I bought these shoes because a friend passed on an old pair of Keen's to me that I absolutely love. They have a wide toe-box--essential for my bunions--are totally waterproof, even after years of wear, and don't have an excessively thick sole. I hike in all conditions, with weight and without, and don't need a lot of thickness or support under my feet. Just something to keep the rocks from jabbing up into the bottoms of my feet. So those old Keen's perfectly fit the bill. Unfortunately, the tread is completely gone so I thought I'd by myself a new pair.

The Shasta's look great, but I was disappointed to find that the toe-box was not wide enough. I don't have very wide feet but I do need my metatarsals to spread out when I walk. In these, the inside and outside balls of my feet actually get slightly squished together. A few years ago that would have been fine with me. But since jumping on the barefoot running bandwagon my feet love having room to spread out, and there's no going back. The Shasta's are going back, thanks to Amazon's free returns, and I'm trying something else.

I usually wear a size 7.5, ordered a size 8, and the length was just long enough.