Hanwag Kaduro 2026: Mid, Low and Light GTX compared

Look for a good hiking shoe and you soon face a question that sounds simpler than it is: how much shoe do you really need? Too much collar restricts movement, too little gives too little support. Too much weight costs energy over the kilometres. Too little robustness can end in sore feet.

Hanwag has turned this trade-off into a product system. The Kaduro line consists of three models: the Kaduro Light GTX (textile, low-cut), the Kaduro Low GTX (Perwanger suede, low-cut) and the Kaduro Mid GTX (Perwanger suede, mid-cut). All three share the same midsole technology and the same generation of Gore-Tex membrane. What separates them is carefully thought through.

Hanwag itself has been around since 1921. The company was founded in Bavaria and still manufactures in Europe. In an industry where most hiking shoes are made in Asia, that is a conscious counter-model: more control over materials and workmanship, shorter supply chains and a shoe that, ideally, gets resoled instead of thrown away.

When you buy a hiking shoe, you usually look at the collar, the leather and the membrane. What happens in the midsole tends to stay out of sight. Yet the midsole decides how comfortable a shoe is over many kilometres and how long it lasts over many years.

For the Kaduro line, Hanwag uses its own construction, called Bead technology. It is based on e-TPU particles (expanded thermoplastic polyurethane, developed by BASF under the Infinergy brand): small, pea-sized beads embedded in a PU matrix. That sounds like marketing speak at first. There is a solid physical reason behind it, though.

Read more about the technology here (in German)

The Kaduro Mid GTX is the centrepiece of the new spring/summer 2026 collection and the first mid-cut in the Kaduro family. The higher collar is more than a styling choice. A mid-cut stabilises the ankle when it tips sideways on uneven ground, guides the foot through each step and stops gravel, dirt and splashes getting in from the side.

It doesn't lock the foot in completely, either. A mid-cut gives you more guidance than a low-cut without the tight feel of a classic mountain boot. That makes it a strong option for hikers with heavier rucksacks, for hut-to-hut and multi-day tours and for paths with irregular ground.

• The upper is made of Perwanger suede, a particularly dense and robust suede with a long tradition in mountain boot making. It is considered more resistant to abrasion and weather than many standard leathers. Combined with textile inserts at the flex points, the material mix works on rocky trails as well as on forest paths.
• Inside, a Gore-Tex Invisible Fit membrane does the work. "Invisible Fit" means the membrane is bonded directly to the upper instead of being fitted as a separate inner bootie. That saves weight and prevents folds that could cause pressure points. The membrane itself is made of ePE (expanded polyethylene), a newer Gore-Tex generation that is PFAS-free and, according to the manufacturer, also more breathable.
• A TPU toe cap protects against falling stones and stubbed toes. A heel counter in PU suede stabilises the heel. Weight: around 880 g per pair (EU 42/UK 8) for men, a respectable figure for a leather shoe with a mid-height collar. The women's version, the Kaduro Mid Lady GTX, comes in at around 810 g per pair (EU 38/UK 5).

The Kaduro Low GTX is also new for spring/summer 2026 and in some ways the most interesting model in the line. As a low-cut in Perwanger suede, it fills a niche that rarely gets served directly: hikers who like the robustness and look of a leather shoe but would rather do without the higher collar.

The low-cut gives your ankle more freedom, makes the shoe more agile on well-made paths and reacts faster to changes of direction than a mid-cut. It suits anyone who is used to low-cuts and doesn't want to give them up, but still wants a material upgrade over a pure textile shoe.

An honest note: Perwanger suede needs care. If you want to clean your shoes after a wet tour and forget about them, the Light GTX is the better choice. If you look after them, with a waterproofing spray after every bigger tour and a good leather care product now and then, you get a shoe that copes with weather and mechanical wear far better.

The Kaduro Light GTX differs from its siblings in one key respect: the upper. Instead of Perwanger suede it uses a polyester-polyurethane fabric. Lighter and more breathable, but less robust against abrasion and the elements.

On day hikes along well-made paths, long-distance trails or mountain paths with little scree, the low weight is a real advantage. Less weight on your feet means less energy spent over the hours.

Worth understanding: the Light GTX isn't built worse than the Low and Mid GTX. It's built for a different job. The Bead midsole, the Gore-Tex ePE membrane and the HANWAG outsole are identical. Only the upper follows other priorities: less weight and more breathability, at the cost of abrasion resistance and the toughness of leather.