Trainers that Keep you Dry and On the Go–and where to find them for less

I wrote a while back about Nike’s Wildhorse Gore-Tex running shoes – on my feet right now, which have excellent traction on the sole, plenty of support and cushioning and keep you absolutely dry whatever the weather.  Living out in the country and surrounded by hills (not to mention dogs) these have proved to be perfect for walking anywhere on wet days.  Nike in its wisdom appears to have discontinued the Gore-Tex version of this trainer although if you search you can still find the odd one or two.  Grab them if you can.

All of this made me think, having found this to be the perfect outdoor walking/hiking trainer, what else is there out there.  I don’t want a hiking boot, too clumpy and limited in what you can do in them.  I want a shoe that looks like a trainer but acts like a hiking shoe and works whatever the weather.  No one wants wet feet, after all, and whether you’re walking/hiking in the UK, Austria or the Rockies one pair has to do it all.


All of these are designed in conjunction with Gore-Tex, which means that your feet stay totally dry.  You may say that they look a little on the heavy side for a trainer, however when you’re doing something serious outdoors you want something that will cover you for everything, and these do.  So keep your basic slimline running shoes for the gym or road running when it’s dry and invest in a pair of these for the great outdoors.

Some of these aren’t cheap, but they’re the latest collections.  Visit SportsShoes for a very good collection of previous ranges and excellent prices.  Some GTX shoes shown here are down by as much as 50%.  You want the latest colours?  You pay the price, but you can have dry, cushioned, trail walking feet for much less.