Walking shoe hybrid or straight sneaker
 

Hi guys, this one is aimed at the fellas and gents. When flighting and traversing an airport concourse, do you prefer the underfoot grip of a walking boot trainer hybrid which can offer significant grip on a polished floor and great arch support, or do you go for a conventional running shoe option for the speed and quickness past the gates?

Be very interested to hear a response, I usually go for a sandal option as this allows me to breathe easy and go barefoot once we are airborne :)

Probably not the answer you were looking for but I’m not a fan of bare feet in the cabin.
Sneaks and socks would be my vote.

Since I exercise also when I travel, I dress comfortably, merino wool lightweight T Shirt, comfortable travel shirt, lightweight travel khakis, Ex Officio boxers, Darn Tough merino wool socks and my running shoes.

Sneakers for me, Adidas Ultraboost are the most comfortable shoes ever!

walking boot trainer etc for me. Also avoid barefoot. In this post, they mention all the dirty places in a plane, but never mention the floor. No reason too. if all the other places are horrific, no telling what the floor is like.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/geoffwh.../#7f3561492ebb

I agree! It's best for walking. It's super light. You will find it expensive but it's worth it. If budget is the issue, I suggest you go for NMD.

On sale for 30% off on Adidas main site. Some models are under $100 USD

I'm a big fan of OluKai slip-ons. I had a pair of Kahu slip on sneakers that I pretty much wore out travelling, and I liked them so much I replaced them with a pair of Nohea Moku. They're fairly light, comfortable, breathable, and don't slip on airport floors. I've also found them to be comfortable walkers, and the Nohea Mokus fit more like an athletic shoe so I've not had an issue jogging in those (not exercise jogging, but running from gate to gate because, of course, your first flight was delayed by 30 minutes cutting your 45 minute connection to a 15 minute connection which is in a completely different terminal). They're slip on, so I can wear them while in transit, slip them off to get comfy and easily get them back on when I need to get up to hit the lavatory, or just stretch and walk around a bit mid-flight on those long-hauls across the Pacific. Once at my destination, I've found that they're pretty comfy as walking shoes as well, and unless it's cold where I'm headed, most times these are the only shoes I'll bring with me (save maybe a pair of Vibram Five-Fingers for the gym).

The only caveat is that because they're as breathable as they are, they soak up water pretty quick, so not so great when it's rainy season in Asia though they do dry pretty fast. But otherwise, they're great shoes for most activities. If I plan on more active things like hiking or jogging, then I'll bring along a pair of running shoes or cross trainers as well, of course.

Yep. Super light and comfy. Easy to pack too.

Do you often find yourself running and dodging and spinning on freshly waxed floors in an airport? I think most any athletic shoe (trainer, runner, etc.) will be fine.

I wear my Merrell Trail Gloves as my primary casual sneaker, runner, and trainer, including airport jaunts when I'm actually wearing sneakers.

I stumbled upon Salomon Alphacross trail running shoes. I'm not a runner by any stretch, but these shoes are exceptionally comfortable and very stable. They breathe very well, too.

I have an original pair of AllBird Tree Runners which are great for travel. They're not perfect for long walks, but for light, breathable footwear, they're perfect. Get them dirty? Throw them in a washing machine.

Vans UltraRange Rapidwelds are my jam - very breathable. I also like to wear flipflops when I can, so I pack a pair in my onebag setup. I have some SOLE brand insoles that have a higher arch and support in most of my pairs.

However, I don't do barefoot on a plane due to germ+yuck reasons above / not stinking-grossing out fellow pax / cold footsies/etc.

I'm a fan of Merrell Moab Adventure Mocs and Jungle Mocs. They're comfortable, gripping, and versatile. You can't exactly do black tie with them, but on some 1-3 day trips, that's all I take with me. I've made'em work with both khakis for biz casual and cargo shorts for casual low elevation hikes. But to the OP's question, they work well for me on the polished floors and carpets of the various concourses.

Merino?
 

whose merino shirts do you use? I have a bunch of OLD ibex 100% merino but it’s getting long in tooth and I need some upgrades...

Not the person you asked but I too mourned Ibex. They relaunched in 2019 but I haven't bought anything new from them yet.
I like Smartwool and Icebreaker but or different purposes, I find Smartwool to be much softer and more stylish, the T-shirts also seem to hold their shape better after several washes, so I use them for everyday activities. Icebreaker on the other hand is much more durable even though most pieces of clothing I have from them are on the thinner side. Actually all wool travel clothes I own are from Icebreaker, with the exception of socks - I wear Darn Tough no-show "invisibles".