REESE: My only experience with Rabbit, until now, has been with its winter gear, which, surprisingly, is really warm. Not exactly what you’d expect from a brand with deep California roots. Obviously, just because it’s based in Cali doesn’t mean Rabbit has to exclusively make warm-weather clothing and wetsuits. Maybe it secretly knows a thing or two about winter, or like me, it wants absolutely nothing to do with the cold, so it just went all in on insulation. (If you’re curious, you can read that winter review here.)
But this review isn’t about winter layers. It’s about the new trail shoe, the Rabbit High Country. The name alone feels a little off-brand, mountain vibes from a company that usually leans hard into coastal California energy. Rabbit put this shoe to the test in the Grand Canyon, which again feels a little odd. With a name like High Country, I would have suspected some kind of alpine or Sierra route. But I digress.
After logging some miles in the shoe (and testing a few of the newer shorts), it seems like Rabbit is in the midst of a brand evolution, though not without a few growing pains. There’s a noticeable tension in the design and material choices, like Rabbit is still figuring out who it wants to be. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; risks can lead to great innovation, but it does feel like the brand is navigating an identity shift in real time. I could be totally wrong, and Rabbit could be super secure in who it is and what it’s doing, but keep reading to hear out my case.
