Keen Shoes

[Zatara]

The early ones held up much better and seem to be better made.
Last pair I had came apart and were replaced by keen then the soles wore out after just a couple months of use.

[Ridge638]

Love them. Especially the toe box. Hiking in rocky areas is great and walking Down steep hills where I would jam my toes in some other shoes just doesn't happen in these. I currently have two pairs of Keen boots, and two different sandals but have worn out a few other pairs that I still keep for yard work,etc. Take a look at the seams and stitching on Keens compared to other similar priced shoes - they are better. Only hang up I have is that the sandals have large vent holes and will allow small rocks to slip in if you are in gravel or crossing a stream and you need to remove them to get the pebbles out, you can't just shake your foot to clear them. I usually wear a super lite sock with the sandals if I know I will be in a lot of gravel, it helps keep the debris out.. One other good thing about the sandals is that you can throw a rubber band around them and the compress together fairly well for ease of storage in your pack. Buy at least a half to one size larger than you normally wear as they run small.

[Funrover]

Love Keens, by far my favorite!

[Redrock]

They're fairly mediocre shoes. They're comfortable out of the box, but I'd hesitate to depend on them for serious backcountry hiking or backpacking. They tend to be fairly floppy, and the soles are substandard in their durability and traction characteristics. I've been much more impressed by Montrail, La Sportiva, and Patagonia footwear.

[BillTex]

They're fairly mediocre shoes. They're comfortable out of the box, but I'd hesitate to depend on them for serious backcountry hiking or backpacking. They tend to be fairly floppy, and the soles are substandard in their durability and traction characteristics. I've been much more impressed by Montrail, La Sportiva, and Patagonia footwear.

I agree...they are VERY comfy around town/camp...but start to push them on anything technical and forget it.
Maybe it's my foot type...but I am not hiking in mine any longer...I will put them on when I get back to camp though!

Bill

[Honu]

daily wear for me the inserts wear out super quick maybe its I never wear socks ? but they are sandals
getting replacement insoles is tough cause of the width

I have trouble with shoes cause I mostly wore rubber slippers or barefoot and strange spread wide island feet that used to be much tougher even in PHX when I first got here I could run around barefoot even in summer !!!! now I cant I burn my feet I miss my tough island feet

I have a few pair of keens including one boot style for camping but I am not a technical guy ? figure I walk with my 7 year old girl so mostly mellow so cant say much on grip etc.. that wore out super fast brought them back to REI got them replaced ! we are talking 1-2 months the sole was coming apart my early ones and the replacements are doing OK ?

I love the width and wish I could find another wide alternative but cant seem to find one that wide and room for my toes

[Flounder]

They're fairly mediocre shoes. They're comfortable out of the box, but I'd hesitate to depend on them for serious backcountry hiking or backpacking. They tend to be fairly floppy, and the soles are substandard in their durability and traction characteristics. I've been much more impressed by Montrail, La Sportiva, and Patagonia footwear.

I stopped ordering Patagonia footwear for the store. I applaud Patagonia for trying to stick to their green roots, but their use of green materials like dairy cow leather and reclaimed rubber just didn't produce footwear that would hold up. We warrantied a lot of Patagonia shoes. They're effectively just Merrells (another so-so brand) so it's tough to put them on the same level as Patagonia clothing. Even Yvon Chouinard has stated he regrets having given Merrell the licensing rights to Patagonia Footwear.

My favorite shoe line as of late is Oboz. To date, we've sold nearly 2,000 pair with very, very few failures. The fit is great. Their hand-made production is really impressive. Their customer service is unrivaled.

My other hot new favorite is Salewa out of Italy. Really nice footwear at very un-Italian prices.

[Honu]

just looked up the Oboz some look a bit Keenish ? but they look cool


curious how wide do these run ?

[Flounder]

Oboz sorta has a Keen looking mid and outsole, but they're far more durable. They also don't have that bubble-toe look that many people don't like. I can't wear Keens. They look like clown shoes on me. As per the width of Oboz shoes, they're unusual in the sense they fit a very broad range of foot shapes. I think that's the main driver behind their success. Keens fit wide feet and wide feet alone. Not even all wide feet. Wide feet with short toes. The Oboz last coupled with their superior lacing accommodates more feet than we've ever seen in a particular brand.

As a footnote, I've seen a video of how that shoe you pictured is made. Hand sewn. Pretty impressive. The soles are hand glued, the shoes assembled by hand and lovingly boxed by hand. I think they're a great value and the small company of a dozen or so employees in Bozeman, Montana are dedicated to making great shoes.

This is my new fave. These won't fit the widest feet, but they will fit normal width feet with mid/high volume. Absolutely awesome shoes.
sal.jpg
Vibram soles. Heavy toe rand. Very well made.

[Honu]

thanks for the info

going to have to stop buy the place you buy for next month when we go camping that way