This is my first time purchasing a boot, my parents always did it for me so I didn't really know the sizes so I took a big guess on this. I chose a size 10 since I'm a size 10 shoe, and I believe I did good on it. They do feel kind of snug but I'm thinking it's because of all the padding. These are also light weight, I showed them to my dad since he typically don't like these kind of boots. He seems to really like these ones because of the weight of them. But, that being said I still have some trouble walking in them. It does not bother me since I don't run in the snow but if you're on dry ground you may find yourself needing to take bigger steps than normal.

They are predicting the 2012 northeast winter (where I live) to be bad, and after I seen the snow we got a few days ago BEFORE winter even set in I decided to get these so I would not regret it later on in the winter. I would also like to add that these snow boots are really warm, I cannot wear them inside to long or else I find myself starting to get hot.

Also, I seen that the padding is removable. I've tried to remove some but I'm unable to do so. If anyone knows how to do this let me know because it seems like it's attached to the boot pretty tightly.

Now for the strap. The strap in my opinion is not really useful since it don't really seem to keep it tight enough where the snow won't go down inside of it. In this case I would suggest bringing a few extra pairs of socks with you if you're going to be out in the snow somewhere. You could also wear a snow bib which would help prevent snow from going down inside of the boot. The boot seems to also reflect light, which is good if you're in the dark. I didn't even know it had this until someone said something to be about it.

The traction on the bottom of this boot is also really great! I cannot wait to try it out when it gets really snowy this winter.

Overall I really like these boots compared to the other $140 pair I was looking at that was rated for -100F. I think I did pretty good on the purchase, though if you're going by your shoe size I would try one size up just to be safe since its kind of snug around your feet. I can see how that would get annoying after walking around for long hours if it's not meant to be that way. If you have any questions about the boot feel free to comment and I will respond as soon as I can.