I have owned the old style mid cut for a few years and wanted a low cut boot. I have been very pleased with these boots. I find them to be very supportive and comfortable to wear both around town and hiking.
I've bought 4 pair of these boots over the years, both low & mid cut, & have loved them. My low-cuts were finally shown their age. Both LLB oval logos had fallen off (you'd think they'd use their very best glue on the logos) & one of the boots had rear instep padding tearing. So I decided to order a new set of low-cuts & also mid-cuts for my wife. I was leery when I read that they were "improved", but ordered & hoped for the best. It's too early to tell if they are indeed improved, but I am very disappointed with the new lacing system. I like a lacing system that allows you to properly tighten the laces snugly across the instep. This was easy on the old models, with two sets of open speed-lace hooks at the top of the mid-cuts & one set on the low-cuts. The "improved" low-cuts have no speed lace hooks. Their top "eyelet" is just a cheap ringed hole in the leather ... no easy way to properly tighten the laces across the instep. Hard to believe that their "field-tester feedback" came up with this as an improvement. They have removed the LLB logos that fell off my last pair. Maybe that's the improvement.
I ordered the widest model in my size (9.5 W=EEE) and the shoes were still too tight across the toes. I tried breaking them in for several weeks, just wearing them around the house, but they wouldn't budge, and even made my right foot ache. They are beautifully made, handsome, and rugged, but if you have wide feet you might look elsewhere. Very reluctantly, I have returned them.
I work on my feet all day and wear these all the time with the exception of summer. I did experience a leak where the rubber meets the shoe, but LL Bean exchanged the shoes and my new ones are just fine. Love these shoes.
