A few weeks ago I was kindly sent a pair of the Women’s Ridge Flex Waterproof Hiking Boots by Keen, and I was super excited to give them a whirl. Heading out to explore the countryside near my new house, I knew they’d have to deal with mud, rocks and water… Perfect!

Keen are one of my go-to footwear choices. I have a pair of the Terradora boots and basically live in them, I have Keen shoes for water sports and have previously had other Keen boots for hiking. The one thing they all have in common is comfort.

Great to wear straight out of the box in most cases, this pair were no exception to this rule.

I’ve never had any issues with any of my Keen boots previously, but my mum has a pair and they wore away and broke on the patch where they have now incorporated the KEEN.BELLOWS FLEX technology. The rubber panel on these boots were added because the boots prone to flexing a little more than others definitely needed and it makes a huge difference to the wear.

Not only does this make it more comfortable, it increases the longevity of the boots and Keen have even tested this to over 1,000,000 flexes without any cracks… That’s a lot of steps!

As the name suggests, these are also waterproof. Something Keen do very well. The lightweight leather of the boot combined with the mesh upper are super waterproof, but breathable and the inside of the boot is quick dry, even boasting an anti-odour treatment. The grip of the boot was good as well, dealing well with mud, gravel, rocks and very slippery grass.

I think these would be perfectly suited for the majority of terrain. Especially the routes I walk more regularly in the South West.

My only negative would be that the toe box is fairly wide. This is great, as your feet don’t feel squeezed in, and there’s no pain on the steeper downhills, but my feet are a little too narrow for them, perhaps for prolonged wear. That being said, I only had a thin pair of socks on, so with my actual hiking socks, that problem would no longer be there!

 

On the whole? I am sold. These are comfy, don’t make my feet too warm and are light to walk in. great for longer distances, for sure. These will definitely be getting more of a spin on the coast path over the summer.

They retail for £154.99 and come in a range of colours and sizes. Mine are the Castor Grey/Dubarry shade.

* These were kindly gifted for review but, as ever, the above is my honest opinion