Great relief for my neuropathy
I bought these shoes a little over a year ago to replace some other Keens I had purchased over a year prior to that. The prior pair were the Flint 2 low steel toe. Another very nice shoe which I will review on its page.I went with Keen because their shoes fit my feet so well. I have idiopathic peripheral neuropathy which means I have nerve pain in both my feet but I don't have diabetes. If my feet aren't properly supported, by mid afternoon of trudging around, the soles of my feet can feel as if they have been lit on fire.I live on a small homestead farm so we have a few goats, cows, pigs and horses as well as a bunch of dogs to tend to. I have to deal with lots of 50lb bags of feed, putting up fencing, moving hay, walking on rough, sometimes muddy ground. I used to wear 5" rise boots for ankle support but my ankles have strengthened up enough to be able to get by with the low profile shoe which is a little bit cooler in this Texas summer heat. These aren't waterproof but a low shoe that's waterproof is really not offering that much protection so to me it wasn't that big a deal. They seemed to do a decent enough job of keeping my foot dry working in wet and soggy areas.I went with the soft toe in these as opposed to the steel toe. I was having problems of my socks getting destroyed by me unconsciously lifting my toes up against the steel toe. My socks and toes have fared much better with these shoes. The heavy rubber cap has done a very nice job of providing protection while being soft enough not to cause damage to my socks or toes. Because these are substantially built they are a little heavier than other shoes with mesh but still lighter than those with the steel toe.Traction has been good on all types of surfaces. I have a large wooden deck and a couple of ramps on my property that can get quite slick after they get wet. I have not had problems with these slipping out from under me.The laces are fairly good and hold a knot well but the outer sheath on one did wear through at one of the lace loops at around 8 months of nearly daily wear. I would recommend buying a second pair of laces.I have worn these shoes nearly every day and have not babied them in any way. Only thing I've done other than spray off mud from the soles and change broken laces, the uppers and soles have really held up well. They do look well worn but do not have any tears or holes. The insoles have not held up as well. Some of the cloth covering has rubbed off and they have split around the heel cup. This has effected the feel of the shoe enough to where I'm looking to either replace the insole or buy a new pair. I do not fault the manufacture of the shoe at all. Any work shoe that is used hard is going to eventually break down and wear out. Make them any tougher and they won't be comfortable. I highly recommend this shoe. Well worth the cost.