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>Keen Newport H2 Sandals
Field Report - August 9, 2004
Tester Information:
Name: Jason Boyle
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Height: 5' 6"/ 1.68 m
Weight: 170 lb/ 77 kg
Email address: c4jc"at" hotmail "dot" com
City, State, Country: Waldorf, Maryland, U.S.
Backpacking Background
I have been camping and backpacking for about 16 years. My introduction to the outdoors started with the BSA and has continued as an adult. I have hiked mostly in the Southeastern and Northeastern United States. I currently live near Washington D.C. and have made the mid-Atlantic mountains my playground. I used to carry everything and the kitchen sink, but I have become a lightweight hiker
.
Over the past year, I have given up on hiking boots and adopted trail runners as my footwear of choice. The H2's are my first foray into the world of hiking sandals!
Product Information:
Manufacturer: Keen
Model: Newport H2
Size Tested: Men's size 9 (UK 8.5/EUR 41)
Year of Manufacture: 2004
URL:www.keenfootwear.com
Listed weight: 13.9 oz (397 g) per shoe
Measured weight: R Sandal 12 oz (340 g)
L Sandal 13 oz (369 g)
Total 25 oz (709 g)
**Disclaimer: the closest my scale will measure is in whole ounces**
MSRP: $85.00
Country of Manufacture: China
Summary:
Overall the sandals have performed well over the past two months. I have worn them for over 80 miles (129 km) on all types of trails and paths and while they have proven to be comfortable; the sandals are not as durable as I would like. I have broken one of the heel loops that help to slip on the sandals and the foam insole is beginning to tear at the second webbing strap. I am still frustrated that I can only remove debris by taking the sandal off. All that being said, I have enjoyed hiking in these sandals and if they don't fall apart before the test is over I will continue to wear them until they do fall apart.
Field Test Conditions:
These sandals have been used on all types of trails on the east coast, to include typical forest paths, pavement, mountain streams, and the extremely rocky trails of the Dolly Sods Wilderness in West Virginia. Other places I backpacked in the sandals included Shenandoah National Park and Cedarville State Park. The weather has been relatively warm so cold weather performance has not been evaluated; I expect to encounter cold weather during the long term testing phase. I have spent multiple days hiking in the rain.
Field Test Results:
These sandals have been right on with the fit. In my initial report, I thought the toe guard would bother me some, but I have not experienced any discomfort since that one time. There has been no break in time as with boots and the sandals provide nice amounts of comfort even after a long day (7 + miles, (11.3 km)) of hiking on a rocky trail. I was concerned with arch support of the sandals since I normally wear orthodics, but have had no arch or foot pain with the sandals.
I am concerned about the durability of the sandals. I have worn them for a little over 80 miles (129 km) hiking, in addition to daily wear, and they are beginning to show serious wear at the intersection of the second webbing strap and footbed. The foam is beginning to tear at the front of the webbing strap. The sandal is still intact and usable, but I will watch this wear spot on both sandals over the next four months. I have also broken the pull tab for the left sandal, as shown in the picture below, the pull tab broke at the insertion point on the top of the outer webbing. The right sandal seems to be ok, so I would attribute the left pull tab breaking to me pulling to hard on it. The rest of the sandals seem to be holding up well though. There is not any excessive wear on the bottom of the sole or in relation to the webbing straps.
Keen claims that the straps on the sandals are waterproof; based on my experience though I think this claim is false. The webbing straps soak up water and retain it as any other neoprene type of material would. With that said the wet webbing has not caused any problems on my feet such as causing blisters through friction. The outer sole does not seem to soak up or retain any water, which in my opinion is the more important area to be waterproof.
The anti microbial footbed of the sandal has been doing a nice job. I have had no problems with foot funk even during an eight-day period where I wore the sandals every day. The ventilation is not as good as on other sandals because of the toe guard and wide webbing straps.
These sandals have worked well for me 90% of the time I have worn them. In addition to hiking, I have played golf and football in them and done just fine. When hiking on rocky trails, I could certainly feel the rocks on my feet and they were definitely tired at the end of the day from hiking on rocky trails. My feet bounced back and were fine the next day though. The sandals do not work very well in mud, but that is a sacrifice made when wearing sandals instead of boots. My feet have toughened up considerably since I started wearing the sandals, and they have also left really cool tan lines!
Improvements:
As I stated earlier, I could really feel rocks through the sandals when hiking on the rocky trails of West Virginia and I think that Keen could market a hiking sandal with a polycarbonate midsole or something like that to help protect the foot.
I think the toe guard is one of the greatest things since sliced bread, but it also causes stuff to be trapped in the shoe. If a strap or two was removed or the space in between them widened I think that would increase the user's ability to remove debris and help improve ventilation.
Long Term Test Plans:
I plan to use the H2's right up through the fall hiking season. I will be heading back out to the Dolly Sods for one more trip, before winter sets in and will also be taking a 10 or so day jaunt on the Appalachian Trail in Virginia in early October. I will keep an eye on the durability of the sandals, especially in relation to the second webbing strap problems noted earlier. If the weather warrants; I will also try hiking in the sandals with socks.
Thanks again to BackpackGearTest and Keen for the opportunity to participate in this test.
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