High Sierra Topix

My spouse has a boot problem: her feet are basically square (the toes are arranged such that the front part of her foot looks like three sides of a rectangle). She buys boots the right way: go to the store (local REIs near Washington, DC, in this case, which do *not* have particularly impressive collections of boots nor particularly impressive boot experts) and try a bunch on until she finds one that fits. The problem is that so far, the only thing that fits are Keens. Maybe we had a poor sample, but the Keens she got wore out remarkably quickly (the nubbins on the sole started peeling off, followed by the sole itself disintegrating). Every other boot she tried pinched her toes if it was the right size otherwise or was too loose in the midsole if it fit her toes.

So here are my questions:

1. Did we just have bad luck with the Keens, or are they fundamentally not very long-lasting boots in general? Their price range would suggest they're near the bottom of the line.

2. Do any HST readers have suggestions of other brands of boots that might fit her? We'll be in Seattle around Christmas and can go to the REI flagship store, where we've had very good luck with boot salespeople in the past.

Thanks in advance!

Bill

I had a pair of brand new keens fall apart on me after about 25 miles and it happened at Adair Lake! Luckily I brought enough duct tape to hold things together thru the end of the trip. Needless to say I returned them to REI. Yes they were comfortable but my trust of the brand dropped to zero. The Lowa Zephyr has become my favorite boot and has been sturdy enough to get me thru 45 days of backpacking and another 30 days of day hiking this year. While not up to standards of the old leather boots for a running shoe type based boot is pretty good. The gortex liner is just as functional as the day I bought them which is really remarkable. I do have a wide foot and get all my boots that have just a single width a half size larger than my normal shoe size to accomodate that width.

Mike

I love my Merrills. They have survived numerous Appalachian mts hikes, and 2-14 day rugged cross country High Sierra treks. So far, the most comfortable boots I have owned. I also like that they are water proof. They still get wet, but the moisture does not soak into the interior, so your socks are dry, but an exterior wet boot can get cold.

I also have the square foot problem. My feet are NOT wide, they are low volumne, but not narrow. My toes just are all the same length and are the widest part of my foot. I also have a narrow heal, so cannot wear Keens. Merrils do the trick for me. I have to buy them a half size larger to fit my arch region so with my short square toes, a bit of extra room is left in the toes. It has not been a problem.

If your wife has sufficiently large feet and wide feet, she may find men's shoes fit better. I am short one size to fit men's shoes so am stuck with womans, which generally have too narrow forefoot.

vandman wrote:I love my Merrills. They have survived numerous Appalachian mts hikes, and 2-14 day rugged cross country High Sierra treks. So far, the most comfortable boots I have owned. I also like that they are water proof. They still get wet, but the moisture does not soak into the interior, so your socks are dry, but an exterior wet boot can get cold.

That's interesting. I was a longtime Merrill guy due to how comfortable they were even with inserts for my flat feet. Tough to find boots where my inserts don't realign my heel or top of my foot causing pinching or friction points. The issue I always had with Merrills I've owned was with what I considered to be sub-par durability (seam stitching and glue adhesive issues, mainly - which were common complaints online at the time). Out of curiosity, what model are yours? Might need to update my research.

I am a woman with long, but fairly narrow feet. My second toe is longer than the rest so I prefer to find boots with a roomier toe box. Garmont boots have a wide toe box, with a narrow heel area that I need, so they don't slip. When I worked at an outdoor retailer, it used to be true that German lasted boots were constructed wider, and Italian lasted boots were narrower so that might help a little to narrow down the selection.

Thanks much, one and all! We'll take all this information to the Seattle REI when we're out there next week, and I'll let you know what we find.