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Merrell Millennium M2 Boot
By Glenn Randall

What shape will hiking boots take in the twenty-first century? Merrell’s answer, the Millennium M2 Superlight ($150, 800-869-3348), doesn’t look as radical as you might expect. Instead, the new design offers a host of more subtle refinements that add up
to an incredibly rugged, lightweight (three pounds per pair), and comfortable weekend hiker.

The innovation starts at the tongues–yes, two of them. The outer tongue, filled with compression-molded EVA that diffuses pressure even when you really crank the laces tight, seals out debris. The secure inner tongue keeps the foot from slipping. Support comes from a top-grain leather upper, but several other features make the Millennium particularly sturdy. An
injection-molded silicon plate underneath the lacing hardware protects your foot, and a rubber toe cap preserves that critical wear point. The sole, a joint Merrell/Vibram effort with extra-sticky rubber and aggressive lugs, grips well on both rock and dirt.

The other components, while not revolutionary, are first-class: A molded nylon insole provides torsional rigidity, a polyurethane midsole offers durability, and an air-filled heel-cushion increases shock absorption. All told, the Superlight provides the traction, stability, and support necessary to hike with difficult burdens–and they should last well into the next
century.