Hiking Boots

[6wheeler 603]

Hi all. We are trying to get ready for this years camping/rv'ing season. Since we cannot get the RV out of storage yet?  Because it keeps snowing here. We got another 10 inches last night. The place where I have it stored does not plow snow. So, here we are. Anyway. I have been buying all sorts of thing to upgrade our old class C hotrod. 1988 Coachmen Leprechaun. So? I have Many Many boxes of things piled up in the corner of the living room. My lovely bride has already booked us many weekend trips. She decided. So? I of course agreed that We will do some hiking. Now? I need some Hiking Boots. I wear Rocky and Georgia work boots. What kind of Hiking Boots do any of you all use / recommend.  Ladies and gentlemen? Lets talk boots.  Thanks  Pat. 

[Kenneth R Cluley 515]

I've been using Merrell Moab 6" for a couple years now with great success. Did over a hundred miles in Utah @ National Parks last august and over a hundred @ Foothills trail in North Carolina/South Carolina in October. Got them on sale at Academy Sports.

[ebinmaine 67,424]

7 hours ago, 6wheeler said:

need some Hiking ((Boots??))

May want to consider changing that word to FOOTWEAR.  

 

If you're going to get serious about hiking it may take some time to find and acclimate to a pair of favorite feet covers. 

 

I started hiking in 2013. 

Got into progressively larger mountains in 14 and 15. 

2016 we were doing some pretty serious day hikes. MANY were over 12 miles. Twice we did 16 miles in one day. 

 

That whole time I thought I NEEDED boots.  

I never found the right one. 

 

I tried Keen. Very comfortable but no durability. 

Merrell. Those were better. 

I tried a store boot of ll bean. ... Meh.  

 

After my body pains set in about early 2017 I started doing reading. Research. A LOT of learning.  

Some folks... Just ain't boot folks. 

 

Turns out I needed a lightweight shoe. 

 

I've used "approach shoes". Cross trainers. Running sneakers. 

All work well in different ways.  

 

 

One big hint here..... Find some light weight ankle gaiters.  They'll keep the dirt and grub out ya footwear. HUGE help.  

 

Go to stores. Try em on. 

You'll find the right fit.  

[Horse Newbie 7,069]

Something funny happened after I read this…

I was on a footwear forum and they were talking about tractors…😝

[Horse Newbie 7,069]

@ebinmaine… 

I think you get me…

[EB-80/8inPA 1,641]

There once was a geezer in Maine, his feet on a hike were in pain,

what he figured he’d do,

was change to a shoe,

now he’s happily hiking again.

[Horse Newbie 7,069]

Speaking of hiking… The National Park Service has started a new policy to charge hikers based on how many miles they hike, and sources say if they do, then the states will likely do the same in state parks…😡

[ebinmaine 67,424]

1 hour ago, EB-80/8inPA said:

There once was a geezer in Maine, his feet on a hike were in pain,

what he figured he’d do,

was change to a shoe,

now he’s happily hiking again.

Well played E. Well played.  

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Horse Newbie said:

Speaking of hiking… The National Park Service has started a new policy to charge hikers based on how many miles they hike, and sources say if they do, then the states will likely do the same in state parks…😡

 

This'll do nothing more than keep folks out of the parks. 

There's millions of acres for free exploration.   

[Horse Newbie 7,069]

@ebinmaine,

What day is this ?

[CCW 1,293]

If you have access to a military base they have some amazingly light boots that the soldiers wear.  I can get in with my son occasionally and if I need boots I would start looking there.

 

[tunahead72 2,412]

13 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

... If you're going to get serious about hiking it may take some time to find and acclimate to a pair of favorite feet covers...

 

Some folks... Just ain't boot folks. 

 

Turns out I needed a lightweight shoe...

 

... Go to stores. Try em on. 

You'll find the right fit.  

 

I'm certainly no expert here, been using my old Wolverine work boots for hiking for several years...  I love these boots for general work tasks, and they're okay for hiking, but I can't recommend them over what a high quality pair of hiking boots would probably give me.

 

I agree with Eric about doing your homework and trying on a bunch of styles and brands, AND giving yourself time to break them in on short walks and hikes before you do any serious hikes in them.

 

@6wheeler I would definitely plan a visit soon to one of your local REI stores.  We're lucky enough to have one near us and have had great results talking to their people over the years.  They're pricey, but they carry some excellent brands, and you're much more likely to talk to somebody there who knows what they're talking about than at your local big box sporting goods store.  I checked their website and your location, they have stores near you, including a flagship store in Bloomington.

 

And before you do that, do some thinking about what kind of hiking you want to do...  Distance, type of terrain, surfaces, that sort of thing, all of that information will help you narrow down your choices.

 

My wife had great results with a pair of Vasque hiking boots she loved and used for literally hundreds of miles over varied terrain and surfaces.  She would be using them now, but they're finally just plain worn out and don't give her the support she needs any more.  Our local REI recommended a boot by Lowa, which is a brand I'd never heard of but they apparently have a good reputation.  The only reason she doesn't own a pair right now is that she hasn't been able to find them in her size (wide widths are hard to find, especially for women).

 

And my son does a lot of hiking.  Among other things, he's on a quest to visit the high points in each state.  I don't remember what boots he's using these days but I'll talk to him later and see what he has to say.

 

And @ebinmaine, I suspect you've addressed this before, but what made you switch from boots to shoes?

 

Edited April 2, 2023 by tunahead72
Added details about my Wolverines.

[tunahead72 2,412]

2 hours ago, tunahead72 said:

... And my son does a lot of hiking.  Among other things, he's on a quest to visit the high points in each state.  I don't remember what boots he's using these days but I'll talk to him later and see what he has to say...

 

My son is wearing a pair of Salomon boots he's had since 2017, they've held up to 6 years of pretty extensive use and are still going strong.

 

When he was looking, he used several web sites to narrow down the ones he wanted to try on.  They all do a pretty good job of writing up detailed reviews for both men's and women's boots, so you get a sense of why they rate boots a certain way rather than just give you a rating:

 

OutdoorGearLab.com (his favorite)

SwitchbackTravel.com

CleverHiker.com

GearJunkie.com

 

Hope this helps someone.

 

[ebinmaine 67,424]

2 hours ago, tunahead72 said:

And @ebinmaine, I suspect you've addressed this before, but what made you switch from boots to shoes?

One the symptoms of my particular form of fibromyalgia is fatigue. 

 

Imagine that hypothetically you could do a bicep curl with 40 lbs, 10 repetitions.  

If you cut the weight to 10 lbs you could do far more reps. 

 

Now compare a pair of medium weight hiking boots vs ultra light shoes.  

Same effect but takes longer to affect you. 

 

[tunahead72 2,412]

2 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

... Now compare a pair of medium weight hiking boots vs ultra light shoes.  

Same effect but takes longer to affect you.

 

Got it.  So, can you get an adequate amount of support for your foot from a pair of ultra light shoes?

 

And what do you mean by "ultra light shoes" exactly?  Any brand names or models we can look at?

 

[ebinmaine 67,424]

13 minutes ago, tunahead72 said:

 

Got it.  So, can you get an adequate amount of support for your foot from a pair of ultra light shoes?

 

And what do you mean by "ultra light shoes" exactly?  Any brand names or models we can look at?

 

 

Support in the foot BED - absolutely.

No problem whatsoever.  

 

As a side note I meant to bring up earlier, ankle support and its supposed MUST for hiking varies by the person.  

Some folks need it. Some don't. 

I've found that I not only don't require it, I prefer a free moving ankle.  

Some hiking boot sellers will have us believe that we can't possibly be upright without a high boot.  

 

I use a particular type of Avia sneaker. They're a running shoe with a fairly aggressive tread. 

[wh500special 2,170]

Although last year was a bit of a bust for us, my wife had our family of four hiking quite extensively over the last few years.  The kids can walk in anything, but both of us find boots to be far too clunky and weighty and both settled most recently on Oboz hiking shoes.  They are essentially rugged trainers/runners that are also quite water resistant, breathable, and very comfortable.  Break-in was fast. 

I think in general it’s a false economy to buy cheap shoes, whether for hiking, work, or dress.  These Oboz aren’t cheap, but have held up well and I think are a great value. 
 

https://obozfootwear.com/en-us/product/men-s-sawtooth-x-mid-waterproof

 

While we don’t tromp through the water if it’s avoidable, I think water resistance is pretty crucial. If your feet are wet it’s easy to get miserable in a hurry.  My wife did a 30-miler in a constant downpour and managed to keep her feet dry all day.  

 

I do like the higher cuff to provide some ankle support, but can see the utility in a lower cut shoe to save weight.  
 

I don’t think “boots” are really the way to go due to the heft.  Plus these pack better. 
 

Steve

Edited April 3, 2023 by wh500special

[ebinmaine 67,424]

7 hours ago, wh500special said:

I think in general it’s a false economy to buy cheap shoes, whether for

That's a valid point and worth extra thought.  

 

I fact for daily wear I buy 2nor 3 pairs of a favorite shoe and swap them out. Dry shoes last much longer than sweaty or water soaked ones.  

 

[rmaynard 15,434]

Back in the 1960's when I was in Boy Scouts, I would get my parents to buy these

 

I would soak them in glycerin water overnight, put them on wet in the morning and wear them until they were dry. Then I would wear them as much as possible until the 50-Miler hike on the Appalachian trail. Even with that, my feet were shot by the end.

 

Fast forward to recently. Now, if hiking, I wear these Merrill Moab boots

Had I had these light-weight boots as a kid, I'd have walked 100 miles in the time we walked 50.

 

 

[Handy Don 12,213]

On 4/1/2023 at 7:40 PM, ebinmaine said:

May want to consider changing that word to FOOTWEAR.  

 

Might also pay to visit a podiatrist & discuss a custom orthotic insert. For me it was night and day.

[ebinmaine 67,424]

On 4/1/2023 at 7:40 PM, ebinmaine said:

I've used "approach shoes".  

 

 

One big hint here..... Find some light weight ankle gaiters.  They'll keep the dirt and grub out ya footwear. HUGE help.

 

Hey Pat here's the above mentioned shoes and gaiters I've had decent success with. 

 

Brand is La Sportiva. 

 

 

 

 

 

These particular gaiters are made by a company called Dirty Girl. 

Based and made in USA. 

Excellent quality. Ridiculously lightweight.  

 

 

Trina's lil red shoes are a jungle site find. They're a minimalist shoe / barefoot shoe.  

 

Edited April 15, 2023 by ebinmaine