Gershon: interesting that your bunion actually went away! I didn't know that was possible. I'll have to check out military boots sometime. I will also give Danners another look, but I wore Danner Mountain (not-so) Lights for years: beautifully well-made boots, longer lived than any other boots I have used since, thumbs up except that they were too tight in the
toe box, and it was back then that my bunion problem began. Of course, I was wearing size 10 back then. Maybe I'd do ok with a larger size now, but it still seems to me that they don't make a roomy toe box.
Actually I am generally doing ok with the width of my (keen) boots these days, it's just that (1) I guess my feet must keep spreading out and lengthening, which is annoying and costly because I just invested $100 (a great price, normally $160) buying a pair of Keen Ketchams that were being discontinued, and not may not fit me so well as they would've last year
...And (2) it seems like when I get bigger boots, there is more tendency for foot to slip forward and bump my toe.
Sometimes I think I just would like to find a custom boot maker, if I could afford it.