When you live in the mountains, nothing is more important than a good pair of hiking boots. Lucky for us, just about every shoe manufacturer out there makes high quality boots that are more than capable of letting you put one foot in front of the other on rocky trails. But not every boot is made equal, and some are even downright revolutionary – like the Wolverine Terrain Mid.
On the outside, the Wolverine Terrain Mid doesn’t look like anything special. It sports all the features you would expect from a hiking boot: suede and mesh uppers, mesh liner, EVA footbed, supportive outsole. But look inside the Terrain Mid, and you’ll see something only available from Wolverine: the iCS (individual comfort system.)
The iCS is a new invention that is simply an insole disk with varying levels of cushion or angle. To find your most comfortable position, you only have to remove the insole and rotate the disk to your desired function. For example, if you want your shoes to be firm, select the “F” setting. Want more cushion? Rotate to “C.” Have high arches or want to reduce outward tilt? The “O” is made just for you. Finally, “I” will be more comfortable for those with low arches or want to reduce inward tilt. I personally liked the “F” and “I” settings and chose either of those settings depending on the type of hiking I had in store
I’ve been hiking and backpacking in the Terrain Mid boots all summer, and they are great for short excursions into the mountains for peak bagging or hammering out a few miles with the dog in the woods. They feel light weight for a mid-hiker, so they save your legs from fatigue. Hell I even banged out some trail running in them and they performed admirably.
The Wolverine Terrain Mid are also waterproof, but looking at the webbing that comprises a huge portion of the upper, I was highly skeptical. So to find out the truth, I performed the stream test. As my dog looked on in amusement, I stood in a small creek for over a minute. I felt no water get inside the shoe at first, but then a cold, creeping sensation got into my toes. “Aha! They’re not waterproof,” I thought. So I got back on dry land and took off the shoes and… nothing. No moisture got in. Turns out my feet simply got a little cold after standing in freezing water for so long. Color me impressed.
For backpacking though, the Wolverine Terrain Mid don’t stand up to the strain. Under the weight of a heavy pack, all that mesh in the upper make the boots feel floppy and unsupportive. So while they rock on short and fast hikes, I would not recommend these boots for anything more strenuous.
But what really makes the boots stand out and shine is the iCS. Even though I found my favorite setting on the disk, it was nice to be able to change it up a bit when my feet got sore. After long miles, I simply took the boots off, removed the insoles, and rotated the disk to make the shoes feel competely different, and give my foot muscles a rest from a repetitive norm.
So if you’re looking for a hiking boot that is light, fast, grippy, waterproof, and completely different from anything you’ve worn before, then look no firther than the Wolverine Terrain Mid.