Durable boots/runners with good traction?

[pleiades]

I'm looking for a new pair of, hopefully, durable boots or trail runners. It may be user error, but I seem to be going through boots like crazy.
Last summer, I went through two pairs of Topos Trailventures (the first pair broke at the shaft while hiking Ben Tyler, the second had loose seams after a hike or two).
I just got a pair of Salomon Quest 4Ds... the seams are coming apart after a hike up Grizzly D. I tried some Adidas Terrex boots, but they were too narrow at the top.
I did a couple of 14ers in my Lone Peaks, and while I think they are the right fit, I tend to feel every rock, and the stability/traction isn't what I would want.
The stickiness and grip of La Sportiva sounds great on paper, but they tend to only fit half of my foot.
I'd love to find something that would give me width, traction, and stability, so I can maybe try my first class 3s this summer.

[yaktoleft13]

Maybe try altra trail runners? Can't speak to their stickiness, but I have their normal runners and they're super wide toe box. My wife uses their trail runners for all mountain things, including scrambling

[Edwin Supple]

I'm looking for a new pair of, hopefully, durable boots or trail runners. It may be user error, but I seem to be going through boots like crazy.
Last summer, I went through two pairs of Topos Trailventures (the first pair broke at the shaft while hiking Ben Tyler, the second had loose seams after a hike or two).
I just got a pair of Salomon Quest 4Ds... the seams are coming apart after a hike up Grizzly D. I tried some Adidas Terrex boots, but they were too narrow at the top.
I did a couple of 14ers in my Lone Peaks, and while I think they are the right fit, I tend to feel every rock, and the stability/traction isn't what I would want.
The stickiness and grip of La Sportiva sounds great on paper, but they tend to only fit half of my foot.
I'd love to find something that would give me width, traction, and stability, so I can maybe try my first class 3s this summer.

I had some Altra King MTs, followed by the King MT 2 (or 1.5? not sure). Anyway, they were pretty sticky with Vibram megagrip but I would not call them durable. If you love the altra fit it might be worth putting up with their relative fragility. And still, they were better than what you describe on the Topos and the Quests.

Which La Spo models did you try? The bushido is way too narrow in the heel for me but I hear some other models have a better last for wide feet. I'm currently rocking some Scarpa spin 2.0s and the stickiness is great (megagrip as well) but the durability is meh. Better than the altra's but some disappointing quick peels in spots between the lower and the upper. Previous to that I had some scarpa neutrons (discontinued) which were both excellently sticky (megagrip) and great build quality. Wore those down til the tread was fully gone. For more chill trail running I've used various Cascadias from 5-14 but the rubber on all of them is trash for scrambling.

Basically I would make sure to get megagrip soles, or I guess La Spo's friXion or whatever they call it. Then just find the shoe that fits your foot.

[osprey]

Consider La Sportiva Karacal. They are a stable mountain runner with good rock protection and have a wider toe box than the other mountain runners in the La Sportiva line. I have done four class 2 13ers in them this summer so am unable to comment on class 3 but the shoes have FriXion AT 2.0 sticky rubber soles so they should be ok for class3.

[Conor]

I'm looking for a new pair of, hopefully, durable boots or trail runners. It may be user error, but I seem to be going through boots like crazy.
Last summer, I went through two pairs of Topos Trailventures (the first pair broke at the shaft while hiking Ben Tyler, the second had loose seams after a hike or two).
I just got a pair of Salomon Quest 4Ds... the seams are coming apart after a hike up Grizzly D. I tried some Adidas Terrex boots, but they were too narrow at the top.
I did a couple of 14ers in my Lone Peaks, and while I think they are the right fit, I tend to feel every rock, and the stability/traction isn't what I would want.
The stickiness and grip of La Sportiva sounds great on paper, but they tend to only fit half of my foot.
I'd love to find something that would give me width, traction, and stability, so I can maybe try my first class 3s this summer.

You just have to find what works for you. I plan to only get about 200-250 trail miles out of a pair of trail runners. My altra lone peaks were awful and only lasted 100 miles.

La sportiva shoes fit the bill, but like you, they are torture to wear as their toe box is narrow.

I've personally landed on saucony peregrines, and go through a couple pair a year. I'm comfortable scrambling in them up to low 5th. My personal opinion on needing sticky rubber to do 3rd/4th class stuff, you're not ready.

[nickm]

As you have figured out the new Salomon Quest 4D's are garbage. I went through 2 pair last year. I was only able to get 2 hikes out of each before the toe caps started separating. I finally, after over a decade of using Salomon's gave up on them. I liked the fact that they were comfortable and grippy. After a lot of research I ended up with a pair of Lowa Renegades, and a pair of Scarpa Zodiac Plus GTX. Wow, my only regret was that I had not changed sooner. The Lowa's are very similar to the Salomon's (great all around boot) other than they are much better quality. The Scarpa's are my new go to for scrambling and rocky terrain. An amazing combination of solid and grippy! Just be careful not to over tighten the laces over the top of your foot with the Scarpa's. I would estimate that I have at least 30 peaks on each. The Scarpa's are holding up unbelievably well. I am just now starting to see a bit of seam separation on the Lowa's.

Nick

[Aphelion]

Durability and stickiness are in general opposite ends of a spectrum. Any shoe is going to be some sort of compromise between the two. But you don't need sticky rubber shoes to do class 3. If you want a compromise a bit on the stickier end of the spectrum, maybe look into Salewa? They tend to fit the narrow heel / wider toe box you've described looking for, and I like their Ultra Train series as trail runners (although you will want to use Shoe Goo or Aquaseal around the edge of the sole, it tends to start peeling away with use).

[nyker]

I've had good luck with La sportiva raptors and older versions of North face hedgehog XCR

[emgordon_II]

Love the Scarpa trail runners I got at Bentgate. I’ve completed Mummy Mania and scrambled Kit Carson North ridge with them. My daily shoes are a pair of evolv approach shoes that I wear on short hikes also.

[ElvisNStahlman]

altra trail runners are really very good..you must try that.

camping tents

[vertical_volume]

La Sportiva Bushidos have a very nice blend of everything you encounter in Colorado imo. The shoe, out of the box is a little stiff and tight on the upper mid-foot and it steered me away for awhile. But it loosens up very nicely as you get to using them.

The upper and lower hold up extremely well in all Colorado terrain (I.e. scree, solid rock scrambling, grass, whatever) and the outer lugs and lower profile make it a *good* shoe for scrambling. Further, the low profile of the shoe gives me confident control in uneven terrain, but you don’t get that Rocky feel like you would the Lone peaks because it does have a rock plate it in, nor does it feel like you’re wearing high heels (salomons) with a respectable 6mm heel drop. I have 170 miles on my first pair, all in rocky Colorado terrain and the shoe itself has held up, but it will get demoted to strictly class 3/2 soon as the lugs are wearing down (solely my own confidence in the shoe, you could scramble in it for another 200 miles imo) and I’ll use my new pair for 4/5. There are better scrambling shoes, but like others have mentioned it comes at a sacrifice to something else, like comfort or durability.

[dan0rama]

Salomons are annoying coz they are ultra comfortable out of the box, but their uppers don't last long. Maybe that's the trade off. Sportiva's european mold doesn't fit me well. So I got a pair of low cut Oboz last winter. They are incredibly sturdy, lots of support and traction, but also incredibly uncomfortable out of the box. After 5 months of breaking in, I can now recommend them.