As others mentioned these are a bit stiff, and that includes the soles. The rubber makes walking in them fairly quiet, but they do clunk a bit. The buckles are great and the rounded toe is perfect for those of us with wider feet. But the best part of these are the soles. The description says THICK RUBBER TREADED SOLE FOR GREAT TRACTION... and that is so true. I feel invincible in these. The sharp edges of the deep hard lugs dig into anything I walk on, whether it is dirt, mud, an old dropped sandwich (yes I have!), anything. Now that the rainy season has arrived I will wear them almost daily, walking from building to building at work, and not having to care about the muddy areas in the grass and beside the walks--I just stride right through them. The lugs are widely spaced so they don't hold a lot of what I step in, which is good because I don't track it indoors much. Only the closer spaced lugs at the toe and heel hold mud a bit. I also enjoy the impressions they leave in mud (and on the sandwich, which was in the cafeteria in front of the sodas, and got stepped and stood, and twisted on until I got what I needed, and until a worker pointed out the he wanted to clean it up. I lifted my shoe off it and walked away, smiling at the deep impression the Skechers had made on it,and leaving mustard tracks across the floor in very clear shoe prints). When I leave the deep prints in the mud my coworkers often point them out to me later or mention they saw them when they were walking.