Long story short, can anyone recommend a good person, either in CA, or the PNW area, somewhere I can drive, who makes custom hiking shoes and boots. In this case cost is not really the prime concern. I live in the SF Bay area, but driving a day is fine. Flying to New Hampshire – not as realistic.
This may be a long shot on here, with all the aficionados of running shoes for backpacking – I've definitely been a card carrying member myself for the last decade and a half. I have spend enough for a couple or three pairs of handmade Limmers over the last decade or so experimenting with modifications of my trail runners. I finally know the ideal sole spec to (somewhat) compensate for a surgically fused ankle. My blueprints are starting to look like ones for a stealth fighter! Still, off the shelf trail runners rub in places where a normal foot would never rub – my foot does not flex normally. Modding the uppers of running shoes is problematical – it would basically involve remaking the whole shoe. :-(
On top of that I'm a 4E – short foot type person and have been wearing shoes too long since forever – even 4E's.
So I decided it is time to at least try another tactic. Since for years my main limit on my distance each day has been when the part of my right foot that suffered the most from the fused ankle and latest experimental mod of my running shoes reached an unacceptable level of pain/damage, I have decided to finally try getting some custom light hiking boots made to my required specs. I don't think in my case the weight is much of a determining factor on my comfort – the bottleneck is feet – not legs. It is also getting expensive enough to modify my disposable running shoes each time I wear them out – think 2 – 2 1/2 times the price of the shoes themselves added on.
So if anyone on here has experience – I know there are still a few such bootmakers around – please let me know if you have suggestions.
