Reviews > Footwear > Sandals > Keen Venice > Kathryn Doiron > Long Term Report

Keen Venice Sandals - Long Term Report

Product Information:

The Keen Venice sandals are an airy, more open version of Keen's Newport sandals. They are listed under Keen's trail head section and dubbed as "Performance footwear for unpaved adventure". I have been giving these sandals almost equal play time on both pavement and trails. I have found that I have no problems with them on pavement. They are very comfortable for standing in and I find my feet do not overheat.

My experience on the trail has been interesting. Most of my experiences have been good and those were typically the times when I took a slow pace and had the sandals fully broken in. My first hike did see me acquiring some broken skin on my heels from the heel strap and tenderness on my soles. All my uphill hiking has been fine due to the fact that I simply cannot maintain a stiff pace. It is when I am heading downhill that I seem to experience most of my troubles. My last hike was 4.5 miles down with a lost in elevation of 2300 ft (700 m). In my infinite wisdom, I decided to see if I could do it in 2 hours. I did, but I ended up with a pair of lovely blisters, one per big toe. I also had a fair amount of tenderness just behind the ball of my foot. I was carrying about 25 lb (11 kg) but had started the trip with about 28 lbs (12.7 kg). I did not notice any major discomfort on the trip in other that a minor amount of tenderness behind the ball of my foot. On the way out, while it had been drizzling or lightly raining off and on during the hike, I only had one foot get wet from stepping in a stream crossing. I am chalking up the blisters to the rather brutal pace I decided to set for myself. As for the tenderness, I have experienced this before at various paces and with differing amounts of weight. The foot bed of the sandal does not feel rough but my foot does have some room to move around and this movement may be enough to cause tenderness. On the other hand, the foot bed has some flexibility to it and molds to both my foot and whatever I am standing on. As such, I have noticed that on some boulders, the sandal is pressed fully against my foot, where when standing flat, my foot arches away from parts of the foot bed. In the end, I would still wear these sandals. I would look into a slightly smaller size to try for a tighter fit.

The sandals come with a bungee cord lacing system with a toggle closure. While this makes it easier to pull the sandals on and off, sometimes I have managed to pull my foot out of the sandal when I get the sandal wedged between rocks. I think I would prefer something with a little less stretch. I found that the level of tightness that I need to keep the sandals from excessive flapping means I am left with excess bungee cord. I simply tuck the excess under the lacing and it is out of the way and does not catch.

I noticed that the inside of the sandals are smooth. There is nothing to prevent me from sliding around and as such I think that is where some of my tenderness is coming from. In the end, it boils down to my decision to take sandals that are 1/2 a size too big. I assumed that like boots, hiking sandals should have a little moving around room. I think this helps a lot when I accidentally kick rocks, a frequent occurrence , but I do not think that the sliding around is good. Had I only been using the sandals for street wear, I would have picked up the "correct" size. I will have to try hiking in properly fitting sandals to determine how they should fit to my feet when hiking.

I am estimating that I put on about 50 - 60 trail miles (80 - 96 km) on to these sandals. I figure I also did at least 100 miles (161 km) over four months simply walking to and from work. I can probably safely double that with all the running around I do at work and still have only a rough, low end estimate. The sandals are showing some wear, mostly on the outer sides of the heels. If you look closely, the small angled nubs on the lower side or the sandal are not all even in height and the heel is a little smoother on the top. Overall the tread still looks great and the sandals are still giving me good traction on rocks. There are also a few creases in the rubber side of the sole where the sandals bends with my foot. The leather is a little darker in places but still soft. The sandals have acquired a slightly funky aroma. It is noticeable when I am close to the sandals or my feet. It is not offensive but neither is it a bouquet of flowers. While the sandals maintain the odour, my feet gradually lose the aroma after I remove the sandals.

The freedom of hiking in sandals means that I don't feel the need to remove or change my footwear before stream crossings. After my first break in hike, I have not carried any alternate footwear or camp shoes. I find that if I wash my feet and pull on some thick woollies, the sandals wear like a pair of comfortable camp shoes. If I am careful to rinse dirt out, I have not noticed much accumulation of dirt on the sole of the sandal. There is some accumulation when I stream cross then hike all day. Trail particles enter then stick to the sole of the sandal right under the ball of my foot. Mostly the dirt seems to accumulate on my feet, especially the next day. o while the socks pick up a little dirt, they stay relatively clean. The socks also help keep my feet warm. I find that when my feet are cold, I am cold, so on a cold night, the socks help keep me feeling warm.

I have practically been living in these sandals since I received them and I love the way they wear and feel. One thing I have a love/hate relationship with though is the toe guard. While I love having the toe protection, I hate not being able to kick out the large rocks the seem to gravitate towards my toes. Large rocks will cause me to stop to take immediate action for their removal, small debris usually gets ignored until I have enough rattling around to annoy me. Overall, the sandals are very comfortable and they are easy to slip on. I can either slip them on without the back strap (not too comfortable for long term but to put the trash out, it is perfect) or easily pull the back strap up without fiddling with the toggle. I have been having a little bit of a hard time recently transitioning back to shoes for the fall weather.

Field Conditions:

I have taken the Keen Venice sandals with me on a several long weekend hikes. I have had at least 4 major trips with these sandals. All trips included three days and two nights in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Total elevation gain was 1400 ft (426.7 m). There were light intermittent showers the first day, temperature that night dipped to about 40 F (4.5 C). The next day was sunny and clear with temperatures peaking around 68 F (20 C). The second night dropped to between 45 and 50 F (7-10 C). The last day was clear and sunny with temperatures pushing 77 F (25 C). Conditions for both trips were about the same in temperature and precipitation, or lack thereof. Trail conditions were a mix of muddy, marshy areas with dry sandy areas. A few sections of the trail were also either rocky or leaf covered. I also had to walk on boards above the marshy areas or rock hop to avoid deep mud.

Conditions were much cooler on my last few trips due to elevation and a depression moving through the area. Total elevation gain was about 2300 ft (700 m). Temperatures on one trip where in the 60 - 70 F (15.5 - 21 C) range and dropped down to about 50 F (10 C) at night. There was no rain on this trip. The last trip, again to the same area had temperatures reaching a high of 60 F (15.5 C) and a low of 35 F (1.6 C) on both nights. There was some rain the last morning we packed up.

On my Sunday day trips to a local park, my elevation gain is minimal but I did manage to get in a good rain hike. Temperatures were around 52 F (11 C). The rain was not hard but was more than a drizzle. Rainfall was mostly constant over the course of the hour long hike.

For my commute into work, I am really only above ground for about 10-15 minutes and in the subway tunnels for about 45 minutes sitting in the subway car. I have seen some rain, but mostly cloudy or sunny conditions. A few days have been driving rain. The walk has some stairs but is mostly flat or very gentle inclines.

For kayaking, I generally frequent nearby ponds or lakes. Water temperatures have generally been about the same as body temperature, give or take. I have been out on at least three kayaking trips thus far with the sandals. The ponds and lakes have both had fine sandy beaches that I put in at. One beach had larger rocks, they were a little too big to easily enter the sandal.

Pros:

- They feel lightweight and airy

- They dry fast while being worn

- Cause my feet to smell

- They are slow to dry when not worn

Reviews > Footwear > Sandals > Keen Venice > Kathryn Doiron > Long Term Report