This is my third pair of Hi-Tec shoes. I bought a pair of Hi-Tec shoes about 4 years ago at my local Dunham's store because they were on sale and seemed like a decent shoe for the price. I was amazed at how rugged and well built this brand of shoes are. I wore that first pair of Hi-Tecs as my regular shoes for about a year. During the winter I got them pretty dirty, so the following spring I designated them as my yard shoes to wear for mowing and working outside. I've worn them as my yard shoes for three full years. The tread is almost completely worn off the bottom of the shoes, but they are still holding up and are not showing any signs of coming apart. I am amazed at the beating those shoes have taken and are still holding up fine.

This is my second pair of "Berkeley" shoes, and I am very pleased with them. Here are the reasons why I like these shoes over other brands that I have tried.

1. They are comfortable. I have somewhat wide feet, and these fit me very comfortably.

2. The laces stay tied. I've had so many shoes that suffer from the problem of the laces constantly coming unraveled, which is very annoying. These shoes do not have that problem. I slip the shoes on and off, and have not had to re-tie the laces since I first bought them.

3. Lightweight. They are much lighter than a lot of the clunky trail/hiking shoes that you will find.

4. Water resistance. I don't think they are designed to be water resistant, but they do seem to have some water resistance. I have walked through wet grass and noticed that the water does not soak into the shoes and my feet stay dry. I doubt they would repel the water if I was going to spend a significant amount of time walking in wet grass, but just walking across the dew saturated yard a couple of times I have not gotten my socks wet. That definitely wouldn't happen if I were to wear my $90 Asics out in the wet grass. That's for sure.

5. Durability. I addressed this in my first paragraph. They are built very well and hold up to a beating. In my experience, they are like the Timex of shoes.

6. Breathable. The combination of leather and what I would call "meshy" material allows for a very breathable shoe. My feet to not get hot or sweaty in these shoes.

7 Price. I cannot believe how reasonable these shoes are priced. I have had many pairs of much more expensive shoes that did not perform or last half as long as these.

Overall an excellent buy and I am so glad that I discovered this brand of shoes. Highly recommended.