Hey all! I love these shoes. They are a must have for any soldier or civilian going to work anywhere in the Middle East. They are waterproof enough for the rainy seasons, the soles are tough enough for the mountains of Afghanistan, like wearing steel belted radial tires, and they are flexible and comfortable like wearing a pair of socks instead of shoes. The one thing I advise you to watch out for is the toe portion of the sole. They come unglued and start to seperate from the shoe easily. I had a new pair for two weeks before this happened, but I contacted Back Country via live chat and they had a new pair to me in 2 days of my conversation. I will definatly be purchasing any gear I need from this site again due to the frienliness and expedited service.

Pros: Breathable, quick break in period, great rubber (see below), durable

Cons: Fairly wide, lacing system slips, not very supportive, s

These shoes handle every thing I can throw at them. They are great dry condition shoes, not so great in wet conditions. My big problem is the foot bed is very flat, and at the end of a 30 mile day, they just dont get the job done. Short (<10 miles) hikes are right in this shoe's wheelhouse. I try and hike fast and light, so boots dont really play into my situation. If you have wide feet and live in the desert, these shoes are for you. If you have flat feet and live in a damp area or a place with winter melt until June, might want to look elsewhere.

These shoes simply are the best most aggressive I have ever worn. The grip on them will grip to anything and last a long time. They are very durable. I have two pairs, one for work and the other for play. Both pairs took no time to break in. It's like they where ready to go when I got them.

I do a LOT of hiking (3 to 4 days a week) mainly in rocky mountainous terrain. I've tried a lot of hiking shoes but the Chameleon Hex is my shoe of choice hands down above all others. It's super light weight, has a very flexible sole, excellent tread that sticks like glue to rocks, logs and trail, and breathes like no other shoe I've owned. I found that there's very little to no break in time with them. They're unbelievably comfortable. They aren't waterproof like the Chameleon ISO but I wouldn't trade the breathability of the hex for it. I wasn't sure about the draw string feature at first but the shoe literally fits like a glove. The only time I even crank down on the draw string is when I'm hiking. Wearing it casually you wouln't even need to. I just bought my second pair for the upcomming spring / summer. If you're an agile, quick paced explorer that wants comfort this is the best of the best!

Have a pair of the Chameleon II stretch and love 'em, except for the toe did start to come unglued. However, this occured after some hard trekking in Iraq, a few trips through the washer, and some city walking in NY and DC. Just ordered the Hex model and will see how they compare. Initial look seems as though the Hex is a but more light duty....