KEEN Utility Men's Vista Energy Composite Toe Work Shoes

I've needed safety/steel toe shoes for work for about a year and a half now and I've gone through 4 pairs. Initially I had the Skecher Canktons and they only lasted for about 4 months before the built in memory foam insole wore completely through on the ball of my foot, until then they were pretty comfortable for the price. Then I used the Caterpillar Brode steel toe, and that got me about 10 months or so, they're pretty comfortable like a heavy skate shoe, but they're basic and there's nothing great about them. After wearing those out the outside of my pinky toe joint started rubbing on the inside of the shoe, basically starting to give me a bunion. Because of this issue I bought the Reebok Sublites and used those for about two weeks before i realized they weren't going to work. Because my foot was already aggravated, the same problem persisted. I don't doubt that had I not had this problem they would have been much better. With all that being said, I was quite disappointed in the Reeboks. The pictures I've added are comparing the Reeboks to the Keens. The Reeboks are basically a basic reebok shoe you'd find at Shoe Carnival with an alloy toe. The worst thing about the shoes are the soles are awful. They're a hard plastic material with no give whatsoever, making walking on concrete just awful. For 100+ i was very surprised at the design. So after this, i forked out the money on Prime day and bought these for 75$ (somehow). I was instantly very impressed and I basically knew they would be great before ever wearing them to work. I did go up half a size and went with wide to ensure i didn't have any issues with the fit. I've now been wearing these to work for over 4 weeks. The most noticeable aspect about these shoes is comfort. These literally might be the most comfortable pair of shoes i own, including casual shoes. The Keen.regen cushioning thing that is advertised is very noticeable imo, and i didn't expect that. As i said, the Reebok soles are hard as a rock, the Keen soles give a shocking amount when you press them. It almost feels like the shoes propel you forward, then soften the impact each step while you walk. The construction of the shoe seems great as well, they're much more sturdy, while the Reeboks are lighter and are maybe more nimble to walk in. I don't review anything on Amazon which is why this is so long, but I wanted to write this review because i think there are alot of people that have similar problems with safety shoes and can't afford to fork out $100+ every 3 weeks for a new pair. I highly recommend these shoes, I'll be permanently buying Keens until/unless i have a negative experience, and i think these are well worth the 125$ retail price. Buy these if you want to avoid foot pain and don't want to waste money on multiple pairs of safety shoes.

TL;DR: Overall they're nice shoes, but the edge of the safety toe cap was contacting the base of my toes even standing still, which meant uncomfortable rubbing while moving. So I'm returning them, but leaving an overall positive review for benefit of the doubt just in case I have freakishly tall feet or something. Pros: - Very breathable on the top of the foot past the safety toe, though this was on a day with 10-20mph winds - holds to your foot well, quite stable - very nice material - the springiness of the shoe is pretty nice (and general cushioning of the bottom of the shoe) - there's cushioning between the safety toe and your foot - the actual toe room in the tip of the safety toe is fairly reasonable, I could move my toes around without much problem - they look nice, I would say better in real life than the pictures. Neutral - laces are a bit short for a double knot, but they where long enough to tie with after tightening the whole weave - traction is alright, they where very traction-y for the first 30 mins but then went to a reasonable amount of traction, above average for shoes in general but in line with slip resistant rated shoes (which is plenty of traction) - I didn't really try their insoles because I have high arches and tested the shoes with my own insoles, but for the short time I initially tried the shoe's insoles they where pretty ok Con - There's no clearance between the edge of the top of the safety toe (not the tip, I mean the place where the safety toe ends and the rest of the shoe begins) and my feet, and there's a slight asymmetry to the clearance between the left and right shoe, with the left shoe being worse. Surprisingly the clearance doesn't get much worse as you move, I don't know what witch magic they must have done to achieve that. You can also just constantly feel the safety toe, and it's a part of the shoe that doesn't have any give (obviously, it shouldn't) and so it's fairly uncomfortable, though you can sort of tune it out it's always a constant annoyance.

My son found these shoes comfortable when paired with his custom insoles even through his 12-hour dishwashing shifts. He normally wears size 15(4E) shoes and the 15 wide in these worked, but on the continual snug side. HOWEVER, these shoes only lasted my son 8 days of work before the sole on both shoes started separating from the top at the forefoot. ALSO, despite the shoe’s “waterproof” claims, he still ends up having to borrow my hairdryer every morning before work to dry out the shoes and it isn’t due to dampness from sweaty feet. I have worn Keens since 2004 or so and they aren’t the comfy dependable shoes they used to be the first few years after the brand debuted. We’re exchanging them for another pair and hopefully the immediate degradation of quality was just a fluke.

I’ve only used keen work shoes for the last few years. I walk several miles every day at work so and they take a pretty good beating as well so I usually have to get a new pair every 6 months to a year. This pair has lasted me longer than normal and I just replaced the insole to get even more time out of them. Probably the best pair of Keen’s I’ve owned

Great for, super comfortable and high quality

I lm a commercial plumber and wanted these for hotter construction days, but on jobs where it’s indoors or mostly cement. At first I loved them and they were so much more comfortable than boots. But in under a year they started to developers or holes, and the safety toe felt like it was slowly getting lower/closer to my toes. My jobs can be rough on shoes but rally wasn’t doing anything crazy w these and was mostly on a partially enclosed site with cement floors.

I bought these a while ago and have worn them for several months on a daily basis as a work shoe for a very active job where I spend 8 to ten hours a day on my feet and often work around dangerous equipment, slippery floors and messy conditions. I have tried dozens of different shoes over the years. These are among the best value and most comfortable options I have tried. If they fell apart tomorrow (which they show no signs of doing) I would buy another pair immediately. Excellent value, good looking, durable, light weight, comfortable and protective! As a bonus they come with the best pair of laces I have ever used. Really. It makes a bigger difference than you might imagine. Highly recommended.

i have 2...one for work, one for everyday...purchased 2nd pair because of how comfortable they are. good for hot days, and short winter walks - wool socks can help but the shoes get stiff and hard on cold. i wear #10 with regular shoes, and looks like these are good too, but super fit at first. Light, you'll forget you have them on. but not sure if waterproof...didn't got them that wet yet. The 10 wide that i have is not really wide...would love to get 2W, because these seems regular, and I'm sorry if you chose not wide one...unless there is not much difference...luckily i have 10.5 for work, so they give me a bit more space, and at 160lbs(including the shoes) my feet are really not that wide i'll give 6* for double wide tho

Son muy cómodos y ligeros, ideales para un trabajo qué duras muchas horas de pie o caminando, realmente los recomiendo.

Muy cómodos y excelente calidad muy recomendable 👍🏽

Très bel achat, très très confortable. Je recommande. Excellente qualité

I think this might be as comfortable as it’s possible for protective shoes to get. They genuinely feel like wearing sneakers and feel great on my feet all day in a warehouse. Carefully follow the sizing guide - I read that with Keen you often should go a half size larger than your usual size. I did that and got the perfect size. I think it’s the segmented sole that helps make them so comfortable to walk around in - suddenly I wish all my shoes had a sole like that. Great job Keen, I would buy these again in a heartbeat.

These are the lightest safety shoes I've ever worn. They are extremely light and very comfortable to wear all day. Highly recommended!