Loosely tied shoes

[Don Burton]

I keep reading how a lot of people wear their shoes loose. As in loose enough to slip them on and off without untying them. I actually wear my street shoes this way but can't do it while hiking because of downhills. I live in CA so all of the hiking I do involves ups and downs. I wear Merrell Moab Ventillators. Size 12. In street shoes I mostly wear a 10.5 and some times an 11. My problem with loose shoes is going downhill. Even in 12's my toes will jam up.

Am I missing something? Do you loose shoe people tighten your laces for downhill?

Thanks

[Dena Kelley]

This is probably one of those extremely subjective things, like so many other UL topics. Personally I buy my shoes a little big in the toe box to accommodate foot swelling and also so I don't jam my toes on the downhills…BUT I tie my shoes pretty tight to so I don't have lateral movement to protect my ankles and to keep my heel in place to reduce blistering. But my guess is that everyone has a slightly different technique and a different tolerance for loose shoes.

[Ian]

I get my shoes big enough so there's a finger width of space between my heel and the heel of the shoe. I leave my shoes pretty loose but my toes don't get beat up going down hill. I tighten 'em up when I'm hopping through scree/talus but that's about it.

[Don Burton]

I have plenty of room in the toe box. My shoes are verging on clown shoes. I generally tie my shoes fairly firm but I feel like it's a fine line e between too tight and even firmness. I'm always futzing with them in the first 1/2 mile. I guess it's not for me.

[Ken Thompson]

I've only heard that from Mike Clelland!. Who else says loose shoes are legit?

[R Banks]

I wore really loose altra's on my thru hike. I could slip them on and off very easily. I tended to go through socks more quickly but I had only 1 or two blisters.

[Richard May]

+1 on Clelland

And I tried it.

I went up Chirripó (in Costa Rica) without any problem. Coming down I expected trouble. It's a pretty steep 17km.

My experience was that jammed toes were a problem if I was moving fast and breaking my speed with my feet. As expected my toes often slammed my toe box. Doing this also jammed my knees and after a little while it hurt. So I started being more deliberate, putting more on the poles and breaking with my thighs rather than my feet. You crouch a little more when doing this.

So I guess yes, if you are breaking on your feet then it's a problem.

[jscott]

I wear Keens–clown shoes indeed!–precisely for the very wide toe box. In addition, on downhills, I usually tie my laces with a second cross loop on the third hook down from the top, then cross again and lace as usual on the top hook. this helps to keep my feet from slipping down in the shoes and jamming into the toe. But everyone's feet are different! gotta experiment.

[Kate Magill]

Yeah, I've found that tying too loose eats away at the textile lining of the shoe and whatever socks you're wearing. I like tying them fresh each day because feet can change overnight and over the course of a day.

[Todd T]

I think it's an individual thing and I'll go out on a limb and say those who can get away with loose shoes are a very small minority. It probably depends on foot width, length, volume, shape of toe line, arch height, ankle thickness, and who knows what else. Myself, I can hardly stop toe bang with laces cinched up like a football; loose just ain't an option.

[Roger Caffin]

> Myself, I can hardly stop toe bang with laces cinched up like a football; loose just
> ain't an option.
Perhaps it's time to try a pair of shoes half a size longer? Feet grow over time.

To answer the original Q: if I tie my laces tightly I very quickly get huge pains at the top of the arch. So I lace slightly loose. I remember one pair of shoes which I called my 'bedroom slippers' – loose, very comfortable, and very effective. But they wore out.

Cheers

[Richard May]

Trail slippers. I could go with that.

[Alex Wallace]

As for tied, I like mine on the tight side. With respect to overall fit, of course a nice roomy toe box and non-restrictive forefoot, but I like my heel locked in and a secure fit around the ankle. With that said, who cares what works for me? You shouldn't. Find out what works for you.

[Link .]

In Mike Clellands video he does say he likes to wear them loose but that he tightens them on the down hill, my shoes are big enough that I do not loosen them while hiking and wear them tied like I would normally.

[Terran Terran]

Slide lock and tie the ends together. Tuck underneath laces. Easy quick adjustment. Never come untied. Doesn't get caught on brush.

[Elliott Wolin]

I tie my shoes as loose as possible so that my toes don't jam going downhill, which turns out to be pretty loose. I need wide shoes (currently 11EE Merell Moab Ventilators, low top) and these have a large toe box, which I insist upon. I can remove my shoes and put them back on without unlacing.

I also use poles for braking going downhill, mainly to avoid over-stressing my aging knees and ankles, but a side benefit is I can wear fairly loose shoes.

I also have about 1 to 1 1/2 finger widths in my heel if I jam my feet forwards. This seems to be more than is typically recommended but it works fine for me, no blisters. I use thin liner socks under thin-to-med Merino socks…I tried wearing just one pair of socks and I got blisters, perhaps my loose shoe strategy necessitates wearing two pairs of socks.

[DGoggins]

What kind of slide lock are you using? Do you mean a cord lock like on a drawcord? I would think that wouldn't provide enough tension to keep your laces tight enough, but I could be wrong? Mind posting a pic?

[Nate Lee]

my laces are loose enough to pop in and out.. unless im snowshoeing

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