So, here it goes, my first review here. I bought the Keen Voyageurs last summer when teaching rock climbing classes at a summer camp. Hiking a few miles a day and being on my feet all day, as well as taking a few climbs now and then took their toll on my previous pair of shoes and my feet.
So I was off to the store one payday, the one day during the week that I was free to do what I wanted, and that day it was to find the best pair of shoes I could in my budget. After trying on a few different pairs, and remembering the opinion of some of my friends, I settled on the titled pair of Keen Voyageurs. For the next month of so, they survived sand, rock, scouts, and some random bouldering. Six months later they are still going strong. They are still quite comfortable, and lace up well. I still take them on hikes and wear them as my everyday shoes.
The pros for this pair of shoes for me in no particular order are:
Light weight but strong
Good looking. Leather uppers can pass it off for a casual shoe under a passing glance.
Good treads for most hiking purposes.Comfortable enough for all day walking or standing.
Ridged laces lock in shoe tightness.
Cons:
Edges of the soles separating and need re gluing.
Some threads stick out and needed trimming.
Overall, the pros out weigh the cons, as some shoe goo and a pair of scissors fixed them. The threads that are separating were not structural and this pair is still rolling strong. This semester in school, discussing footwear with one of my Recreation classmates, we were asked if there was a particular brand that we liked, and about half the class dropped the name Keen, and on a recent trip to Capitol Reef Nat'l Park, about a quarter of the group had Keens, which was more than any other brand.
Granted, this is all personal to me and I cannot tell you every story out there, but I hope this helps some of you out there. MSRP for the shoes is right at $100, but shop around and you can probably get some for at least $15 or $20 off. Good luck.
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