Patagonia
Women's Bly Shoes
Tester
Information:
Name: Pam Wyant
Age: 51
Gender: Female
Height: 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Weight: 170 lb (77 kg)
Shoe size: US Women's 9, medium width
E-mail
address: pamwyant(at)yahoo(dot)com
Location: Western West Virginia, U.S.A.
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Backpacking Background:
Pursuing
a long-time interest, I started backpacking
five years ago. In addition to
day-hiking and weekend backpacking trips I try to do one longer trip
each
year. A couple of years ago I began a
project to section hike the Appalachian Trail (AT), accruing a little
over 250
mi (400 km) so far. My backpacking style
always seems to be evolving somewhat, and I like trying different gear
and
techniques. I can probably best be
described as lightweight and minimalist; cutting as much pack weight as
I can
without sacrificing warmth, comfort, or safety
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Initial Report - April 12, 2009
Product Information:
Manufacturer: Patagonia
Year of manufacture: 2009
Model: Women's Bly
Color: Deep Ocean (Blue)
Size: US Women's 9
Advertised
weight: 595 g/21 oz (size not specified)
Measured weight: 664 g/23.4 oz for the pair
Website:
www.patagonia.com/
MSRP: US $ 110
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Product Description:
ThePatagonia Bly is a light weight, low
cut trail shoe. A quote from Patagonia's website givens some
insight into the company
philosophy "Our definition of quality includes a mandate for building
products and working with processes that cause the least harm to the
environment." In sync with this philosophy, the Bly contains many
recycled materials - 100% recycled polyester laces, 40% recycled
PET/60% polyester mesh liner, POLI-CORK 70% recycled open cell foam
footbed with odor-neutralizing carbon and moisture-moving cork, 15%
recycled EVA insole, 15% recycled compression molded EVA midsole, and
30% recycled rubber Vibram Ecostep outsole. As a lover of wild
places, and a firm believer in conserving our natural resources, the
use of recycled materials is very appealing to me.
Looking at the shoes the use of recycled materials is not immediately
discernible. The uppers are suede leather, which while not
recycled are a renewable resource. The laces and soles look very
much like normal non-recycled material. The only part of the shoe
that has a recycled look to it is the underside of the insole, which is
predominately black with a variety of small colored specks.
Specks in the bottom of the insoles indicate recycled materials
The Bly has a relatively simple and clean-looking design. The
uppers are formed from two pieces of attractive blue suede, one piece
on each side. The Bly is lined with soft fabric of two different
styles. The forefoot area is lined with a very soft simply knit
black fabric, and the area to the rear of the shoe is lined with a grey
textured fabric with a somewhat more substantial, yet still soft,
feel. A few decorative stitching details and the Patagonia name
are sewn into the suede uppers. The uppers have a wide,
stylistically shaped laced opening. A blue and white striped
fabric tongue has a stiffened, attractively patterned ribbon running
down the center and a small suede insert at the top. The round
grey woven shoe laces have small specks of blue. They pass
through two small blue metal eyelets at the bottom and then through
small ribbon loops up the sides of the opening. A little over
half way up the tongue, the laces pass under the center ribbon for
tongue stability, then through more ribbon loops to small metal eyelets
at the top.
The Bly has a pull loop at the heel, fashioned of the same ribbon that
runs down the center of the tongue. A thin, curvy black rubber
rand runs around the entire base of the upper. The grey midsole
of the shoe has a small light blue insert on each side, in the arch
area of my foot. The black Vibram Ecostep sole is molded to run
slightly over the toe and part way up the heel. The sole has
stylized light grey inserts under the heel and forefoot. The
tread has an irregular pebbly appearance and is not very deep.
The tread has a pebble-like appearance
Trying them out:
I was happy to see that the Bly shoes came with the laces
already passed through all the loops. Yeah! I merely had to
remove the small cardboard inserts and slip them on. Happily,
they seem to run true to size and fit my foot very well.
Patagonia states these have a medium fit, with medium toe box and
medium arch/instep,
and this seems accurate. They are fitted enough not to be
sloppy, and roomy enough that my toes don't feel pinched.
I have not yet had a chance to get them out on the trail, but wore them
for a full day at a family get together which involved a lot of
standing outdoors on a concrete drive and sidewalk. They felt
great right out of the box, very supportive and comfortable. They
also felt cool and breathable, with no discernible dampness build-up in
my socks at the end of the day.
Preliminary Impressions:
One thing I really like about the Patagonia Bly is the way the low cut
feels on my foot. I've often had trail shoes that felt
comfortable enough underfoot and yet made the side of my feet sore by
the end of the day where the stiff tops pressed against the area under
my ankle bone as my foot flexed on sloped or rocky trails. I've
also had trail shoes with such a thick and stiff tongue that the top of
my foot would get sore in the area near the top of the tongue.
The Patagonia Bly is cut to dip well below my ankles and the tongue is
very soft, so I have high hopes that this shoe/boot will leave my foot
feeling more comfortable at the end of a long day on the trail.
An added bonus is that the Bly is attractively styled in an almost
art-like way, and that it's made at least partially from
environmentally friendly recycled materials. The only downside to
the Bly so far is that it's almost too attractive for me to want to
wear it on a muddy trail! But testing calls, so as soon as I get
the chance I'll be putting the Bly to the test on rocks, roots, and
even mud puddles to see how they perform.
Field Report - June 30, 2009
Field
Locations and Conditions:
In mid-April, I wore the Patagonia Bly shoes on
a short (3 mi/5km) overnight backpacking trip in southern West
Virginia, on a trip where a friend and I were teaching beginner
backpacking. Daytime temperatures were pleasant, in the mid 70 F
range (around 24 C), and overnight temperatures were around 40 F (about
4 C). The weather was clear, with
only a small breeze every now and then. The trail was maintained,
but rugged with lots of ruts, mud, roots, and elevation change.
In late April I wore them on an overnight training at our
local Girl Scout Camp. Temperatures and weather conditions were
similar to the mid-April trip. I did not hike, but wore them
while conducting a training on outdoor cooking and camping.
In April and early May I wore them on five hikes of about 3 mi (5
km). Temperatures varied from around 60 F (16 C) to 85 F (29
C). The terrain varied from smooth dirt semi-maintained old
county roads to single width trails varying from smooth dirt to
somewhat rough with rocks and roots.
In mid-May also wore the shoes on a 6-day section hike of the
Appalachian Trail (AT) in North Carolina, from Winding Stair Gap to
Fontana Dam (approximately 58 mi/93 km). Daytime temperatures
ranged from around 45 F (about 7 C) to around 85 F (about 29 C), with
night temperatures about 35 F (2 C) to around 55 F (13 C). The
first day
and early night were rainy and windy, and after that weather conditions
were dry with only light breezes. Terrain was rugged, with
lots of rocks and roots and significant elevation changes (from a low
of about 1700 ft/500m to a high of about 5300 ft/1600 m, and lots of
ups and downs in between those extremes). It seemed I was always
either going straight up or straight down!
The
shoes still look good after about 75 mi (121 km)
Use:
For the mid-April backpacking trip and some of the day hikes I wore the
Bly shoes with mid-weight wool socks. For the other trips I wore
them with a pair of light weight wool and synthetic blend socks.
For all of the shorter hikes, the shoes felt very comfortable, and I
did not have any foot problems with them. I was impressed by the
fact that they did not soak through when walking through grass with
light dew, since the shoes aren't promoted as waterproof. I did
notice some slight toe pressure on steeper sections of the April
overnight trip, which should have been a good forewarning, but overall
my feet felt quite well in them. I liked the way I could adjust
the laces for a wider toe box on uphills, or snug them tighter for
downhill sections.
Unfortunately I did not have the same experience on my 58 mi/93 km
section hike of the Appalachian Trail. The shoes felt pretty good
for about the first 3 mi/5 km, and then my toes began to feel very
sore, especially on the downhill sections. On the section I was
hiking there are unfortunately a lot of steep downhills (and a
corresponding number of steep uphills). I also noticed some
tenderness on my left heel on the uphills, but it was more of a nagging
tenderness rather than an unbearable 'wow this really hurts' feeling.
Day one I hiked about 11.5 mi (18.5 km). The weather was
beautiful for the first few miles/km, but it started raining in the
late morning. I rested out part of the rain at a shelter, but
finally hiked on anyway in light to moderate rain. The shoes got
wet, but my feet weren't really as soaked as I would have
expected. They felt wet, but not squishy wet. I spent the
night at another shelter along the way, and my shoes were still damp
the next morning when I put them on, but they dried out pretty quickly
when I started hiking on day two. Later that day I developed a
small blister on the top of my middle toe on my right foot, which is
unusual for me as my feet don't normally blister at all, and if I've
ever developed toe blisters it has been at the front of the
toe. I caught it pretty early and added a bandaid held in
place with some duct tape and it didn't get any worse, although I could
feel some pressure in that area. My big toes were really getting
sore though, especially on the down hills. Day two's hike was
about 11 mi (18 km).
On day three I was dreading the big down hill into the Nantahala
Outdoor Center (NOC) - a loss of almost 2400 ft (730 m) in 5.6 mi (9
km). Fortunately there were some switchbacks and my toes didn't
get quite the beating they could have, although they were still very
sore by the time I reached my destination. I had planned to stay
at the NOC overnight, so I was glad my toes had a short day and would
get a rest, although the hike from the restaurant level to the
bunkhouse where I was staying meant I had a few steep downhill jaunts
for dinner, purchasing resupply items, and breakfast.
Day four was mostly uphill, with a few very short downhill
sections. I hiked about 13 mi (21 km) that day, and my feet
didn't bother me much until the last 2 mi (3 km) which was again
downhill. Day five brought lots of ups and downs, over a distance
of about 11.5 mi (18.5 km). My feet were really hurting from my
toes, which were extremely sore by this time. I took my shoes off
at every rest break to get a little relief. I considered changing
to my camp shoes, but they weren't really suited to the rough
trail. The Patagonia Bly were providing very good grip on the
numerous rocks and roots in the trail, and providing good lateral
support - they were just beating my toes up badly. At camp that
night my toes under my big toenails looked a little grey. I was
pretty happy to end my hike on day 6 after about 7 mi (11 km) and get
into some comfortable shoes. My toes looked pretty rough - sort
of greyish purple.
Within a couple of days my big toes were a nice deep shade of purple
under the nail. Several people asked me about them. A
couple even thought I had painted my my nails that color! As I
write this today, about five weeks after my trip ended, my big toes are
still purple under the nails. There does seem to be some normal
pinkish color near the nail bed, so I am hoping the purple will
eventually disappear as my nails grow out.
My
big toenails didn't fare too well on my rugged Appalachian Trail hike
(photo taken about 2 weeks after hike)
The shoes seem to have held up pretty well, other than the shoelace on
the right shoe started fraying a lot on my AT hike. I'm not sure
why this happened, as it didn't seem to catch on anything, and it
didn't happen to the left lace. The tread still looked very good,
as did the uppers. The shoes were very supportive. I did
have to move slowly because of the pain I had in my toes, but when I
stepped the shoes always felt secure. I didn't have any trouble
with my ankles twisting or the shoes slipping on rock or even roots.
My feet also stayed comfortable in the shoes, temperature-wise. I
didn't experience any overheating or even much sweating, even on the
warmer days. And they weren't bad to hike in even when wet, as
they were the first day.
Summary:
At this point it's difficult to come to a conclusion about the Bly
shoes, other than that they did not work well for me for long distance
hiking
shoes. They did work well for short hikes and
everyday use, as they are comfortable underfoot, fairly breathable, and
supportive.
Long Term Report - August 25, 2009
Field
Locations and Conditions:
In mid July I started wearing the Patagonia Bly shoes again for some
casual wear, taking the grandkids to the playground, running errands,
and such.
In early August I felt my feet had recovered sufficiently and I wore
the Patagonia Bly shoes on
a 4 mi (6.5 km) hike in Prince William
Forest in eastern Virginia. The weather was hot and muggy, with
high humidity and temperatures in the mid 80 F (around 30 C)
range. The trail was wooded, alternating between running along a
stream and climbing wooded hillsides, with many areas filled with roots
and moderate sized rocks.
Use:
I wore the shoes with a light weight pair of wool-blend socks. My
toes had recovered to the point they didn't hurt, but I was conscious
of the closeness of the end of the shoe to my toes. I also paid
particular attention to the way the shoe fit my heel cup and arch area,
wondering if the sizing might be off rather than the design of the shoe
not being conducive to long distance hiking. I felt that the
heel, arch, and ball of my foot all seemed to fit the shoe
appropriately. My feet did feel a little tired by the end of the
hike, but my toes didn't feel sore. However, two days later, the
toenail on my left big toe started coming off. This may have been
purely coincidental, as a tiny new toenail was starting to grow
underneath, but the timing seemed odd, since I had not worn the shoes
for anything but the most casual use since returning from my
Appalachian Trail adventure in May. The toenail hung on by a tiny
sliver for a day, then I got tired of having it catch on everything and
pulled it off, leaving a small raw area and a sensitive toe.
I normally do not have foot problems when I hike (even blisters are
very rare), so the problems I experienced with the Patagonia Bly were
puzzling to me. In thinking about the way the shoe felt and fit,
I believe that the toe box and area just behind the toe area and in
front of the arch may simply be too wide. This made the shoe feel
comfortable until I started doing a lot of up and down hill hiking,
when the shoe simply lacked the snugness in this area to prevent my
toes from jamming into the end of the shoe.
The shoes show a lot of frizzing on the shoe laces, particularly on the
right shoe. This seems to be entirely on the surface and doesn't
seem to affect their function, but it does look bad. The original
pretty blue color is now dingy and stained from mud, even though I
scrubbed them with a rag and ran them through a cycle of the washing
machine.
Summary:
While a very pretty shoe, the performance of the Patagonia Bly was very
disappointing to me. The shoelaces fuzzed badly, and the uppers
stained rather badly. While these were cosmetic issues, my feet
just could not tolerate long hikes in these shoes. While they
seemed to fit well at first, the shoes allowed my toes to jam against
the front of the toe box on long hikes, resulting in some ugly and
painful results. Needless to say, I won't be wearing these shoes
for any future hiking.
Although they did not work out well for me, I would still like to thank
Patagonia and BackpackGearTest.org for the
opportunity
to
test the Bly shoes.
Read more reviews of Patagonia gear
Read more gear reviews by Pamela Wyant
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