However on the Dropline Mid the cuff is hard and comparatively inflexible, which limits ankle mobility and makes its presence felt in terms of comfort (or lack of it). This offers some degree of protection from twisting your ankles while allowing a good range of movement for precise footwork on rough ground (which is, generally, what's going to stop you rolling an ankle in the first place). On the La Sportiva Raptor Mid, the most similar boot-shoe I've recently used, the ankle cuff is soft and padded, and has plenty of give. With its pronounced and unnecessary rear 'spoiler' the cuff is an odd-looking thing, and while there's a little stretchy inner gusset to keep gravel out of your heel, I have found the hollow between gusset and spoiler is perfectly designed to fill with debris. One of the defining features of the Dropline Mid is, of course, its mid-height cuff. I've often noticed the hard edge of the tongue digging into my ankle bone, though this does tend to wear off over the day, rather than getting worse as you might expect. This is quite thin - which is good, because who wants a bulky tongue? - but the top section comes unnecessarily high up the shin, and it's not breathable. There's a locking eyelet halfway, so you can vary the tension between the toe and the cuff. I really like the lacing system, but I'm not sold on the oversized tongue. Anchored onto a series of little ribs, the lacing wraps snugly around the foot, pulling the fit in nice and close but without - I've found - digging in anywhere on the bony top of the foot. Much of the upper is a porous mesh, which is reinforced by some rubbery overlay, and a protective rand at the toe. At the very front the shape is a bit pointed for me - my outer toes push out against the sides - but then I do have a wider, squarer foot shape and other users may find the toe a better match. I find the upper gives a noticeably close fit around the instep, which feels nice and precise and helps hold the foot in place inside the boot when traversing slopes etc, while the supportive heel cup and internal padding at the rear keep the heel in position with no lift or rubbing. Overall I'd describe the fit as true to size, with a medium width and volume. Though the low-cut Dropline shoe is available in a female/low volume fit, only men (or women who get on with more of a 'male' fit) get the option of the Dropline Mid. For the support and protection on offer, I do think they're surprisingly light. This puts the Dropline Mid in the beefy trail shoe sort of ballpark, while if we're calling them boots then they're certainly at the ultralight end of that spectrum. Salewa say they weigh 370g for a single size 8 shoe, while my size 12/47 are 942g for the pair. I think they would be a great choice for easy long distance trails on hard-packed ground, such as the West Highland Way, and while I said the same for the Ultra Raptor Mid, it's even more applicable here. Salewa are on more solid ground when they talk about shock absorbency, because that really is what the Dropline Mid do best. The speed you hike in the Dropline Mid is entirely up to you: they're light enough for a jog, but of course also suit a steady plod. While Salewa has an entire 'speed hiking' category for footwear, I'm not sure what the term means, or whether it's necessary to insert a separate activity between walking and running.
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