Vasque Breeze Low GTX XCR

Did they change the shape of the Breeze?? Used to be wonderful...now painful.

I had the old Vasque Breeze GTX low hikers for years and adored them! But something has changed about this boot. The toe box seems to be narrower than it used to be, and I almost immediately developed blisters on my pinky toes on both feet, plus had hot spots developing on my medial big toes.

This wasn't after a long backpacking adventure...just a little 6 kilometre outing! The fit through the heel was fine, but my toes, while not feeling especially squashed, were very, very unhappy after a short time.

I didn't have the chance to test the Goretex capabilities...again, my old shoes were flawless, but I've seen a number of current reviews claiming failure of the GTX.  

I found it interesting that when I returned these and walked past the sale rack (which has all the previously returned shoes on it) there were several pair of the women's Vasque Breeze shoes sitting there, returned after 1-2 wearings. Vasque has clearly done something to ruin this shoe.