The name of the shoe - Castaway - is apropos. They are bumming around boat shoes and become more and more comfortable by the year. This is my second pair. The first pair is 3 or 4 years old and is getting somewhat beat, since I wear them almost daily (after work) and on weekends. The leather is solid quality, the soles have the familiar boat-shoe squeegee pattern, the stitching is heavy waxed thread, and the leather laces are still serviceable. I have to say that the quality is similar to what many of us used to buy 20 or 30 years ago, but which has become hard to find today.