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Reviews > Footwear > Sandals > Keen Newport H2 > Colleen Porter > Long Term Report
Product Description: A closed-toe sandal with Ghillie-style lacing. The exterior straps are waterproof polyester webbing, backed with a “hydrophobic” neoprene-like foam fabric. The laces are made of shock cord and do not tie, but are threaded through a cord-lock that allows for easy tightening and loosening of the laces. Underneath the laces, running up the middle of the shoe, is a tongue made of thin synthetic suede, with the same foam fabric underneath it. The soles are non-marking carbon rubber, and in the front of the sandal the rubber extends up and over the toe area, forming a protective cap over the wearer’s toes. The anatomic footbed is anti-microbial EVA (Ethylene Vinyl Acetate), to inhibit odor. There are small webbing loops on both the single rear strap of the sandals and at the top of the lacing, to assist in putting on the shoes. These loops reflect light in dim conditions. Please see my Initial Report for an extremely detailed description of the shoes. Tester: Colleen Porter
(biography at end of report) Field Information: I
have used the Keen H2's mainly in southern California - for a week of
beach camping, for walks in our local eucalyptus forests, on a 6-day
backpacking trip in the Sierra Nevada, and as
an everyday shoe. Temperatures here in CA have been nothing but
hot, but I did encounter cooler weather at higher elevations in Sequoia
and Kings Canyon National Parks. Elevations ranged from sea level
to 13,200'/ 4023 m. I was able to use them for 2 weeks
in
northwestern Montana - boating and swimming on Flathead Lake, and an
overnight trip on the east side of Glacier National Park.
Temperatures were overwhelmingly warm. Terrain ranged from sandy
to rocky to mud 6 inches/15 cm deep. There was rain, but very
little, and mostly brief. See my Field
Report for a detailed account of their performance on the Montana
trip. Field Performance: Oh,
dear readers, do I have a story for you. In my Field
Report, I made this optimistic statement: I'm torn between laughing and weeping as I look back on my lost innocence. I wore the Keen H2's on that trip, just like I said I would, and that trip became the end of my test period for the H2's. Perhaps it was a mistake to place so much faith in them; perhaps I made mistakes in reacting to the problems they caused. I'll tell the story, and you be the judge. I started the journey wearing a short pair of synthetic wicking socks with the Keens, and carrying approximately 30 pounds (13.5 kg) total on my back. The first day wasn't too bad, just some minor rubbing on my pinky toes. We hiked 13 miles, mostly staying around the same elevation with some slight gain and some up & down. I tended to hop over streams rather than walk through them, based on my past experience with the H2s' very slow drying time. I also stopped wearing the socks on Day 1, because my feet were staying too moist with them on and getting uncomfortably hot. When we camped that night I had tiny blisters on both pinky toes. They were small enough that I opted not to doctor them, and in the morning they were already gone. As a preventative measure I wrapped duct tape around them both, to minimize the friction against my skin. That day (Day 2), we went over our first major pass of the trip, Kahweah Gap. Halfway through the climb, my pinky toes were hurting again and my index toes were also starting to smart a bit. I stopped to doctor my toes and found that the uphill climbing was causing the toebox of the shoe to shove my pinky toes under the next toe, which was pinching the pinky toes and beginning to cause a blister on the inside of the toes, not on the outside - my toes were rubbing together, rather than the shoe rubbing my toes. My Index toes were also getting pushed too tightly against my big toe, and were beginning to blister close to their ends. It was the exact same pattern of blistering on both feet. I had to make a decision, and perhaps I chose poorly. I could have hiked back out (I was over 18 miles/29 km in at this point). But it wasn't my car at the trailhead and the trail was pulling at me to go on, and so I convinced myself that if I could just tape my toes right I could continue on. Maybe I'd just skip that side trip to Mt. Whitney and give myself a rest day. Yeah, that would do it! So I chose to dress the blisters carefully and go on. On I went, about 19 miles/30.5 km total that day. The blisters hurt, but not so badly that I couldn't make OK time, and I knew that the next day (Day 3) we'd be visiting a hot spring (with a concrete bathtub, no less) where I could wash the blisters really well and dress them again. On the morning of Day 3 we walked seven or so miles (11.25 km) to the hot spring, where I did indeed wash out the blisters and re-dress them. I also washed & dried my socks, and put them back on as well. The blisters continued to hurt, wose than before, but I was able to press on and I was no longer worried about them going septic (at least not for a day or two). This was the day when I started thinking it was foolish to have placed so much faith in the H2's, and began to tell myself that maybe I should have turned around and gone back out. I began developing hot spots on the inside of the balls of my feet as well. Day 4 was the breaking point. One of my companions had opted to make the side trip to Mt. Whitney (a roughly 25 mile/40 km) day hike, and my other companion and I planned on a short walk of about 5 miles/8 km to our next campsite. I let my feet rest for most of the morning and then we set off uphill to head over Bighorn Plateau, after which we would descend to Tyndall Creek. About halfway, I couldn't walk anymore. The blisters had begun to hurt so badly that every step was excruciating. I was moving slowly, trying to alter my steps so as to minimize the pain. Finally I tried walking barefoot, but the trail was very stony and I ended up moving even slower. I took the H2's off, removed the old bandages, cleaned my feet with rubbing alcohol, drained the blisters, and did the most aggressive bandaging job I've ever done. I taped my left-side toes (the side that was worst) together in unnatural positions in order to prevent my pinky toes from getting jammed under. I taped any other hot spots. I put the H2's back on and got up to walk. Agony, searing agony. The trailhead where our car shuttle was parked was over 30 miles/48 km away. In desperation I sat down, took the H2's off, and violated the rules of BackpackGearTest.org. I altered the test item. See, we BGT testers have to test the gear the way it comes to us. If we get an idea for how to improve it, we can't implement that idea until the test is over. We can suggest that the manufacturer make the changes, but we can't make them ourselves. That way we're giving honest reviews of a product, the way it's actually sold to the public. But in emergency situations you do what you have to. So I did. Using my Swiss Army knife, I cut off one of the outside webbing straps on both of the shoes - the straps that were right over my pinky toes. I have included a picture for reference, along with a picture of the injury pattern on my feet. I figured that this alteration would allow for my toes to spread out as I walked, rather than push my toes together. Look down at someone's toes sometime as they walk barefoot. Most people's toes will splay out just a bit as they push away from the ground. I didn't want to do it, but I had to be able to walk and this seemed like my best chance.
I put the shoes back on and the difference was close to miraculous. The pain almost disappeared. I was able to resume my normal walking pace immediately. On Day 5 I was able to walk another 19 miles/30.5 km with virtually no foot problems. On Day 6 I was able to run down a long set of switchbacks and experienced absolutely no foot pain. When we finished the trip that day my feet were filthy (even with socks - see the photo below), but the blisters were already beginning to heal.  Since I altered the shoes, it would be unfair of me to continue with the test. So I used the shoes for about 3 months, instead of the usual 6 month testing period we have here at BGT. Note: Another BGT tester tactfully brought up the possibility that perhaps I had chosen too small a size - that sometimes women want to believe their feet are smaller than they really are. Since it's a possibility that some readers might have this same idea, I will address it. All of my shoes are either size 8 or 7.5. I've been backpacking for over 8 years now. I haven't had anything more than a hot spot since 1999, when I gave up my old-school hand-me-down full-leather boots (made circa 1970). To experience this level of blistering from a shoe is extremely unusual for me. I have also done 18-mile/29 km days before, with no blistering whatsoever - on the very same trail, in a pair of Chaco Z1 sandals. So make of that what you will, dear readers. Conclusions: Reviewing shoes is a tricky business. Feet are like fingerprints - nobody's are exactly the same. There are five other people testing Keen sandals here on BGT, and I would advise our readers not to make up their mind about the H2's based on my one review. After all, your feet are probably completely different from mine. But ultimately, they just don't work for me as a backpacking shoe. Even aside from the blistering issue, they are not waterproof, or even terribly water-resistant, and they dry too slowly. For those reasons, I can't even advise that they be used as river crossing and camp shoes. That said, the H2's do have some good features. I like them as boating shoes, which is what they were meant for in the first place. Aside from my toe problems, they grip my foot nicely and comfortably. As around-town and light walking shoes, they are great. I never had any blistering issues while using them in civilization. The soles grip nicely, even on slick and slimy surfaces, which makes them nice for short jaunts where a lot of wet-rock scrambling will take place, but in consistently muddy conditons I wasn't able to get them tight enough to hold my feet still inside. The lacing is very convenient and is a feature I liked a lot. So I look at the Keens as a mixed bag - great for some applications, inadequate for others. That said, I'd like to thank Keen for allowing me to test them, and BackpackGearTest.org as well. Thanks. Tester Information Name: Colleen Porter Age: 29 Height: 5'8"/1.73 m Weight: 140 lbs./64 kg. Email address: tarbubble at yahoo dot com Location: Orange County, CA Date: May 25, 2004 Backpacking Background: I have been hiking for over 15 years, backpacking for 8. I hike and backpack primarily in southern and central California, so environments run the gamut from coastal to desert to alpine. I love to hike in sandals, but am still searching for the perfect pair. Almost all of my trips are on established trails - I never intend to bushwhack, but occasionally I end up on a disused trail and at least make an attempt at getting through the overgrowth. When I manage to get out on my own or with other adults I pack quite lightly (about 13 pounds/6 kg base weight), but more often than not my 2.5-year-old son is in tow, which tends to double the amount of weight I carry. Read more reviews of Keen gear Read more gear reviews by Colleen Porter Reviews > Footwear > Sandals > Keen Newport H2 > Colleen Porter > Long Term Report | |||||
