The helly Hansen trail cutter surprised me. I didn't even know that Helly Hansen made shoes I thought that they only made Jackets which are worn by most secondry school students in my area. However they have put the same good build quality into these shoes as they have put into their Jackets, and it really shows.
When I first put them on I couldn't get over the grip they have on the tarmac, I was worried that I was going to rip the treads clean off. The other thing I noticed was the cushioning they had, it felt like walking on air.
On my first run with them, on my local cliff path I found that they performed well going up and down on loose sand, hard pack mud and very wet grass, they also gripped the few boulders there were on the trail, and although they got soaked they still remained comfortable and light.
Some of the problems I did have were that when running over roots I had to be careful where I stepped as the low cut lacks the ankle support for very rough terrain. One of the other things to make sure of when drying them is to take the insoles out, because they are water proof and stop the lower half of the shoe from drying. Also to watch are that the outer layer of tread rips off quite quickly so there could be the potential for the tread to take a little bit to much off with it if on harder terrain.
Verdict: This shoe in my mind is good value for money and a very well designed and built shoe, but others shoes beat it in the rougher/ more rooted trails.
(Written by: Nate1)