G'day Bill,

The soles on these boots are a Contragrip designed for all terrain and cold weather use. These soles remain flexible even in cold weather and have bigger lugs to provide traction and grip in tricky terrain. These shoes may wear out slightly quicker if you are using these shoes solely or constantly on paved surfaces, if only on paved surfaces every now and then, you shouldn't see a lot of wear from the concrete or roads. 

G'day,

Whilst these boots do not have a metal shank in the soles, most of our range does have metal eyelets or shoelace loops.  Generally these are made from an alloy, but we aren't provided with the specific manufacturing information, so we cant guarantee if they include ferrous metals.

G'day Bernard,

The Salomons in my opinion are definitely a narrower fit.  I personally have wide feet and also own a few pairs of Keens, but can't wear Salomons.  I have worn most of the current range for demo in a half size up, and have found that to not make much difference in terms of width - although going a half size up is a general rule of thumb for situations like these.

When trying to ascertain the best shoe size, choose which scale you want to use eg. US or EU, not both.  Just compare within the same size system.
I'd recommend checking the size shoe you wear across more than just your keen boots, especially on pairs of shoes in your wardrobe that may fit narrower, and go from there.

Just remember that you are able to return unworn shoes (not including trying them on) if they are not right for you, check out our returns policy if you need more info.