What kind of footwear do you wear ?

[Woubeir (from Europe)]

Strange how little footwear is being discussed here, probably being the single most important item for a hiker.
For daytrips and shorter, lightweight hikes, I have been wearing a pair of low cut walking shoes (Meindl Magic’s or Montrail Stratos). But past few weeks, I have been walking in the Alps with a 40 lbs pack (actually the weight is just a guess but should be about right)carrying all the food for 10 days. Since large parts of the trip went over rugged trails or off trail above tree line, I was a bit reluctant to wear these low cut shoes, aspecially considering the heavy pack, and took my old but heavy leather walking boots. Definitely not as comfortable as a lightweight pair.
I’m going to retire these boots after years of abuse so this means I need a new pair and this is where the problem starts. I would prefer a light (2,5 lbs max)and flexible pair, but I still don’t know how suitable such a pair is for that kind of trip. At times, the rather stiff sole of my leather boots seemed an advantage.
What’s the experience of others with this issue ?

[Douglas Frick]

I wore Montrail Torre GTX boots (4 lb/pair) for a few years, so when I started lightening up my footwear I stuck with Montrail because I love the fit. I bought their Kalahari shoes (38.6 oz/pair size 12) for carrying my 50-60 lb kid-pack, and Vitesse (29.4 oz/pair size 12) for day hiking. However, I’ve since used the Vitesse while carrying the kid-pack without any foot trouble. I still use the Kalahari if the trail is hairy (super tread), but otherwise the Vitesse have become my standard footwear regardless of pack weight.

It’s worth mentioning that I also use SuperFeet insoles.

[Craig Shelley]

Tom,

I started a discussion on the Inov8 and Timberland Delerion shoes. It is discussing these relative to other shoes. You might be interested. There are some interesting articles on these shoes at this web site.

A year ago I used “lightweight” boots for backpacking and “lightweight” hiking shoes for day hikes.

About last December (I hike or backpack nearly every weekday), I started using lighter weight trail running shoes based on comments on this web site, books, and other web sites. I do a lot of off trail travel. I hike in the desert most of the time, but I hike and backpack in the Colorado Rockies, and have gone on trips with substantial water (rappelling through narrows and then swimming, wading, and hiking to the next rappel). I snowshoe, hike, and backpack in the winter too.

I have stopped using anything heavier than trail running shoes except when I believe I will wear my Stubai Crampons hiking on snow. With Crampons, the hard boot is best even through Stubai claims you can use their crampons with sandals if you want. Even when I snowshoe, I use trail running shoes with an XCR liner.

[Craig Shelley]

Another thought:

I almost never have a pack weight over about 32 lbs even when I’m carrying 6 liters of water. Last week I found some Elk Antlers and carried them out which put my pack weight above 40 lbs for about 17 miles. My feet weren’t a problem but it was tiring. I’ve also cached water in the desert at another location and carried a pack above 40 lbs for a few miles. Most of the time, my pack weighs from 15 to 28 lbs with food and water. It could be that you do need a traditional boot if you don’t hike a lot or have a pack weight that is far from light.

[Mark Regalia]

I do all my hiking in the Sierra and try to stay above 10,000 feet. I love cross country hiking and going through talus and scree. In my experience most leather/cloth hybrids get shredded pretty quickly. It is mostly due to the exposed seams catching on things. I am curious what others have experienced.

I am looking for new boots. My old all leather 2 lbs Technicas are about gone. The new Technica Cyclones at 2 lbs 4 oz look very promising.

[David Reid]

I tried some Montrails a few years ago and have been hooked since. I have used the Vitesse and Hurricaine Ridge XCR. I really like these shoes when combined with smartwool socks. I have carried up to 30lbs with this combination.

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