Quick Tips
More Weather Protection: Allbirds Now Has Waterproof Shoes
For years now, I’ve been a fan of and written about Allbirds shoes — specifically their Mizzles line. In fact, I just cited them as the shoe component of my favorite travel outfit. Because of this, I’m always interested when they launch a new product. On that note, this week, I got an email from Allbirds announcing the launch of their first-ever line of waterproof shoes.
If you’re confused by how this could be, considering that I initially reviewed the Allbirds Mizzles five years ago, those shoes are “water-resistant” and “water-repellent” — not waterproof. That even goes for their Runner and Runner-Up Protect models, which were meant to be a bit more rugged. But now, they’ve unveiled three apparently honest-to-goodness waterproof shoe models.
According to the site, these new shoes employ a 2mm waterproof membrane. Additionally, the merino wool is treated with the water repellent C-Zero DWR. These new shoes also feature grippy tread soles, so you can not only keep your feet dry but also (hopefully) not slip on wet surfaces. Meanwhile, on the inside, the waterproof shoes utilize the Allbirds Featherbed memory foam insoles.
Of the three new options, my pick would easily be the Wool Runner NZ Mid Waterproof (catchy name, huh?). This is their new high top, which I think would be the most reasonable choice if you’re going for a waterproof shoe. As I’ve stated before, I’ve also found Allbirds’ high tops to be even more comfortable than the low top equivalent, for what that’s worth.
The downside? Currently, these waterproof models start at $140 for the Cruisers, while the Wool Runners are $150, and the high-tops I have my eye on go for $160. To be fair, that’s not a huge increase over the $145 retail for the Runner-Up Mizzles… except that those happen to be on sale for $87 at the moment. Even without comparison, it’s quite a bit to spend on a pair of sneakers IMHO.
While that price is steep, I am definitely mulling over a purchase here — after all, I kind of need to review them, right? That pressure is only intensified by the fact that my favorite colorway of the currently available options is the limited edition Weathered Brown (seen above). And, although my Mizzles are holding up great, it would be nice to have a secondary option.
In any case, while I can’t speak to these specific shoes, I can say that I love my Allbirds Mizzles. Thus, I’d tentatively endorse these new waterproof models as great travel shoes that can handle what the weather at your destination(s) throws at them. You can check them out for yourself over on the Allbirds site.
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