This was my first purchase of this Merrell brand of shoe and I must say I was very impressed with the build quality of the shoe right out of the box! I wear a 14W shoe and my feet are not easy to please but when I put these shoes on my feet were in HEAVEN :>)). There was no pinching, the footbed felt like it conformed to my foot very well, they felt great walking around the first day I used them, the Gore Tex actually worked as I was in small amounts of water and my socks didn't get wet, I had to climb around a rocky shoreline of the lake where I work and those Vibram soles grabbed the rocks and made my footing secure. The only problem I had all day was that the shoe laces kept coming untied, I finally went to a single overhand with a double wrap when tying the shoes and really pulling and cinching down tight and that solved the problem. I only gave the shoe 4 STARS because for 130.00 pair of hikers the insole was cheaper than a 10.00 pair of sneakers at wally world!! What a whole 3/16ths of an inch thick? Are you f***n kidding Me? Somewhere in that 130.00 price 10.00 couldn't have been spent on some really nice insoles with arch support? WOW! Really? ONE would expect to have a top quality shoe when spending this kind of money, especially with the name Merrell stamped on it! There is no gel in the heel or any other padding under the flimsy insole or built into the sole of the shoe. Im sure at one time these shoes were of better quality than what is being sold now....just like every other thing we purchase there is skimping somewhere in order to ensure mega profits. Well, I bought some gel insoles for the hikers and Iam really liking how they feel now on my feet. I still believe these hkers will fit the bill for what I will use them for and provide comfort to my feet. They can be worn without problems right out of the box and I have had these a week now and they will take a couple more weeks to really get the broke in feeling. I would buy these again in the future along with another pair of gel insoles. Hopes this helps you in your shoe buying decision.