The following review is a guest post by Ryan Brady… my hubby. He has technical blog at RyanBrady.org, and will soon have a personal blog up as well. You can tweet him at @rjbrady.
Recently I was given the opportunity to test out a pair of shoes from Kurufootwear.com. I browsed the website for a bit and found a pair of lightweight hiking shoes I thought would be a good fit for daily use as well as a little off road use here and there.
The website was easy to navigate, a great layout with very nice images of the footwear. After taking a look at the selection of Mens Shoes, I finally settled on the Chicane. They looked like a good lightweight shoe that I could literally wear everywhere. My initial hunch was later confirmed!
The first pair I received was too small. I’ve always worn a 10R boot and the website said these shoes ran a 1/2 size small, so I ordered a 10.5. When the shoes arrived I tried them on and crunched my toes up into the end of the shoe. Kuru was very understanding and let me return the shoes for a 1/2 size larger. They have a policy posted on their website that allows you to return shoes up to 35 days, as long as they are in new condition. It would have taken a week, but I wanted them for a trip we were going on so we paid for expedited shipping. They sent the new pair immediately we sent the original shoes back using standard shipping.
Before we get into the shoes, we should talk about me and my feet. I’m one of those people that rotates their foot to the outside. I do it without thinking about it. My soles become worn very quickly towards the outside of the shoe and it causes me to lean even more. My feet spend most of the week in dress shoes and evenings they roam free. The weekends is when I need a good pair of shoes to fit my life style. I’m a father to two 4 year old twin daughters that make the Energizer Bunny look like a couch potato. I need a pair of shoes for chasing them around in the yard, working on projects in the garage, mild hiking and wearing around town. My wife and I are very different when it comes to shoes. Other than for work or running, I don’t need shoes for different occasions – I just need the one pair that does everything.
Getting back to the review. The new shoes arrived in time to take on the trip. For the first couple of days they felt a little off, but I think it had more to do with getting used to actually having support in my shoes compared to the last pair I had. It seemed like an initial break-in period because after that they felt like they molded to my feet. They have become extremely comfortable and fit the bill for my general purpose shoe.
I’ve worn the shoes while hiking into the woods in Eastern North Carolina, and they kept my feet warm and dry. I had no traction issues on the different terrain (climbing over logs, etc) and found out they really are water resistant. Water beads off of them, although I have not submersed them yet. The shoes are a lot lighter in weight than I had thought, and I have appreciated that after walking around in them for 12 or so hours at a time.
For me, style is rarely a priority over finding a pair of comfortable shoes. Luckily, with the Chicanes I don’t feel like I have to sacrifice any style. The color is great and doesn’t stand out too much. The sole has an interesting foot pattern and the shoe seems to blend with the environment when I’m out in the woods as well as running around town.
I like these shoes. I think at just under a $100 they are a pretty good deal. I hope they come out with some styles closer to dress shoes so I can get away with wearing them to work.
* Thank you to Kuru Footwear for providing Ryan with a pair of shoes for this review!