Still hopeful

By Adam Garbo Ranked #201 - Men's Hiking Boots March 24, 2009

I thought I'd share my experiences with my Keen Oregon PCTs.

First impression:
Out of the box I was quite pleased with the look of the boots. After trying them on for the first time with a medium weight keen wool sock, I was happy with the snugness, comfort and apparent quality of the boot. The boot is solid and sturdy with good traction and I felt secure in the boot. The wear so far after two months is hardly noticeable.
Breathability:
Is questionable. I started wearing the boot in January and my feet were always warm and even found that they sweat a little. This leads me to wonder how they will be in summer.
Waterproofness:
These boots for me were unfortunately *not* waterproof. After walking through a significant amount of water for only a short period of time, I found that my right boot had water seeping into the toe. Keen uses their own KEEN.DRY waterproofing material which is sown it into the sole of the boot. It appeared as if the water came in through the breathable material in the toe and seeped into stitching where the KEEN.DRY meets the sole. Sufficed to say I had a wet foot on the way home.
Drawbacks:
At first when I tied my laces tightly and articulated my ankles or moved into a crouch, I strongly felt the laces through the tongue on my ankles. However, after two months of breaking them in, this has mostly passed. Also, a pet peeve of mine is I must always double knot my laces. Otherwise they will always inevitably come loose. Lastly for a time the plastic supporting the right heel of my right boot seemed to of shifted and was painfully digging into my ankle until it either moved once more or my ankle stopped noticing.
Conclusion:
I'm not yet ready to give up on the Keen Oregon PCT. I will return my current pair to be replaced and cross my fingers that I simply received a bad apple.
Here's hoping.

View Details: KEEN Oregon PCT Hiking Boot - Men's

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