Over the past 15 years I've been pretty happy with Merrell, Keen, and Timberland. I don't recall the brands I tried on and didn't buy, but I have bought all of those. That said, of those brands there were a lot of styles I tried on and didn't buy.

I wear lightweight mid hikers and nothing else. Others here have said they wear trail runners and nothing else. This is evidence of how personal shoes are. To go even further, every shoe made still has a lot of crafting done by hand, so no two shoes are exactly alike.

My advice for shoes is to go to all the stores you can and try on every pair in the store, even those you think are ugly. Don't pay any attention to price, even if they're way over your budget. Try them all on. Put both shoes on and walk in them. Make a note of those you like.

One thing you're sure to learn is you can buy very expensive shoes that are really uncomfortable. When you're all done with that, review your notes and decide which works best for you. Then go try on every pair of that shoe in your size and select the shoes that fit best from among those. I've taken a right from one box and a left from another more than once.

If you've had your vasque sundowners for a long time then you might not be aware that most shoe stores will want to sell you an aftermarket insole now. Those can cost from $10 to $40 and up. Over the past few years some shoe makers, like Merrell, have started using cheaper insoles figuring you'll buy aftermarket insoles anyway.

That approach is bass ackwards. If you're going to use aftermarket insoles buy them first and try the shoe on with them before you buy it.