Further reporting -
I have faily tuff feet and was not aware that these shoes caused some sort of toe strain/injury.
Let me explain -
I wore them the day after my hike on my afternoon walk - 4 paved miles.
200 yards from house my index toe (the one next to my big toe) started aching. With every step it ached. It eventually subsided as I walked, but it must have taken a mile. I have not had this feeling since I wore Tevas back in 1992 on a 22 mile day. I had a time frame to meet a shuttle and 22 was the mileage for that day. Tevas were wading shoes for me back then, and I was glad to have them that trip because the sole of my right boot delaminated and was not useable.
I had other foot soreness from that day, but I remember the toe thing because it made walking very painful.
I did not realize that I had this pain until I put the keens back on.
I am thinking that there is not enough stability in the shoe. I usually wear Hardrocks and do not have this type of pain - or any pain from walking.
I think they flex too much in the toe area and allow the toe to superpronate - upwards.
I have more testing to do - but right now I think these would be limited to water and camp shoes and emergency footwear, but not for day in day out travel.
I will continue to test these and am thinking about testing the Chacos as well.
My quest is to find a shoe that I can wear sockless to hike in the warmer months. I am not tough enough to be one of those barefoot hikers, but I can handle sockless. I have various water shoes of all types from years of whitewater canoeing, but they have narrow platforms and scream of turned ankles.
If I can't find a suitable shoe for this I will get some croc knock-offs for camp use and be done with it.
I know I will change this way of thinking, but I want to try using my hardrocks as my hiking and camp shoes and switch them out with a sandal for rainy, or multi crossing days. That way the hardrocks will stay dry and I can give my feet some variation. Plus I like the open air feeling when I hike, but like a campshoe that allows me to bushwhack without slicing a toe open. I am asking too much. And adding too much weight -- I know.
The search continues. And it gives me something to tweak.