boots

[scott-atl]

replacing a pair of 25 year old lighter weight vasque boots that I have loved. been my brand forever. they still have some life left but at 60, my foot has grown wider. too narrow for long walks. spent about an hour at REI trying on various boots. (they have a 20% off sale right now) would need a larger size vasque now. but also tried on OBOZ, Merrill, salomon, asolo. all were kind of narrow for me but finally settled on keen targhees. I've always thought that keens were kind of funky looking but they are definitely comfortable and fit me best these days. quality looks excellent.

[isleroyaleguy]

I loved my Targhee's too. I wore them out over years of use. I replaced them last season with Salomons, after trying others. They were comfortable right from start.
Good luck with your Keens!
Love their stuff.

IRG

[PeteE]

I wore size 12s and had narrow feet with very high arches 50 years ago
Now I wear 14 wides with custom orthotics because of my fallen arches. I'm not going through that plantar plantar fasciitis again.
I love my Salomons for summer hiking.
Custom orthotics made them very comfortable.

I also have 3 pairs of Keen boots.
All size 14s.
Summit County which have 400gram insulation for winter hiking and snowshoeing.
I have the next "winter" model down from Summit County with 200gram insulation I wear them for work in the winter, e.g. today
And I have an uninsulated pair I wear for work in the summer.
All are very comfortable. I have custom orthotics in those too.

pete

[scott-atl]

Last couple of years i have gone to salomon trail running shoes w very thin poly socks for summertime day hikes. Works great for me.

[smahurin]

I've always hiked and backpacked in trail runners or light hikers. Currently in some Oboz sawtooth low's. Fit great, are very durable, but the outsoles are quite possibly the worst outsoles in history in terms of traction on anything even remotely damp... but they fit well. They might kill me on wet rocks some day, but I'll die with happy feet. Single most important thing I suppose.

[scott-atl]

seems like wet rocks in the east or Appalachians are usually slick w some kind of slime or plant life on them. out west, or in glacier, I've noticed that wet rocks are generally very grippy.