Is it just me or do the soles on all those boots look narrow? Is that the way boot soles are supposed to be? Mind you, I'll never see a pair of those boots in person, very likely, unless I just happen to be in Silverman's again. But having said that, one pair of ordinary hiking boots I have do in fact have narrow soles. But my most recently purchased hiking boots (not work boots, not army boots), which are Danners, have fairly wide soles in comparison. They are almost the heaviest, too (the heaviest are my White's), but also the most comfortable and required absolutely no break-in. I wore them on a ten-mile hike on a mostly very rocky trail with no discomfort, though I will admit to noticing the weight.
I often wade creeks in places I go but I'm not so sure of the value of waterproofing. After all, it's only good up to the top of the boot. Beyond that, water gets in , even though it's mostly already full of foot. Of all the treatments I've used, Sno-Seal seems to work the best but I don't seem to make any great effort to achieve 100% waterproof shoe leather and have lived to tell about it. But the wet boot syndrome is still an issue and I think the problem is all the padding that makes the boot so comfortable to begin with. Old boots were lined with nothing at all usually and had to be well broken in before they were at all comfortable. And I'm not sure a Vibram sole is ever really broken in.