Chaco Womens Barbary Boot

Chaco Women's Barbary-W Hiking Boot, Nickel Gray, 9 M US These boots. I love them. What can I say? I've been putting them to good use now for a couple of weeks, and my feet are happy and comfortable and warm and cute. I had found myself in a bit of a funk from consistently wearing cheap, poorly constructed shoes. After a day walking around a museum for hours in what were, essentially, slippers, my feet were persistently achy. And so, in a bit of desperation, I resolved to find some quality shoes, pronto. And this hunt lead me to Chacos.Finally! Quality shoes! These boots have a solid arch support that has helped alleviate some of the foot pain I had been experiencing. The weather has gotten cold as of the writing of this review, and I have no problem keeping my tootsies warm. The actual shoe is a bit wide which allows for thicker socks to be worn if desired. And, speaking of wide shoes, I have always preferred the look. I feel like I'm walking around on a solid base here.I normally wear a size 9 woman's shoe, and the size 9 Chaco's boot fit wonderfully.I do worry about the wool portion of the boot, though. Living in a place with considerable amounts of snow, I am suspicious of how they will hold up under adverse weather conditions. I'll avoid wearing these boots while climbing snow banks, I guess.

Bought these when looking for a good winter shoe when I didn't want to wear snow boots or something clunkier, but still wanted something warm enough and durable enough to deal with Montana winters. First ordered a half size larger than what I'd normally wear based on several reviews where people thought they ran small. They were too big and so I exchanged for the size that I wear in running shoes, casual shoes, etc, and they're a perfect fit. I have small but fairly wide feet, and if given the choice I'll always order in a wider size. The first pair ordered, that were too big, were actually perfect width with a medium weight wool sock. The second pair that was a better fit in general seems to fit like any normal standard width does, definitely not narrow, and possible a touch on the wider side, though negligible. So, even with the same wool sock on they are perfectly comfortable. I've also found that the leather and wool have some give and I feel confident that after enough miles they'll stretch and form to my foot. The tread is great, grippy enough on ice and snow without being so heavy that they hold on to mud and snow. The Nickel Grey color has the slightest of green hues, not even really olive, but ever so slightly more on the "green/grey" side than just true grey, which I like. I'd first ordered the Topaz color and even if the size had been correct I'd probably have exchanged them anyway as the tan of the leather was a little too orange for my taste, and that combined with the true orange of the piping around the toe with the very plum color of the other leather pieces, was just a bit too garish for my taste, but I prefer my shoe colors to be more subdued. All around a great shoe, comfortable, well made, they seem very durable. I have fairly high arches but am actually most comfortable in flatter shoes, and have found that chaco sandals make my feet hurt after a while because of how little give the arch support has. These shoes have just a bit of arch support, so I think they'd be comfortable even if I had flatter feet. Definitely a shoe I'd buy again and worth the money. Can't speak much to their waterproofing as I haven't submerged them in bigger puddles, but I can kick around through snow and slush without any problem, and I do plan to spray them with a waterproofer.

I took the advice of other reviews and ordered a half size down. This made them perfect in length. They came very narrow around where the three pieces of leather are sewn together. It took about a month of painful wearing to get the shoes broken in. Now that they are, they are the most comfortable pair of shoes I own. I don't have any issues at all. They are a great color, very warm, and are a perfect casual shoe for the winter.

I was worried I would not like the boot in person as much as I did in the pictures. I was also worried it would not be rugged enough for outdoor winter hiking because it looks kind of like a regular boot. I was pleasantly proven wrong. The material is very rugged and this boot is tougher than it looks. It is also very easy to put on, and has amazing support. I bought them for an alaskan cruise coming up and have taken them out in the rain a couple times and even wore to work to test the comfort. Passed with flying colors. I usually wear an 8.5 and that's what I ordered, but probably could have done an 8-run a little large. UPDATE: Wore this weekend out camping in the mud and rain and they held up beautifully, kept my feet dry, comfortable and surprisingly warm! I was also impressed again with the amount of support they have-great for hiking!

First, the good: These boots are adorable. They feel warm when trying them on. The foot bed/arch support is amazing and so comfy.Now, why I am returning them: These boots are way too narrow. I have NEVER worn a "wide" shoe in my life (my feet definitely are not wide), but these boots were painfully narrow on my foot.I was really sad to return these boots because I was so excited about them. If they were even 0.25" wider, they would be acceptable, but I am not paying $150 for a pair of boots that hurt the sides of my feet just when I try them on in my house.