Reviews > Footwear > Sandals > Keen Boulder > Stephanie Martin > Long Term Report

Long Term Report: Keen Boulder Hybrid Footwear

Field and Test Information:
Location(s) of test:	Various locations across the state of Arizona and southern Utah
Terrain:	These hybrid shoes have been on and off trail, with terrain ranging from flat packed dirt to boulder hopping in and around streambeds to steep loose rocky hillsides.  They have also pounded lots of pavement in and around town.
Weather Conditions:	Outside temperatures ranging from the low 30s F (0 C) at night to low 100s F (high 30s C) during the day, inside temps vary depending on central air settings

This report is the third of three.  Please read this report in conjunction with my Initial and Field Reports for more details on the product details, performance and fit.

Contents
- Summary of Adventures and Performance
- Long Term Wear
- Summary

Summary of Adventures and Performance
The Keen Boulders have remained my footwear of choice through the end of the testing period.  Once the temperatures started plunging, I took to wearing them in town with socks on in order to keep my feet warm.  As reported in my Field Report, I began my long term testing by converting one shoe to a static lace and leaving the other shoe with its provided elastic cord.  I had hoped to discover that the static lacing would resolve my foot sliding issues while wearing the Boulders - unfortunately, this did not prove to be the case unless I completely eliminated the cord lock from the lacing system.  While eliminating the cordlock did improve the lacing and fit of the shoe, I do feel that the aesthetics were not quite as nice without the cordlock.  Activities have been more of the same - from mundane city errands such as going to work, buying groceries and doing other shopping runs to more adventurous pursuits across the desert southwest.  Outdoor adventures were limited mostly to shorter bouldering hikes and traditional hiking because of earlier fatiguing of my feet while wearing the Boulders (when compared to other footwear) and also due to my inability to properly secure my feet with no slippage without completely modifying the shoe to a static lace without use of cordlocks.  For most of my activities, however, the Keen Boulders were more than up for the challenge and performed beautifully over the course of the test period with only a bit of wear and tear noted.
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Long Term Wear
For the most part, the Boulders held up very well during the course of the six month test period.  I'm generally not hard on my shoes, but I do hike in rough terrain, and my shoes often show the result.  I was quite surprised at how little wear the Keen Boulders displayed after six months of continuous testing on varied terrain.

The first area I noted damage was inside the heelcup.  I suspect this was due to the hard support of my custom orthotic rubbing on the footbed material.  I suspect the damage could have been eliminated if I had caught it early enough by trimming a new set of footbed liners for use underneath my orthotic device, however I did not catch it early enough.  The damage appears to be mostly cosmetic in nature, as none of the stitching is coming undone - it simply appears that the fabric on the bottom of the shoe has been worn completely away.  I have since trimmed a new set of liners to wear with my orthotic devices, and hopefully the area will be better protected.  Because the inserts provided with the Boulders are not rigid, and fit very securely inside the shoe, I do not expect this to be a normal occurrence for those that do not swap out the insert for a custom orthotic device.

The other locations I found wear marks are more likely to be more common.  I noticed that the fabric that is used to bind the tongue had developed a small hole where it appears to rub against the outer portions of the shoe.  I also noticed some small wear points at the heel of the shoe on the inside fabric liner.  I had not noticed any abnormal rubbing on my feet at these points, but the little holes would indicate that a fair amount of sliding was going on. 

As for other wear performance, the ÆGIS Microbe Shield seems to have helped keep the odor down in the uppers - though I will say that no matter what footbeds were used, be they the originally supplied Metatomical ones or after market inserts or liners used in conjunction with my orthotic devices, daily wearing eventually took their toll and the footbeds needed to be removed and cleaned in order to make them less smelly.

Even though the shoes really didn't need it, at the very end of the six month testing period, I removed the footbed and washed one of the shoes following the manufacturer's instructions, holding the other back for comparison's sake.  If you look closely, you should be able to tell which shoe was washed and which wasn't as it appears that the shoes did develop and maintain some level of dirt and grime during the course of testing (In case you can't tell which shoe was washed, in the upper images, the cleaned shoe is on the right, and on the bottom image, it is on the left.).  The shoe that was washed was dropped in my laundry and went through the permanent press cycle along with a load of clothes.  It was removed post washing and left to air dry.  The shoe certainly didn't suffer any from its wash and rinse, and tidied up to look as good as new!  If it wasn't for the wear marks and the worn tread, I would never know it had been through six months of rigorous wear.  Now I'll just have to wash the other shoe with the next load of laundry so they can match again!
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Summary
Keen has successfully designed and delivered an attractive athletic hybrid shoe that adapts well for a custom fit.  The sandals are well made, with clean stitching and thoughtful design features.  These shoes have a sporty and rugged appeal to them and while they don't work well for all of my activities, they performed admirably on more traditional walks, have excellent traction and do well both in and out of water.  I'm happy to have had the opportunity to test them.  With that said, here are my likes and dislikes:

Woo Hoos (likes):
- Love that toeguard - I can't tell you how many times that thing has come in handy!
- Good sized loop at the heel to aid in donning and doffing the shoe - I can get my finger in and out with room to spare
- Quick and easy to replace Metatomical Footbed with custom orthotics or off the shelf inserts
- Quick Drying, excellent ventilation - no more soggy socks! Unless I go wading, but they dry out quickly in those cases
- Good protection - enclosed enough to not let in lots of debris
-Plenty of color combinations, I find the Boulders to be a very attractive shoe

General Comment:
- Hybrid shoes of this variety will always be prone to letting in some amount of debris.

Boo Hoos (areas for improvement):
- I'd like the shoe to have a bit more protection in the forefoot sole - I was able to feel rocks quite easily through the footbed, and this resulted in earlier foot fatigue on certain terrains.
- The shoes, as delivered with the elastic cord, did not stay tightly secured during activity
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My thanks to Keen Footwear and BackpackGearTest.org for this testing opportunity - I look forward to my further adventures with these shoes.

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Reviews > Footwear > Sandals > Keen Boulder > Stephanie Martin > Long Term Report