i know there is alot of concern over which boots to buy for hiking the backcountry. i will give the best opinion of choice of footwear that my thousands of miles of backcountry hiking and packing will permit. i wear meindl perfekt hikers in the summer and perfekt hunters for the winter. they can only be found through cabelas. i promise you there is no better 220 dollar boot out there. sizes are right on. wider feet need the e or ee width. they have cork footbeds and are waterproof if you maintain them with meindl boot wax. i have worn a pair for 3 years exclusively and they still have 2 more years in them. with a bad left foot i have problems with shoes. wearing the meindls for 10-12 hours a day gives me no problems. break in time is minimal. you will not be dissapointed with these boots so get a pair before the prices go up.