Quote Originally Posted by OneClick View Post
The Topos are still an unknown. After the 16mi day I got a small blister on my heel. Just today I noticed on my left foot the skin was rubbed clean off on the bony part on back above the heel. Achilles tendon area. That water plus wool socks is always nasty. I'll try my coolmax socks next time.

Good overall fit but had to go 1/2 size larger than usual. I don't know if these will work for my usual backcountry trips. Feels like too much rolling and movement for that stuff. They're like slippers with good tread. On trail, no problem. The toes felt great...ZERO pain in the ball of my foot which always starts around mile 7. So knock on wood, that is solved.

I have absolutely no idea why these wider toe boxes are not standard in every brand. It's not overkill. To simply stop and wiggle your toes and feel some room...amazing.
Hmm, now that you mention it I do seem to recall the heel cup being pretty stiff when I tried them on a year or two back.

I have really good luck with thicker darn tough socks- regardless of season. (darn tough hiker 1/4 crew specifically)
I size my trail shoes a full 1.5 sizes past what I measure. Half for the socks, half for swelling, and half for the toe box. So long as the middle of the shoe and the heel cup is good I can lace them well enough to fit. I wear them loose enough to slip off though unless it's very hilly. Point being- the combo of the thicker socks and extra room tends to keep my feet dryer overall because the socks are thick enough to absorb and wick away, but the shoe is generous enough in size to let them work their magic. Worth a shot.

And yar- you're preaching to the choir here on the toebox. Chuck tailors are zero drop, so are most sprinter shoes and a million other models, but that idea still seems foreign to most. Though many still call them 'clown shoes'... I think the wide foot box idea has gained enough traction to stick around for awhile now too.

Slippers with tread is exactly what I like to hear... I'll probably try the road shoes out to get going on the Topo train.