This is one of the most comfortable shoes or sandal I have ever owned. I first saw these on some ultralight backpackers I met in 2005, and they swore by them for comfort and strong enough to climb rough terrain. For a sandal, that just blew me away. I confess I have not used them to backpack, but I have used them on rough terrain and they are outstanding and amazingly "grippy". It has little nubs on the carbon outer sole that dig into or grip everything.
SIZING: I have read that most people find that they need to buy a half size larger than they do with other shoes, and that was my experience as well.
COMFORT: Tremendous arch support. The sandal has a wide toebox so that your toes are not cramped together, and the protective toe guard is great. I never stub a toe or catch a toe on anything with these, plus I can hide my ugly toes. It also has a little rise on the rear heel that cups your heel comfortably, but helps protect you against those people that step on the back of your foot in line. The sandal feels very secure once it is on and does not slip. There are no straps to fool with or Velcro to adjust, it has an inner lining that looks like the neoprene on a scuba suit, it stretches to fit. The rear strap does not hurt your foot. It has a no lace closure and you set it once, from then on it slips on easy. The footbed cradles my foot like no shoe I have ever seen. There is a little ridge on the inner sole that runs behind the toes and then in between your big toe and other toes, it turns out to add to the comfort of the shoe immensely. That ridge forms in a short time to your foot, giving you your own custom fit. With these shoes I find i can stand longer and walk longer.
GRIP AND TRACTION: It has an anatomical outer sole that is very grippy, with a nice athletic shape, it gives good traction on sand, rock, mud, you name it. It is not slippery on wet surfaces like the dock, and the sole does not leave any marks on floors. The tread does not hold dirt in any grooves to track indoors. It is great for water use, and can be completely submerged with no damage. If it gets wet,the material that wicks the water away fast.
ODOR: It has an anti-microbial treatment that takes away any germs, I do not know how long that treatment lasts though. They do not get sweaty or smelly like my Crocs do.
DURABILITY: I got my money's worth out of them for sure. When my H2's get dirty, I throw them in the sink, under the hose, or even in the washer and they come out like new. I wore these almost daily for 4 months straight with no evidence of wear. It has now been 4 years and I still use them more than any other shoe in the summer. I hope they are still made as durable as they were when I bought mine. This includes vacation, in which I am standing in line all day at theme parks and scrambling at the beach. These come in many colors. For a dressier sandal I also like the brown Dunham Moose Fisherman (actually designed by New Balance). These sandals were good enough to get me to buy two tennis shoes from the same company in the last 4 years, an in-town shoe called Austin and an ugly hiker called the Targhee II. In the end, I just can't say enough about these shoes, I highly recommend.
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Even though these shoes are a bit expensive, I have never purchased a more comfortable or durable pair of shoes. Tough as nails. I have been using mine on a daily bassis for the past 18 months. I walk atleast 5 miles a day. Still holding up perfectly except for normal wear.
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If there's a few drawbacks then why not 4 or even 3 stars? Well, let me explain...
These sandals are fantastically comfortable and if you get the bison leather, they're actually stylish enough to wear out (well, stylish enough for me, anyways...some might disagree).
Comfort is a 10 out of 10, without question. Really, really nice.
Convenience is a 8 out of 10. Even with the leather ones, you can get them wet, get them muddy, jump in a lake, do whatever you feel like with them. All it takes is a spray down to get stuff off of them.
They get an 8 because of the funk factor they need a soap every once in a while because they will get a little ripe. If your feet sweat, these sandals don't have quite enough ventilation to let it all out. The footbed is apparently anti-odor and, all-a-round, is about as good as you can get. If you have sweaty feet, you'll need to wash them, but washing them is easy. The lack of ventilation is what must be traded for the support and comfort these sandals offer. It's really not that big of a deal.
Use for hiking well...that depends where you're hiking. Trails and rivers and things, they'd probably be 10/10. If, however, you are hiking anywhere with sand you need to leave these at home and herein lies the one flaw with the sandal: stuff that gets in the sandal does NOT get out.
This is because of the toe design which is great for, well, not hurting your toes. But when a rock gets caught in there, you've got to stop and take off the sandal to get it out. If you don't mind stopping occationally to take them off and shake them out, there are no problems.
This flaw also brings up one other minor, but possibly relevant, point to a certain demographic. If you are diabetic and are attracted to these sandals because of the toe guard, you need to look elsewhere. The toe guard is great, but if something gets caught in there, it might not be noticed and a rock in this sandal all day could do serious damage to diabetic feet.
Other than the rock thing, I couldn't ask for anything more.
With regard to the bison sandal after they get wet a few times, the leather will start to fade a bit. If you like the color it fades to then never mind. But if you want them to look the way they did, I put some Doc Martins wonder balsam on them and got the same dark brown color they came with, no problems.
Honest reviews on KEEN Men's Newport Sandal
I bought this shoe after my Trail Gloves were completely worn down after a couple hundred miles of trail running, and pavement running and walking. I purchased these for more barefoot pavement running. Perhaps this is because my Trail Gloves were completely worn down, but I noticed right away that there is much more shoe to the Sonic Glove. The top is not mesh, so it is a little more stiff and they don't breath as well as the Trail Glove, and the sole felt much more solid. I was expecting these to fit just like my Trail Gloves, but the break-in period was more difficult on my feet, even more so than the initial break-in period for my Trail Gloves. For a week and a half the right heel dug into my leg, and I could not wear these shoes unless I taped up the back of my heel. I found this odd just because the frame is so similar to the Trail Glove. Once I got past the break in period the shoes really began to feel great. I put a 25 mile run in mostly on pavement and some trail, and my feet and legs felt fine. Perhaps this is because my barefoot shoes were worn down so much, but I really felt that this shoe felt more like a "normal" sole rather than a barefoot sole.
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I bought a pair and have not taken them off since. Easy to slip on and off these are the perfect pair for someone on the go. The unique toe guard protects your feet like no other sandal of this type. They also dry very quickly so if you spend a lot of time around water these could be the sandals for you. (Although the Newport H2's dry faster) To top it all off they feel great on my feet. Do yourself a favor and try these out you will not regret it.
