This is a very attractive and well constructed shoe with aggressive soles. The fit is true to size but leaves enough room for me to wear medium weight hiking socks and sock liners with comfort. This shoe was an excellent choice for 3 season wear here in Alaska where I live.
My last pair of these shoes, purchased in 2010 at the mothership store, were made in Italy, and have stood up better than most pairs of hiking shoes. They tend to shrink less than normal (I get them wet frequently) and have a solid sole.
Question for recent buyers: are the shoes still made in Italy? My pair says "Handcrafted by Expert Bootmakers - 059 - Made in Italy"
Note to LL Bean: As the size I need is 13D Brown, and that's sold out, I tried to put them on my "Wish List". But I can't because they are sold out. But I want to be notified when they are available......Software glitch....
I am walking an average of 5-8 miles a day, and the only shoes I wear for my exercise are these. They have the best support of any shoes I have tried ( I have had problems with sore heals in the past). I found that I needed to order 1/2 size larger then what I normally do. I guess my best review is that I bought a second pair. Somewhat pricey but they do protect my feet.
Very pleased with the shoes and will probably order a second pair (one for working one for nicer activities). They do need to loosen up a bit as mentioned by LL Bean, but they were not uncomfortable right out of the box.
The color I purchased them in was graphite. I normally would purchase a predominately dark brown color, but I really like this color as it works very well with blue jeans. I would stick with this color on my next purchase. It is not a light grey and seems to my eye to have brownish undertones that work well. I thought the same about the picture that was shown on the web.
