None of my shoes fit anymore. I had purchased some cheap Chinese made jungle boots on the Internet that I really like but they are the only pair of shoes that fit me that I own besides a cheap pair of canvas shoes I bought at WalMart for working in the yard and my steel toed boots. For some reason it is very hard to find 13W shoes around here that have any ankle support. The boots I bought off the Internet are a cheap copy of USGI jungle boots. Very comfy once I got a pair of Dr Scholls insoles in them. I have been wearing them everyday all day since I had no other shoes that fit other than the yard shoes and the steel toed boots that are quite heavy and not especially comfortable. The Chinese jungle boots have taken the abuse quite well except oddly for the soles. The soles have worn down a lot in the 3 months or so I have been wearing them. I figured I need a new pair of shoes just to have something to wear in case they fail. I wonder if they are resolable? I really like them, as they have some good ankle support, but are also good summer boots. O well, I only paid about $40 for them shipped. Probably cost about that much to get the soles redone. I have had a couple of pairs of shoes resoled and was never all that happy with the results.
I went to Shoe Carnival which is where I usually get my shoes. They had nothing I wanted to wear in my size except work boots. So after we came home my wife called around to the various shoe places in town and found a pair of Columbia Trail Meisters at Famous Footwear. I went there and tried them on and they seemed to fit pretty good and seemed comfy. They come with a set of insoles so no need to buy any. I was not overjoyed with the color (I like black shoes), but the brown green gray color was all they had, and even though they seemed a bit pricey I decided to buy them. I wore them out of the store and have had them on ever since except when I was not wearing shoes at all. They made several two mile dog walks and I had no issues. Did not really need any break in period at all. They are called a mid high shoe. I have worn these type in the past and ended up with blisters on my Achilles tendon area from where the top of the shoes rubs, but these did not do that to me.
I was pretty sure I could have gotten them cheaper off the Internet, as Columbia is not usually as high priced a brand as some other hiking shoes. I paid just under $80 for them OTD. I thought I could probably have gotten them for $15 or $20 less off the Internet, but I just got them anyway. As it turned out, I did some looking around the Internet and I found Cabelas had them on clearance but nothing even remotely close to my size, and the other places I found them they would have been about the same or even more more with shipping. So, I guess I came out OK on the deal.
The box they came in claims they are waterproof, which I believe, and breathable. I don't believe the breathable part so much. The jungle boots breath quite well. These don't breath nearly as well as the cheap boots did, and my feet get a bit sweaty.
They came with some foamy type insoles which are pretty comfy. I don't know how well they will hold up to my weight which is pretty substantial, or the type of walking I do, which is mostly on pavement. Perhaps I will do an update in a few months.
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