Norvan LD 3 GTX

Jumping in. I’ve had the Norvan LD 2’s, LD 3’s, & now the LD 4’s. They are great shoes. Honestly some of the most comfortable running shoes I’ve owned. I was rather surprised given arcteryx isn’t the first company I would think of when it came to footwear. They’ve changed the most recent model (LD4’s) in such a way that your foot kind of slides into an elasticized sock. Rather than a classic tongue situation. If that makes sense. It takes longer to put them on now. I found the LD3s the most comfortable but I’m still breaking on my LD4s so we will see. Quality is meh decent. The LD2s split at the edges where the upper toe fabric bends. The sole eventually wore right through as well. I felt I got a decent life span considering what they went through. But I’ve also got merril approach shoes that are 20 years old, saw much worse, and are still going strong.

Consider Arcteryx Norvan LD4 as well? they carry small sizes (I just retired some LD3s in size 5.5)

I've figured the solution a while ago and the answer isn't really on the list lol. I'v chosen a pair of trail shoes for the versatility, but those are not my usual trail trainning/race shoes. When I travel in another country these are my main shoes for : traveling, visiting, running and hiking if i have to. The brief is simple : \- they must look "nice" at least like a sneaker to be worn in any occasaion (unelss it's very formal) --> that's why Im not taking my usual trail running shoes because they're (or used to be) bright ORANGE \- be confortable for visiting the place where I'm traveling \- Able to be ran in \- Have a vibram outsole because it's the best in the market. So I've bought a pair of norvan LD3, but a light shaded kjierag 01 could have fit the bill too. Anyway, if you're bringin a pair of "regular shoes" alongside a pair of sport shoes, i'd still advice to go for the trail ones.

I am going to challenge you on this - the Arcteryx shoes use the exact same outsole compound as the Nordas - Vibram Megagrip Lite-Base. As for tread pattern, that's very much terrain dependent and personal preference - so it's really subjective. For the record, I have and love many pairs of Nordas. I also have and love many pairs of Arcteryx shoes. I run primary in the Coast Mountains of Canada and both of those shoes perform very well in that region. I think that the durability of the Nordas is unmatched - you're absolutely correct, but I also think that the durability of the LD3, LD4, Sylans are very good. I have run many hundreds of KM ( I do keep close track of my milage for each shoe) with various pairs of Arcteryx shoes and I have had no major issues beyond normal wear and tear. I guess I just get frustrated by this narrative that Arcteryx shoes are "bad". They may be bad for you, but they are not bad for me. And they are not bad for many others.

Finally some love for the Norvan LDs on this sub.. I’ve had every model and they’re excellent. Especially for rugged hiking

I’ve never had any issues with running in them

Very poor lateral stability and a bad tread pattern that’s actually very slippery on mixed trails. Durability is also lacking and I only get about 350km out of a pair of Norvan LDs. Whereas my Nordas and Speedlands I can get 1200km and 700km out of a pair

I have wide toe box. So I’m wearing brands like Salomon (ultra, ultra glide) Norda work great, as do arcteryx norvan ld. Anyway injinji toe socks seemed like a gimmick to me. Difficult to put on. Just different. But I got a pair on super sale at REI. Holy cow!! Toes feel amazing, the sock has less torsional rotation and is in the same place on my foot after 10+ hours hiking. Usually in NH white mountains. So no climbing ever going on but it’s pretty rugged terrain everywhere. Has helped with general foot comfort. I was not battling blisters before. I did have waterproof footwear for the start (2 seasons) of my hiking activities. Salomon xmid ultra. I used to get lots of hot spots and some minor blisters. It’s because my feet were getting too sweaty in those. God forbid you plunk a water crossing. Then your wet all day. Anyway light weight mesh trail runners, good toe box width and frontal protection, mega grip soles, runners loop, toe socks or ultra light DTs and a sock change at the 10ish mile mark usually does me real solid now.