’m happy with them for $60. I have a match at the same place (Ruskin FL) Oct 17, will see how it goes.
Thanks again for all the help.
Good luck with the field test.
If they pass, I would consider getting another pair and platooning them so they last a good long while.
60.00 for a name brand "trail runner" that does what you want it to do is solid value.
I am not your attorney. I am not giving legal advice. Any and all opinions expressed are personal and my own and are not those of any employer-past, present or future.
The reason why those lugs are not optimal for USPSA is that they were designed for purely forward and backwards movement. Look at the tread shape.
Much of USPSA is lateral. Lateral push offs and lateral hard braking.
So you want a “tire” built for cornering.
What happens with those lugs when you come in to plant a foot laterally from a side movement?
You have nothing. Slip city. Same thing with trying to place a foot laterally on a wet wood fault line.
Successful engineering should have a good concept of what the equipment should do or else you’re just guessing.
The top tier USPSA shoes are more trail cross trainers than runners.
The lugs are spaced to clear mud and they are staggered so a lateral translation sees different lug faces and surfaces.
Inov8
Speedcross
It’s a common theme for tire design in rally racing. No straight lateral tread unless you want to be slow and slip. Cornering matters. It’s not about just start and stop.
@RJ form follows function again. But if you don’t understand the function, you’ll probably miss out on the form aspect.
I used to use inov8's and salomons, but the last 2-3 years I've been 100% using baseball cleats and they are much better than any of the trail running shoes for most of the surfaces we run on for USPSA.
I used these for the match today in Ruskin. Field conditions were similar to last time, but considerably drier. My fit in the shoes was good, comfort was excellent and I had more traction than with my previous boots or Moab’s. I like them a lot.
I was noticing footwear on my squad; it ranged from Salomans to baseball cleats to sneakers. While footwear will make no great difference at my level, I did need a new pair of shoes, and these turned out very well. I appreciate all the input.