To say that these shoes annoy me is not half the truth. They are well made, look great and are comfortable. Ruby attaches them. Please see the attached photo of this shoe and a typical New Balance hiking shoe, but it could be any brand. I have such a hard time getting up in these shoes that I'll probably only wear them once in a while. The time since the last fight is gone from my mind. The problem is that the stretchy side panels just don't expand enough for my feet to slide in. Now part of the problem could be in my legs. I broke several bones in both legs and had to have them repaired surgically. Because of this, my forefoot became less flexible than before the surgery. While this no doubt contributes to my struggle to wear these shoes, that doesn't say it all as I can and do wear other shoes without laces. The photo shows how small the hole is compared to standard shoes. In addition, the lace-up boot stretches slightly when the laces are untied. These shoes have a ridiculously small toe box, stretchy that I can't stretch enough, and of course no laces. The zipper at the back of the boot works wonders. These are great shoes if you can put them on with ease. I can easily recommend them if you have a return policy. If not, then no.
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