Merrell Moab 3.

The Moab 3 shows up on almost every "best hiking shoe" list, and for good reason in the climate most of those lists are written for — temperate trails, occasional rain, evenings cool enough that a shoe actually dries overnight. Northern Thailand and Laos are not that climate, and six weeks of trekking there is where this shoe fell apart, in one case literally.

The breathable mesh upper, a genuine asset on a dry trail, turns into a liability the moment you cross the first ankle-deep stream crossing: it soaks through almost immediately and, in humidity that doesn't drop much below 80 percent overnight, still hadn't fully dried by the next morning's start. By week three the shoes had developed a smell no amount of sun or foot powder fully solved. By week five, the sole had started peeling away from the upper on my left shoe, a full month before I'd have expected a shoe at this price to show real wear.

Comfort and trail grip were never the problem — both were genuinely good. But a hiking shoe has to survive its climate first, and in sustained tropical humidity, this one didn't.