Confused about hiking boot choices..

I'm going against conventional wisdom here at BPL but I use goretex boots at the moment. They offer an awesome warranty! (Goretex) Pretty much will replace your boots if they start leaking barring any holes in the upper and such

I have a pair of asolo powermatic I love. Full leather upper, FULL goretex bootie, hand made in Italy. Couldn't be better!

In a recent warranty exchange with goretex I am getting a pair of new balance m910. Going to use them this summer. Not boots but lighter option and I know that goretex will have my back

Thank you for sharing your experience. Is it true Goretex will replace any boots where their liners are used and leak?

I've done three pair of boots so far

One 7 year old pair of merrells
Replaced by asolo powermatics

One 1 yeAr old pair of merell moab's
Replaced by vasque taku's

And a used pair of asolo's I picked up here on the gear swap
Replaced by new balance m910's current in the mail

Not all at once though. The first two were two years ago and the asolo's are recent

Had a friend two or three years ago tell me about this bc he did it

Check out their website. Lifetime guarantee.

My experience with goretex is with the boots only. Anything else and they say wash it in dwr

Hmm that certainly gives me a bit more peace of mind with the waterproofing.

I was a huge fan of the La Sportiva line of boots, would buy some again, if I need boots for something. With any waterproof footwear, maybe buy from a place with a great return policy and test them out in the bathtub. I think it is just luck of the draw, and some are going to be flawed in manufacturing and leak.

Ended up ripping out the Gore-tex on my last pair of boots and even cutting them down. They were a fallback choice, because the new shoes I planned on wearing didn't seem to work for my feet after trying to break them in for a couple weeks. After 75 miles or so, the Gore-tex was making my feet very sweaty and blister prone… so something had to be done. They were great after the modifications. I keep them around, so I never forget the misery of what wearing the wrong footwear for the conditions can cause (they are also nice for walking the dog).

::resized image::

Brandon, it almost looks like you added a liner of blue plastic. I would expect that to make the foot sweat worse, not better.

–B.G.–

I think he just put the tape on the top to seal where he cut the ankle support piece off

…could be wrong

I bought the Salomon 4D about 4 or so years ago. In one word…..AWESOME!!!

Here is a couple pointers why I find them awesome;
1.They look good
2.The boots when I tried them on fit the best out of any I tried on
3.We do a lot of off trail walking and the ankle protection is a must despite plenty of videos out there saying reduce your footware weight and walk in sandshoes to minimise fuel (food) usage. The padded high ankle covers are great for ankle support not just from rolling the ankles but also for doing the laces up tight around the ankle so when you are going down a long hill it's your lower foot that absorbs the pressure and NOT your toes. There is an toothed bootlace eyelet either side of the boots just below the ankle support, these are great for being able to do up your feet laces at different tension to your ankles!!
4.I treat mine with silicone water proofer before every trip but and it works to a certain extent….prolonged rainy periods where water beads off your jacket onto your rain pants and it directly goes onto the boots it does eventually get soaked through but the odd creek crossing and short burst of showers are a no problem thing.
5.Great arch support!
6.Love the outer toe covered area to protect the boots from premature wear from walking through scrub.
7.Plenty of room inside the boots for my orthotics to fit and not feel cramped.

For me, I have never been in snow with them but I can't see much of an issue….we'll soon see :).

I don't think you'll go wrong with these boots.

"I think he just put the tape on the top to seal where he cut the ankle support piece off"

Correct. Just a bit of duct tape around the edges. Was afraid at the time of friction from the jagged bits left by sawing through the shoe (former boot) with a Leatherman Micra. Would of used Leukotape, but needed it for the numerous wounds on my feet.

I can't recommend these enough. Very comfortable. The Voyageur is the light weight version. My wife loves hers. My friend just got some and likes them so far. Been wearing them for 4 years now. I have the original pair which I use for small day hikes, car camping, doing other stuff because the sole lacks significant tread and then another pair for longer trips, bigger hikes, etc.

Thanks mate, great to hear!

" ankle protection is a must despite plenty of videos out there saying reduce your footware weight and walk in sandshoes to minimise fuel (food) usage. "

Anyone who thinks that is either (a) true, or (b) the reason to wear light footwear is a nutter IMO. This is a well-beaten dead horse on here, but just to give it one more whack – the reason to wear lighter shoes is in fact to protect your ankles. The resolution of this bit of paradox will only become apparent if you try both for extended periods of time on the same terrain. Or course all within reason. What a lot of us former boot users have found is that (especially for trail use) boots decrease the sensitivity and hence increase the proprioceptive feedback time. In short you have FAR fewer little stumbles and slips with lighter shoes, and therefore the 1 out of 500 that leads to a big slip are also fewer. So wearing light shoes decreases the chance you will stumble greatly and injure yourself. Further, there is also a very convincing argument that for the kinds of slips that will lead to an ankle injury the types of boots we are talking about here are not going to protect your ankles anyway. So PREVENTING the slips is the best way to protect you ankles – so lighter shoes. That, together with hiking poles I find is a far safer solution for you ankles, leaving aside ALL other issue, both real and imagined.

The issue of keeping your feet dry is also a problematical with gortex – it holds water in better as well – so absolutely terrible in hot weather. As to keeping the external water out, this might work if all the water is below your ankle, but that is not very usual on a trip where you cross streams, and a trip without any stream crossings is either a very tame one indeed, or else possibly one where you don't want to use gortex anyway. Once the water gets in there at all then the are much worse than more breathable shoes.

Light weight shoes are also a tremendous benefit in lowering fatigue. But for its OWN sake. The reason is not so you can save more weight by carrying less food. I've seen that assertion, and it is crazy IMO, so every once in a while it may be good the flog the dead horse a few times, if only to kill a few worms.

The only real issue is how much support (shape and thickness) you feel your SOLES need for your feet, where you will be walking.

Gortex liners probably ARE a good solution for snow. But getting your feet a little wet in warmer conditions is far less of an issue that making sure they dry out quickly.

"Once the water gets in there at all then the are much worse than more breathable shoes."

I purchased some Montrail Goretex boots before a trip to Alaska, since I knew that it might be wet there. For the first day, they were OK. On the second day, I went in shin-deep in a puddle, so the boots were covered in mud. From then on, they were terrible. The foot sweat accumulated and mildew set it. A couple of weeks later when I got home, I was very happy to retire those boots except for snow trips.

–B.G.–

I can tell you, with some certainty, that the footwear choice least likely to result in twisting an ankle are minimalist shoes or straight barefoot. Preconception is very undervalued.

I suspect that overly stiff/cushioned shoes without ankle support have the highest chance of ankle twisting.

Talking in absolutes about footwear is silly as it's all preference. I hike in super thin minimalist shoes, my main hiking buddy uses high top, zip up, steel toe combat boots. It's all good.

"From then on, they were terrible. The foot sweat accumulated and mildew set it."

Yikes! You make it sound like a trench in WWI.

But yeah, unless you have to depend on the shoes for days at a time, they may dry out between "day hikes", and so seem perfectly fine.

"Yikes! You make it sound like a trench in WWI."

That's what General Pershing used to tell us.

–B.G.–

Thanks for the information Marko, interesting read. So what kind of shoes are you guys using now? Giving up the waterproof for something that dries out quickly and breathes? So you don't really care if they get wet because it will all dry quickly?

Any recommendations for shoes to check out?

Also, are we talking about day hikes or expeditions here? I have a 5 day hike up in Washington coming up late September and I need something to handle that as well as day hikes.

The longer the expedition the better non-gortex, trail runners may be, I'd say. For day hiking and overnight there is hardly anything really bad that can happen. Its when you don't have an option to simply walk back to your car if you are uncomfortable that decisions like this are most important.

Over the years I too have jumped on trail running shoe bandwagon. But I bought into the whole "boots protect the ankles more" fallacy for many years, like a lot of people. If you are curious it is certainly cheaper to try this out than buying another pair of boots. Its the TRYING it that is the only way to convince yourself.

A lot of people on here like the New Balance 1210's, and I have been using them for a while. They are kind of at the pricier end, but there are lots of suggestion on here. I like NB because I have wide feet and use 4Es when I can get them. NB has the biggest selection of different widths, and most companies have no selection at all.

My #1 rule is NOT Gortex, so go figure. No leather either. Both of those also mean cheaper and lighter, but the reason is for breathability. If possible meshy uppers that dry fast. If more pebbles get in you shoes then use some micro gaiters.

Yes, most on here use shoes that dry quickly. The problem with goretex shoes is they are a liability if they get wet – they never dry. You can totally plow through streams without taking your shoes off with quick drying shoes.

I've had wet feet for long periods of time and it's usually not an issue. For some reason having constantly wet feet in non breathable shoes leads to serious feet problems much more than having constantly wet feet in breathable shoes. Something about having the water trapped vs. water flowing freely through mesh shoes.

It all depends on the terrain you are hiking over.

a) If relatively stable ground, eg the typical trail. light shoes are best. Personally I use Merrells but whatever fits you best. Avoid "waterproof" eg Gortex or similar. As others have said, that causes more foot problems than non-waterproof.
I have a pair of Merrell boots which are fine, but find they have no advantage over the shoes for trail work.

b) If the ground is unstable, eg scree, or the bed of a fast flowing river, I find boots best. I still prefer the traditional full leather, particularly if a lot of water is involved. I find it tougher, better lasting, and more comfortable whether wet or dry. Mixed materials do not seem to work as well. They are lighter, but that is the extent of their advantage.

c)Boots if needing to use crampons, but that is another field altogether.

Thanks again guys. What is the kind of durability on these shoes though? That's the problem I see with them. I mean, climbing over rocks, carrying a decent load on your back, getting wet in streams. How long do these things last?

"How long do these things last?"

Conventional wisdom about 500-800 miles of trail use – as the PCT through hikers that use these can tell you. Since they are cheaper than the more durable ones the issue is cost per mile, not the durability of a single pair. Unless you are prepared to have your more expensive shoes resoled the tread itself will wear out on the more expensive ones as well. Even the astronomically expensive hand made ones designed to last a lifetime will have this trouble, and so also cost you money over time if you use them enough.

There is an issue of weight of your pack, but the argument goes that the support of the soles of the shoes you wear is far more important than the uppers. Also you may want to trade off sensitivity for support if you find that you feel small rocks too much through thinner soles. That can also tire your feet out more over a long day on a very rough trail, but the "support" here comes from the sole stiffness, not the uppers. In this worldview the uppers are mostly there for holding the soles on your feet.

As pointed out if you are going to be in special circumstances, such as long days on scree and talus you may find heavier boots useful, not the least because you may want some protection for your toes from above as well as below, through it is worth pointing out there are lots very serious people that do the SHR (tons of talus) in trail runners as well. Again, for those people the ability to feel what is under their feet and react quickly trumps all the other issues.

> If the ground is unstable, eg scree, or the bed of a fast flowing river, I find boots best.
But many of us prefer joggers for these conditions as they can be a lot safer than boots on rough ground. Less risk of twisting an ankle.

> Boots if needing to use crampons,
Why? Mont Blanc has been climbed in joggers and crampons. And of course joggers go very welll with the lighter versions of 'crampons'.

The only boots I own are ski boots.

Cheers

II'm going to throw my hat into the ring here and speak up for the minority. I like lined and/or full leather footwear. There I said it and I won't deny it. Here is my biggest reason: sand. Here in the desert southwest trails can be incredibly dry, heck my backyard has more sand than many beaches I've seen. On a hike, sand pours right through highly ventilated shoes. This sucks. It doesn't just flow out. It sticks to your foot and chaffs and makes your feet miserable. That's why I hike in a pair of low cut Keens with keen-dry liners and I switched my running shoes from NB MT10s to a Merrell Sonic Glove with full fabric and no mesh.

Keeping in mind where one will be exploring is always a function of gear selection. hot and dusty is entirely different from hot and muggy. Just something I discovered after moving here to New Mexico.