After 13 Years, It’s Still Minimal Bliss: Merrell Vapor Glove 7 Trail-Running Shoe Review

I’ve hiked in Merrell minimalist shoes regularly for the last 3 years, feeling the ground one pointy rock and tree root at a time. Merrell’s been making the Vapor Glove for 13 years, keeping the current Barefoot 2 design over the last 8. But for the Vapor Glove 7, Merrell says it wanted to improve foot containment, lock-in fit, and build a shoe that gym folk could do workouts in.

To reach that goal, Merrell dropped the Ecostep outsole for the Vapor Glove 7 and replaced it with the Vibram TC5+ outsole. They also redesigned the mesh upper and tongue for a snugger fit.

But the shoe also keeps its flexibility, a zero heel-to-toe drop, and weighs under 7 ounces per shoe. Based purely on spec sheets, the Vapor Glove 7 reads as an incremental refinement rather than a reinvention. I was curious to see what the trail had to say about the refinements.

In short: Maximum ground feel still exists without sacrificing durability and comfort with the Merrell Vapor Glove 7. The TC5+ outsole tread is grippy, the mesh upper is form-fitting with a burrito-style tongue, and the stack height is now 8mm. Merrell’s commitment to evolving the shoe over the last decade-plus creates confidence for hikers that choosing the Vapor Glove 7 is the right choice for hiking or trail running light trails.

Merrell Vapor Glove 7 Review

Hiking in barefoot shoes is a touch masochistic, and there’s a limit to which trails you can walk on. But for daily use and light hikes, minimalist shoes make sense for me. They are light, flexible, and cost-effective. Merrell’s Vapor Glove 7 is priced similar or less than offerings from competitors like Vivobarefoot and Xero Shoes.

Over the last year, I’ve been hiking in my Vapor Glove 6s daily. They’ve been wonderful for both light hikes in Colorado’s Front Range foothills and at the local Target.

Then I saw the refined Vapor Glove 7. It was a no-brainer purchase and was also on sale on Amazon. One Regular black/comet-colored VG7 pair delivered in 2 days — perfect!

Testing the Bare Minimum

Before delivery, I chose a great light hike to take my new shoes on; the 4.7-mile-long Evergreen Mountain West Trail at the Alderfer/Three Sisters Park in Evergreen.

The trail is rated moderate, is multi-use (watch out for mountain bikers), and has a mixture of loose sand, on-trail marble-sized rocks and tree roots galore, and larger rocks to climb on at the summit.

I also brought my Vapor Glove 6s along for comparison. I hiked the entire 4.7 miles in the Vapor Glove 7s and an additional 1.5 miles in the Vapor Glove 6s.

Ascending & Descending Rocks, Roots, and Sand

The loose sand and gravel at the trail’s start gave me an instant grip test and connection to the small particles underneath my feet as I began breaking in the new shoe. I did notice, however, that sand kicked up more easily into the heel of the 7 than I liked.

When I walked that same section of the trail in the 6s, very little sand was kicked up. 

I thought perhaps the Vapor Glove 7’s Vibram TC5+ outsole design had something to do with it. A former pair of Merrell Moab 2s (with TC5+ outsoles) I owned used to kick sand up as well.

After the sandy lower section, the trail ascends deeper into the forest along a very wide single track to the summit. 

I purposely walked over as many tree roots, rocks, and pinecones as I could find. To my surprise, the 7s felt noticeably more stable and grippy than the 6s. It also felt like I was hiking faster while wearing the 7s, yet still feeling every inch of the ground.

Once at the summit, I hiked up and down the larger rocks and boulders several times, testing the shoes’ grip. They stayed glued to the moss-covered granite and gneiss.

On the descent, I felt continued confidence that the 7s would grip all the elements of the trail better than the 6s. My assumption was correct!

I descended a loose, decomposed granite section multiple times, testing each shoe. The stiffer 7s held noticeably better to the rock than the 6s. No slips occurred from either shoe, but the 7’s build felt superior, more confident that it could handle rocks better.

Function & Form Work Together

The Merrell Vapor Glove 7 not only functions well but it’s also an appealing form; perhaps the introduction of the TC5+ outsole helps. The 8mm stack height felt thicker underfoot, but not too thick to reclassify the shoe as anything but a minimalist shoe. You still “feel” the ground.

The burrito-style wraparound tongue is like a snuggle bug for your foot, reducing sliding around inside the shoe. The toe cap and padded collar add durability and protection, a comfort worth knowing when in rockier terrain.

I did experience reduced breathability with the 7’s mesh upper than with the 6’s. My feet felt noticeably warmer wearing the 7s. The toe box must have shrunk a touch as well. I don’t have narrow feet, but I noticed my big toes rubbed the mesh upper while hiking both uphill and downhill.

I do like the form of the 7 better than all previous models.  By offering the shoe in Regular, Boa, and Leather forms, Merrell shows it thought about its customers by giving them expanded options to fit their minimalist shoe needs.

Merrell Vapor Glove 7: Conclusion

Merrell says the Vapor Glove 7 provides the “grounding” effect sought after by earthing hikers while providing an alternative for workout people wanting a locked-in yet lightweight shoe.

Do I think this shoe belongs in a gym? No, not really. It’s an outdoor ultralight sock with durable tread on the bottom, best used on light hikes and urban walks. After just one hike on mixed terrain, I feel comfortable saying the Vapor Glove 7s will be enjoyed exclusively as my light hikers and urban walkers. I’ll wear my VG6s to Costco.

I wouldn’t recommend wearing VG7s as approach shoes to some climbing walls, hiking on multiday backpacking or thru-hikes, or bagging high-alpine summits.

Merrell refined its “barefoot” shoe with the Vapor Glove 7. It retains its core connection to the Earth, supplants itself in my top spot minimalist shoe rankings still, and should continue to outshine other shoes made by Xero and Vivobarefoot every day.