I swear by the Merrill Ventilators. I just bought a new pair, my last pair died several years back. The prior pairs were my 'jungle shoes,' the guy who sold them to me actually told me they were waterproof. Imagine my surprise when I found out I'd spent $70 on shoes that were precisely the opposite of waterproof! But I found them so comfortable that I decided to hang on to them, and I never found them to take that long to dry. Usually they dry out overnight, as long as I have a reasonably dry place to put them. Nothing ever actually dries out in the Amazon.

I don't have my old pairs to compare in real time, but I feel like the current iteration seems a little heavier and takes a little longer to dry. Still very reasonable in my mind.

But I also don't go running.



I did learn my lesson on buying shoes in-store, years ago. A year after the mix-up with my "waterproof" Merrill Ventilators, I walked into a different store to request some hiking boots with good ankle support, for use in a temperate rainforest. I specifically explained that I would be working as a tour guide on wet boardwalks and in an unimproved cave. Lots of wet surfaces. The boots they recommended were reasonably lightweight and very comfortable, so I bought them.
Those boots are brilliant on dry surfaces. I still use them near home or if I travel somewhere dry.
... AND... they have exactly zero traction on wet wood. Wet rock is a crap-shoot, too, but it was the boardwalk that did me in. I ended up wearing my Ventilators most of the time.