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Beware of Oboz shoes

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    • Beware of Oboz shoes

      I've been wearing Oboz shoes for years now with good success and comfort. They fit my feet well and give my in-grown toe nails plenty of room in the toe box. They get good traction too. Currently I have a pair of Oboz Sawtooth II. On our recent AT section hike both of my shoes failed, on the instep side of the shoe, the seam that runs from the sole to the ankle surround opened up. It looks like the thread they sewed it with tore. Of course once that happened the shoe wasn't stable on my foot and the movement caused blisters. If you wear Oboz shoes let me suggest you inspect them periodically to make sure you don't wind up in the same situation.
      I've e-mailed Oboz but it being a weekend I don't expect a reply right way. I told them what happened in hopes that they'll do some product improvement and others won't have the same thing happen. I've always gotten good use from their shoes in the past so maybe this is a one time thing. These shoes only had a couple of hundred miles on them at the start of the hike. But it seems odd to me that both shoes developed the same problem with-in days of each other.
    • I find that most my trail runners last 400 - 500 miles at best. The price I pay for light weight shoes like Altras and Topos. Sucks when they fail on the trail, though.
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier