Keen Cimarron II

I took a canoeing trip into the Boundary Water Canoe Area this summer and wanted to try out a pair of water shoes from Keen. Normally, I wear leather boots and I end up spending a lot of time trying to dry them out. I thought these shoes would be a great alternative. I decided on the Cimarron II from Keen. There are two color styles to choose from, I picked the stone grey and rust. Before going up to the BWCA I was worried about getting blisters so I decided to wear them a bit to work and around town. No problems. I didn’t get one blister. The shoes felt great and I knew that these shoes would be great for my trip.

On the first day of our trip we had three pretty difficult portages, on the second portage I was just about to tell my brother-in-law that these shoes were awesome when I started to feel a blister on my heel. This was not good. Then I started to feel a blister on my other foot. Arg!! Just what I didn’t want to happen, happened. At first I was angry with the shoes, but then realized I should be wearing SOCKS! I had the idea in my head that since my Keens were water shoes that I didn’t need to wear socks. That was a big mistake. Rule number one when wearing your Keens hiking; wear some type of wool socks!!! After borrowing a pair from my brother-in-law and taping up my blisters, my Keens Cimarron II were AWESOME!!! They were great on the long portages and were even better in the water. I will definitely be bringing my Keens back to the BWCA or any other hiking trip that involves water. The one thing to remember is to wear some type of wool socks.

Cons
Must wear socks to avoid blisters!

Pros
Great traction
Very Comfortable
Don’t have to worry about getting them wet
Good ankle support

Overall, these keens were great. Even though you need to wear socks with them, I highly recommend them for everyone. These are my new shoes for the BWCA.

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