Customer Reviews Merrell Chameleon Arc Mid Waterproof

I have yet to do very much walking in these boots, but so far they seem well-made and sturdy, with an adequately resilient foot bed. As other reviewers have stated, these boots run very small. The measurements of my larger foot, in my usual hiking sox, indicate that an 8.5 medium should be the right size. In these boots, that size left only about half a thumb’s width of space between the end of my great toe and the end of the boot. The arch in the foot bed fell behind the arch in my foot. The medium width in an 8.5 was so narrow that it scrunched my little toes under. The size 9 was not quite as bad. The length gave me a full thumb’s width of leeway at the end of the toes, but the foot bed arch was still a bit back from my arch and the width was still uncomfortably tight. Thank you Zappos for fast shipping, free both ways! I was able to get a pair in size 9.5 before the deadline when I needed good, sturdy walking boots. That size gives me a little more length than I need, but not so much that I trip over the toes. It places the foot bed arch directly under my arch and is just barely wide enough across my toes so that they don’t feel pinched. I will need to saturate the areas that come in contact with my little toes with some shoe stretch solution and walk in them until the saturated area dries. That should make the width at the toes relatively comfortable. The big surprise is that this huge (for me) size fits my very narrow heels like a glove. If I did not have to modify the width with shoe stretch, I could give them a 4-star rating for comfort; if, in addition, the foot beds were a bit more resilient, they would earn a 5-star rating in that category.