The Vasque Breeze was the hiking boot I chose for my first Grand Canyon hike back in 2012. My wife and I both enjoyed hiking in Vasque's best seller. More than ten years later, the Breeze has declined in price—and in popularity. Have hikers been missing out on a great hiking boot at a great price? My Vasque Breeze review says yes.
The new Breeze looks like the old Breeze III. However, Vasque has swapped out Vibram outsoles and GORE-TEX waterproofing for its proprietary outsoles and VasqueDry waterproofing to make the Breeze more affordable. At a time when other brands keep raising their prices year after year, the Vasque Breeze now costs $30 less than it did five years ago with a MSRP of $160. That's nice for the pocket book—but what about performance?
Wearing the Vasque Breeze on Wheeler Peak, NM (13,167ft)
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Vasque Breeze Review
My Vasque Breeze review subjected Vasque's most popular hiking boot to a series of test hikes that I selected to evaluate its support, weight, fit, comfort, weather protection, and traction. Since this is a serious hiking boot, I prioritized moderate to difficult trails within two hours of my new Albuquerque home, including La Luz Trail, the Sandia Crest trail, and Wheeler Peak—New Mexico's tallest mountain at 13,167 feet. I bushwhacked through the brush and boulders in desert canyons, passed marmots at high elevation, and switchbacked my way up and down several steep trails covered with slick, weathered granite. As always, Hiking Feet's reviews are 100% independent* and based on a minimum of 50 miles of first-hand hiking experience.
* Disclosure: I purchased my own pair of Vasque Breezes for this review. Hiking Feet never publishes sponsored posts or accepts free merchandise in exchange for positive reviews or recommendations. All views are my own and based on personal experience.
Test hike at Wheeler Peak, New Mexico
Support
The Vasque Breeze has a solid build for men and women who want one boot for both day hiking and backpacking. For better or worse, it's not quite as rigid as the older Breeze styles. There's moderate flex at the balls of my feet—balancing midfoot support with mobility for less taxing trails. The ankle collars are sturdy leather that hit higher on my ankles than the Oboz Bridger, a similar hiking boot I recommend. Protective toe caps have prevented some profanity after stubbing my toes on rocks and roots. Overall, the Breeze offers better support than the average hiking boot.
This is my second pair of Breezes. Over hundreds of miles, they've protected my feet and ankles from the Grand Canyon to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. I loaded up my 35 liter pack last week to test their ankle protection with some off-trail hiking and sidehill construction that puts extra pressure on my (crooked) ankles. That trip renewed my confidence in the Breeze's foot and ankle support.
Weight
For my men's size 12-wide, the Vasque Breeze weighs 2 pounds 12 ounces per pair. In my size, that's an average weight for a traditional (midweight) hiking boot. Compared to similar hiking boots in its class, that's similar to my Oboz Bridgers and Sawtooths and 4 ounces less than my LOWA Renegades. It's certainly not a lightweight hiking boot. However, its weight : support ratio is actually pretty good for a boot that can handle both day hiking and backpacking.
Women's Vasque Breeze Hiking Boot
Fit
The main reason I stopped wearing the Vasque Breeze ten years ago was because it was too narrow for my moderately wide feet. Since then, Vasque made this boot available in wide sizes. My everyday shoe size is a 11.5, and I get a good fit in the 12-wide. Compared to other US hiking boot brands, Vasque's regular fit is narrower than Merrell and KEEN (both run wide) and similar to Oboz. Based on my first-hand experience, its wide size is a true wide. That means the Vasque Breeeze can fit a range of hikers who want slightly narrow to wide fits.
Ventilated mesh and aeration ports = Breezy Comfort
Comfort
Comfort usually boils down to fit and matching your footwear to your style of hiking. Now that the Breeze is available in a wide, I get a comfortable fit that doesn't squeeze the outside of my feet when they start to swell. If you prefer a more supportive hiking boot to a lightweight hiking boot, you'll probably find the Vasque Breeze very comfortable. With its thick soles, moderate cushioning, moderate flex, and sturdy but supple leather uppers, the Breeze has kept my feet from getting fatigued on several steep and rocky trails that put plenty of pressure on my lower body, including an 11-mile loop that passed over two 13,000 foot peaks outside Taos, New Mexico.
I initially purchased the Breeze to keep my feet cooler on Southwest desert hikes. Its name comes from the ventilated mesh windows and perforated leather ports that aerate feet with a little breeze. Even though these are waterproof leather hiking boots, my feet didn't overheat on a 99 degree day hike on the Tres Pistoles (3 Guns) Trail up to South Sandia Crest outside of Albuquerque.
Test hike on Albuquerque's Embudo Trail
Weather Protection
My Vasque Breeze review didn't provide much of a test of this boot's waterproofing—it's easier to find creeks and sloppy trails in Pennsylvania than New Mexico. I'll contiue to update this post once the snow hits the Sandias behind my house and monsoon rains create more mud and water crossings. My educated guess, however, is that the combination of leather uppers and VasqueDry waterproofing will provide average weather protection. Most likely, that proprietary waterproofing will fall short of the durability and breathability of the GORE-TEX membranes that were in the old Vasque Breezes. But it probably won't be a big difference since the boots' leather limits how much moisture ever reaches that waterproof barrier inside the boot.
Moderate lugs are better on rock than mud
Traction
One key change from the older Vasque Breezes to the current model is that Vasque now uses its own proprietary rubber instead of the outsoles that Vasque developed with Vibram decades ago. Honestly, I didn't notice any fall off in traction on my test hikes.
The moderate lugs—shaped like four-leaf clovers—provide good surface area to generate friction on rocks. They don't provide as sharp of edges to dig into mud, sand, and scree. At the same time, I had no significant slips on several steep trails, and the Breeze's deep heel brake helped me dig into loose sediment on steep descents in the Sandia Mountains. Overall, this is moderate tread that was better than expected on rocks and downhill hikes.
Value
I thought that the old Vasque Breeze was a good value a few years ago at $189 —other sturdy hiking boots with Vibram rubber and GORE-TEX waterproofing cost over $200. Now it's $160 (without Vibram and GTX). In my opinion, the Vasque Breeze and Oboz Sawtooth ($180) give hikers the most bang for the buck in hiking boots. With the Breeze beating the Sawtooth in support and price, it's the best value in hiking boots.
That's before considering the current closeout prices. Sadly, Vasque just announced they were going out of business, so the Breeze won't be available much longer. That also means hikers can find this boot heavily discounted until it sells out for good.
Click on the buttons below to see current closeout prices:
Vasque Breeze: Pros vs. Cons
The latest (and last) edition of the Vasque Breeze may be cheaper, but it's still a really good hiking boot. I have first-hand experience with past and present models and don't have major critiques of the Vasque Breeze. Even though the Breeze has dropped GORE-TEX waterproofing and Vibram outsoles, it's still an above average hiking boot:
Conclusion:
The Vasque Breeze has been one of the best hiking boots for recreational hikers and backpackers for many years. It's a good hiking boot for men and women who value support over weight savings, and it's also a top pick for those who put a premium on price. The Breeze probably provides the best value of all the hiking boots I've reviewed.
If you're both a day hiker and a backpacker, the Breeze can handle backpacking and weighs several ounces less than popular backpacking boots I recommend. Even without GORE-TEX waterproofing and Vibram outsoles, it's an above average hiking boot in my book. Even though Vasque is going out of business, that's not a reflection on poor quality. I'm happy to recommend this hiking boot based on my first-hand experience.
If you found my Vasque Breeze review helpful, please consider purchasing your next hiking boots through the affiliate links above. That doesn't cost you anything, but the retailer may share a small percentage of the sale with Hiking Feet. Those commissions aren't much, but they keep this site going. If this site hooked you up, please consider hooking me up, too.
Also, don't dilly dally if you're interested in buying the Vasque Breeze. With Vasque recently going out of business, (1) the Breeze is heavily discounted right now and (2) won't be around much longer. Once the 2024 closeouts are gone, you won't be able to buy this hiking boot again. Get it while you can.
