I bought these boots last fall during your Black Friday sale, after noticing many people at multiple job sites in various working conditions (paper and lumber mills, packaging production, metal fabrication, etc) using them, and after reading generally positive reviews regarding their versatility and durability. While I haven't worn these every day, especially during our summer heatwaves, they have been my everyday work boot for field service, shop work, and office work- and I've often kept them on long after getting home or used them on my days off. I did also purchase the K20 outsoles, because the ones that come with your work boots and shoes are unacceptably thin and provide absolutely ZERO arch support. With the outsoles, these are easily the most comfortable work boots I've ever worn from Keen, even compared to smaller models (whose outsoles I've also had to replace with aftermarket ones). Only in the last month or so has there been any significant wear on the soles, but not to the point of falling apart or causing discomfort yet. The upper materials have held up greatly (I've applied mink oil a couple of times), and the waterproofing is still effective eleven months in.
The two main issues keeping my review at four rather than five stars, are the aforementioned lack of arch support (which seems to be a recurring problem in the entire Keen Utility line), and the tongue having a tendency to bunch up. The bunching up on the tongue changes the fit around the ankle throughout the day, which can cause stability issues or catch debris behind it. I saw a review where another customer doubled up the lacing in the top eyelets, which I started doing recently. While that has worked, it seems like the eyelets are being pulled harder from the collar just to alleviate a poor tongue design that shouldn't require additional stress on the eyelets to manage. Back to the arch support issue, it seems that Keen designs work boots for people with flat feet- which most people do not have- and having to purchase additional insoles at this price point almost feels like a punishment or slap in the face to the working-class people these boots are made for. Granted, the mid/outsoles haven't led to nearly the amount of lateral wear I experienced with the Boulder lows and Lansing mids (whose mid/outsoles absolutely SUCK for work shoes and need to be retired IMMEDIATELY), but recently have been subject to some lateral wear themselves.
If you were to fix the crappy tongue design and provide at least SOME arch support, these would be the perfect work boot. While the Pittsburgh boots have served me well, I may look at other models for my next general work use unless those design flaws are fixed.
Fit:0/5
Comfort:0/5
Quality:0/5
Durability:0/5
