I was really surprised when i started wearing these shoes. I have a couple of pairs of KSOs & I love them. But I wanted to try something new. These have a lot of arch support - it almost feels like a regular shoe, but with toes. I went on a long walk with them & could walk on some of the stones I would avoid with my KSOs. My only complaint that keeps me from giving them 5 stars is that they rubbed the skin off my left heel. Waiting for it to heal, so I can try again. Because it was just one foot, I'm thinking it might be me & not the shoe. Didn't have that issue with KSOs tho.