KEEN

Durand II Mid Waterproof Wide Hiking Boot - Men's

Great shoes!

It's so hard to find shoes with wide toe boxes! These are wonderful, but your sizing sucks. It's all over the place and it's very, very difficult to know what size to get. The result is having to keep sending them back until you divine what size to get from trying them on. Please make your sizes uniform across all your shoes and also make a wide size available in all styles. The below options don't make sense with your product. Some run too small and some run too big.

Buyer Beware

Familiarity:

I've put it through the wringer

Size Bought:

11

Height:

6' 2"

Weight:

195

I recently bought Keen’s Durand II hiking boots. These are Keen’s high-end boots at $200. I am very familiar with these boots since I hiked the AT and the JMT in the older version of the Durand mid-high boots. I now have thousands of miles in these boots, and this is my third pair. I have bought other Keen hiking shoes as well including the Targhee. There have been some recent changes to the Durand. I’ll start with the positive: • Fit: All Keen shoes have a wide toe box. Wide toe box is critical for my foot and the most important attribute to any hiking shoe is fit especially when you are hiking thousands of miles. Keens’ fit my foot and they are comfortable for me. Of course this depends on your foot. • Sizing: I typically wear size 10 shoe but in the Durand’s I wear an 11. Not sure if it they are sized small or if my foot while hiking long distances swells. I also wear Darn Tough's, sock liner and replace the insole so that may impact the sizing. • Durability: While many AT hikers were buying 4, 5, 6 and even more pairs of shoes to complete the trail I hiked almost the whole AT in 2 pair. So, while they are relatively expensive the payoff is they were bomb proof. • Sole: Keen uses their own sole vs Vibram. For me the Durand’s soles performed and wore well however, I also have hiked in the Targhee, and the sole's tread was terrible and was literally falling apart after 100 miles of hiking. I believe they have changed the Targhee outer sole so hopefully that issue has been resolved. • American Built: Assuming Keen is honest, they advertise they are American Built. I assume this means they are assembled in the US. This was what originally attracted me to the Durand model vs the less expensive Targhee. As mentioned, I tried the Targhee however they started falling apart after only 100 miles so “American Built” might be why the Durand’s durability is so much better. • Forever chemical free (PFAS): Definitely a plus. If Keen can do it why aren’t other companies doing the same. There are significant issues: • Keen has serious quality control issues: The new version of Durand’s has increased the number of eyelets and hooks from 6 to 8. 8 is a lot. The problem is that the new Durand II with 8 eyelets that I received had the same length shoelaces as the old version (6 eyelets) and therefore didn’t even come close to be long enough. You might be able to lace them up and tie a tiny knot that for me will come undone in no time (see pic). They came out of the box tied but they didn’t lace them all the way up. No surprise. I figured it was just an oversite by Keen and a very easy fix. • Customer Service (Showstopper): Horrible! I e-mailed Keen and explained to them the problem and asked them to send me laces that fit the shoe. I thought an easy fix for a shoe company - wrong! I received a pleasant reply telling me that they would not send me the correct sized shoelaces and pointed me to their website where I could BUY laces to fit a new shoe – really Keen? You cannot make this stuff up! I couldn’t believe it and further their site did not have laces long enough (see pic). Keen’s email also included links to Amazon and other companies where they said I could buy laces to fit my new shoes. This is unbelievable to me. It is so disappointing that Keen does not back their product. I had to purchase laces ($15) to properly lace the boot up, ridiculous. • The old version had a rear ankle loop to help pull the shoe over the heal. It’s gone. • The old version used to have a exterior synthetic product (looked like Kevlar?) protecting the heal. No longer. Not sure if this will make a difference to the excellent durability. • Adding 2 extra eyelets is overkill and has caused the shoelace problem. • Keen Dry: In my older version of Durand’s the Keen Dry was terrible. It seemed to work for about 3 weeks and then it seemed every drop of water went right through. Sadly, for me, I will never purchase another pair of Keens. For you, buyer beware.

Best Boots Ever

To be brief, I Love these boots. I have been wearing the Durand boots for more then 7 years. I wear the boots 6 days a week from morning to night. I have tried the lower versions. But have found that the extra support of the high boots makes a real difference on a long day. I have never found another boot that fits so well and is ready to go right out of the box. The boots always fit and are true to size. I generally order a pair every 9 months. This does not mean the boots are poor quality. Due to my particular walking style, I wear down the inside of the heals. I hope that Keen makes these boots forever because there is no substitute or alternative on the market.

My second pair

I’ve had my first pair of Durand II boots for two years. They’ve held up well being worn almost every day from Fall to Spring both years. They fit better than any pair of boots I’ve ever owned; I have a wide foot, and it had been hard to find the right fit. The first pair is still in good shape, but I bought a second pair since I like the first so much. The older boots are now for shoveling snow, hiking, and working in the yard. The newer ones are for lighter duty (at least until the first pair wears out).

Slaps

Great fit and finish, comfortable, very good-looking boots. Looking forward to many years of use.

Great boots.

This boot is one of my favorite Keen boot. The are good to go right out of the box. They are durable and look good.

Sloppy craftsmanship

Bought a pair, they were crooked and not made right, so I returned it. I bought another pair and the lace hook broke off within 2 days. Poor craftsmanship. Do not buy.

Great American made boots

Nice hiking boot! I appreciate the wide width and box toe. All leather where it counts with just a minimal amount of nylon on the tongue and collar. Boots are often are tight on my feet across the top, base of my toes (high in-step?), but these have stretched out just enough to be comfortable. I will swap out these boots to my low-cut Keens during the heat of summer as I expect these will be too warm.

Paddle foot girl

I have wide feet, these are my 3rd or 4th pair over the years. They look good for casual dress w slacks. Mostly I wear them hiking and they check all the boxes. Wish Keen made the women's wide wider, I love the girlie colors but am thankful for Durands, good stuff!!!

Perfect!

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I’ve tried so many hiking boots over the years, but these top the charts! Comfortable, supportive, waterproof! I put them thru the test and walked thru several creeks, and they stayed dry!