Walking Boots

Keen Innate Sherpa Leather Mid WP Walking Boot | Review

What happens when a popular footwear brand teams up with an ethically-driven mountaineering brand?

Why We Chose The Keen Innate: Good materials, comfortable, light

Price: £140
Weight: 491g (per shoe)
More info: keenfootwear.com

Keen have joined forces with Sherpa to create a walking boot that does good for the world. The men’s and women’s Keen Innate Leather Mid WP is a mid cut with all the virtues of a decent boot for light trails, but on top of that, there’s eco-friendly thinking behind it, along with a lovely initiative as well. That’s because for every pair of these that are sold, €15 will go towards supporting child literacy in Nepal through a charity called Room to Read.

For hiking and mountaineering brand Sherpa, supporting the Nepalese people has always been one of the main focusses of their business. Founded by mountain Sherpas and based in the Himalayas, they’ve long been donating a proportion of their sales to help children within their country, and currently provide meaningful employment to nearly 1000 local people.

Darker laces are also supplied. Photo: Chris Johnson

Room to Read itself is an organisation that seeks to transform the lives of millions of children in low-income communities by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education. That €15 from the sale of a pair of these could therefore do a world of good.

Onto the boot itself. The Keen Innate Leather Mid WP is made in Europe using leather from a Leather Working Group (LWG) approved tannery, and what that means is that it meets a number of ethical and environmental standards of production. 80% of leather is tanned using chrome, a highly toxic process that results in a significant toxic waste being released into waterways, and serious harm to industrial tannery workers. But with approval from the LWG, you can rest easy that steps have been taken to ensure none of this occurs. It also means that the leather can be fully traced back to its source.

4mm deep lugs on the outsole. Photo: Chris Johnson

The upper is made from a chrome-free leather. Photo: Chris Johnson

Featuring a Keen.Dry waterproof membrane. Photo: Chris Johnson

The all-leather upper is backed by a Keen.Dry waterproof membrane and to prevent any ‘wetting-out’ there’s a water resistant coating that’s completely free of any of those environmentally hazardous PFCs that are often found in durable water repellent treatments.

Inside, to prevent bad odours building up, Keen have infused their insoles with a ‘probiotic technology’ that naturally breaks down bacteria in sweat without the use of heavy metals or hazardous chemicals – another nice environmentally considerate touch.

With its 4mm lugs, the sole isn’t particularly aggressive but it’ll be fine for light trails in the hills or on country walks. It’ll also be a handy option just for comfortable day-to-day wear thanks to the cushioning at the midsole and the well-padded ankle.

So, if you’re after a low-impact and comfortable boot, the Keen Innate Leather would be a good option to consider, particularly if you’re after something that would fit in both on the trail and in the city.

Trade Secrets

Selim Say, Product Manager KEEN EMEA

“The Innate x Sherpa not only is designed to function, protect and support during outdoor adventures, but has been consciously created using PFC-free waterproofing treatments, environmentally preferred leather and a chemical free anti-odour treatment. As a brand we voluntarily push beyond industry standards to help ensure our products are safe for our fans, employees and the environment.

Beyond this, the magic with the Sherpa x Innate collaboration is that we partner with friends from the Industry who share the same values as us, and hopefully encourage other brands to do the same by using their economic and distributional influence to make noise for a good cause. Through the KEEN and Sherpa project we aspire to unlock a better future for Nepalese children, with an ultimate goal of teaching 1000 children to read and write for one year through this collaboration alone.”