If you’re reading this, you likely have had some experience wearing work boots. Maybe they were your 1st-ever pair of basic steel-toe boots. Maybe you’ve evolved over many pairs to prefer lighter-weight boots with more modern materials. No matter the place in your work boot journey, there’s a good chance at least one of your boots has suffered a failure at a critical area — right at the point where the toe flexes. KEEN Utility has found a solution.
KEEN.BELLOWS FLEX is a revolutionary technology that allows a boot to bend and flex where it’s needed most. Up to 3x easier, actually, as compared to a regular boot. In this article, learn more about how this technology can vastly improve your work boot experience, then find out more about the KEEN Utility series offering this benefit.
Leather Work Boot Pros
Historically, leather has been a popular material for footwear, especially for work boots. It has many benefits, including an ideal combination of suppleness, structure, abrasion resistance, and breathability. When used in work boots on a jobsite, leather becomes part of the essential personal protective equipment worn by workers, alongside safety glasses, gloves, a hard hat, and long pants. It’s a second skin, quite literally.
Leather Work Boot Cons
Leather also has some downsides when used in work boots and other footwear. As a natural hide product, it functions best when kept clean and moisturized. Since you’re an experienced work boot wearer, you know that it can be tough to find the motivation to clean and condition your work boots at the end of a long work day. That’s the problem - work boot leather rarely gets pampered.
After a little while, the leather in work boots will dry out and lose flexibility and suppleness. Over the bulk of the boot’s upper, this isn’t a huge issue. However, at the flex zone above the base of your toes, dry leather does become a problem. Because of the constant flexing of this area of the boot (it acts as a live hinge, after all), it’s prone to cracking and splitting when the leather dries out.
In addition to the obvious problem of the leather failing here, another issue exists that’s a bit tougher to notice because it’s subtle. As noted above, the part of the boot right above the base of your toes is a live hinge. This means that the boot relies on the inherent pliability of leather to absorb and release the boot flex created when you walk, bend, kneel, etc.
Since it’s a single layer of thick leather, it adds a bit of resistance with every step. Imagine how many steps you take in an average workday. Now multiply that by the days per week you work, and so on. That’s a lot of steps! Even with a minor amount of resistance per step, the total amount of resistance you experience over the boot's life is significant. After all, that’s energy that could be put to use somewhere else, either at work or at home when your shift ends.
KEEN.BELLOWS FLEX: The Solution Has Arrived
With many years of jobsite experience under their belts (or maybe under their feet?), the designers at KEEN Utility developed a technology that improves the forefoot area of our boots: KEEN.BELLOWS FLEX. Imagine an accordion, with the sides of the airbox needing to remain pliable over the long term for easy playability, yet rigid enough to efficiently move lots of air around so the instrument can make noise. The flexible bellows shape accomplishes both of these things.
After taking inspiration from this and from other hinge-type shapes, KEEN.BELLOWS FLEX was born. This technology is a proprietary TPU insert sewn into the boot, right at the base of the laces. As a tough yet flexible synthetic material, it will never dry out and crack like leather.
By introducing a strategically located, purpose-built flex area into the boot, two things are accomplished:
1. The boot lasts longer, and a common point of failure is eliminated.
2. Bending, flexing, and knee-down work become up to 3x easier, as the bellows shape is built to move.
Which KEEN Utility Boots Have KEEN.BELLOWS FLEX?
Portland Work Boots
At your job, do you bend, crawl, climb, or crouch often? Maybe you’re a diesel mechanic, an electrician, or a plumber who needs to shimmy, slide, and finagle your way through the workday? If so, the Portland work boot is for you.
Featuring KEEN.BELLOWS FLEX, carbon-fiber safety toes, a KEEN.DRY waterproof, breathable membrane, and a comfortable air-injected Luftcell midsole, this boot moves with you to get the job done. Plus, it’s available in an all-black colorway to blend into the dirtiest, greasiest job sites.
Troy Work Boots
Do you need even more flexibility? Perhaps your job requires you to bend and twist in tight areas? The newest iteration of KEEN.BELLOWS FLEX, available on the Troy work boot, adds side-to-side articulation. This is possible due to the inclusion of multidirectional flex grooves in the KEEN.BELLOWS FLEX panel. The ultimate function is to make twisting motions much easier.
Like the Portland, the Troy incorporates a KEEN.DRY waterproof, breathable membrane to keep you dry and a carbon-fiber safety toe to keep you protected. A notable difference is that the Troy is built with LuftCore heel support, which embeds an air-injected core into firmer surrounding foam for ultimate support and shock absorption.
Kansas City Work Boots
Boots in the entire Kansas City family are overbuilt to outperform. Featuring super-thick KEEN.ReGEN midsoles that return up to 50% energy with every step, they’ll keep you feeling fresh until the end of your shift and beyond. KEEN.BELLOWS FLEX is included in all of the versions, as well, adding flexibility where it matters most.
No matter the type of work you do, you’re sure to find the right set of features in this lineup. Work mainly indoors? Choose the low-cut or mid-height version. Transitioning regularly between wet and dry environments? The waterproof mid-height version would be a good choice. Need even more abrasion resistance? Check out the waterproof leather versions, available with either carbon toes or soft toes.
Reno Work Boots
If you could, would you wear your favorite hiking boots to the jobsite? Think about it: Ultra-comfortable, built for clocking big miles, and designed to grip a wide variety of surfaces. Sounds nice, right? Well, the Reno taps into KEEN’s long history on the trail, and incorporates safety features to help it excel at work.
In addition to KEEN.BELLOWS FLEX, the Reno also includes an energy-returning KEEN.ReGEN midsole, water-blocking KEEN.DRY membrane, KonnectFit heel retention technology, and either carbon-fiber or soft toes. Find the Reno in men’s or women’s versions.
Since we’re on the subject of trails, we should also mention that some of KEEN’s most popular hiking boots also use KEEN.BELLOWS FLEX to help reduce exertion when you’re trying to hike over the next ridge before dark. Read more about them here.
