I wore these boots on a 13-mile dayhike and lost my little toenail. The toe box is too narrow with my usual liner sock and hiking sock, and the heel is too wide. Overall there is just too much volume in the boot. I tried a variety of tricks to get these to fit properly, including replacement insoles and extra gel inserts to take up some of the excess room in the heel. I still slipped enough to get blisters on my heels, in addition to having my toes squished, and also developed a blister on the side of my foot. Plus I hit the front of the boots coming downhill. The fit is just all off on this boot.
I became an evangelist for these shoes after I wore them for ten straight days backpacking in Torres del Paine (Chile), trudging up and down mountains and through mud, carrying a 60+ pound backpack. I didn't get a single blister.
These are hands-down the best shoes I have ever owned, let alone the best backpacking boots. You'd think after 15 years of backpacking and river hiking in these boots they would be thrashed beyond repair, but somehow they are still going strong. Even the laces are basically intact.
After my Chile trip, I immediately called LL Bean and ordered a "backup" pair of these boots. They have been sitting in storage for more than ten years because the original pair just won't quit!
Do your feet a favor and buy these boots. If they're the same quality as the ones I purchased in 1998 (and LL Bean seems to be pretty reliable this way), you will not regret it!
Note: my feet are rather narrow, but the standard-width boots were plenty narrow for me (when wearing thick socks). I found the Narrow size a little pinchy on the toes. One reason I love these boots is that they actually fit and support a narrow foot. It's hard to find boots that are this well designed for slender feet!
These boots seemed fine on a 6-mile dayhike, although they slipped a bit on the downhill. But on a 13.3 mile dayhike in Yosemite they munched my feet. Even laced properly and with Superfeet insoles in, they slipped on the downhill, so that I developed a blister on the bottom of one foot. But the real problem is they are too narrow in the toe box (I always wear regular width, never wide). These boots bruised my small toe so badly I have not been able to wear anything but sandals for a week and I may lose the toenail. This has never happened to me with any other boots in 18 years of hiking and backpacking.Very disappointed in these boots. Shipping them back.
These boots are amazing. I am a wildlife biologist and have worn these boots from the tops of the rockies to the lowland tropics and have been completely pleased by their versatility, durability and waterproofness. Completely wonderful boots. My feet are pretty narrow and these boots do run a bit wide, but I usually wear wool socks anyways so it's alright.
