Durable boots/shoes

I don’t know of any resoleable trail shoes or trail runners, and those are probably the classes of footgear most BPLers wear. If you want to go light and avoid adding to landfills, you could look for shoes made of recycled materials, and/or give your worn out shoes to Nike.

Ummm…. then why not get the Limmers resoled, or get some more Limmers??

There’s no such ‘animal’ as LW or UL shoes that are going to last “years” with typical use… 500 miles is about the limit for most trail runners, by which time the uppers AND the soles are both shot to hell and there’s nothing worth resoling.

Yeah, get some more Limmers.

New trail Limmers and old/resoled, normal, everyday Limmers. Yep, that might work.

I just don’t like heavy boots, even for work. I get a little over a year out of non-resoleable work boots, rotate the old to the standby position, and the old standbys go to the Salvation Army. I kind of do the same with trail shoes, but I started taking really beat up shoes to Nike.

Russell moccasin company could make you some low top leather shoes with an off road sole that could be resoled.

http://drmartensforlife.com/ – Lifetime warranty

Ummm…. then why not get the Limmers resoled, or get some more Limmers??

There’s no such ‘animal’ as LW or UL shoes that are going to last “years” with typical use… 500 miles is about the limit for most trail runners, by which time the uppers AND the soles are both shot to hell and there’s nothing worth resoling.

Yeah, get some more Limmers.

The Limmers will be resoled but they are at the top of weight that I think is reasonable — I found these Hanwags http://www.hanwag.com/kofel-mid which have gussets (I emailed Hanwag and asked) and are lighter.  Assuming I can test some in person they might be a good solution (with some gaiters)

Maybe Danner boots.  I had some of those that were pretty good.  Leather.  They have some that aren’t super heavy I think.

Wrong web site. We are not into leather boots here: too heavy and clumsy.

cheers

And who wants to hear those darn hippies yelling, “Your boots had a face!” on the trail?  : )

Roger,
What is the weight limit for discussion of trail footwear on BPL?
My modded Keene soft toe workboots are both dreamy and durable, but would not want to be BPLitically incorrect.

Wrong web site. We are not into leather boots here: too heavy and clumsy.

You did not read me correctly — I do not care if the boot are *leather*, I care the boots are *durable* and can be resoled.  I’d be delighted to find ‘desert’ boots in cordura that can be resoled.  I used to have something like that ages ago, but when the soles went, the boots could not be resoled and went in the bin.  Plus I backpack light some times, and some times I backpack ‘heavy’ out, and I would like some support for my feet in those circumstances.

It is hardly my fault of light boots are not durable — I am asking whether anybody knows of light durable boots.  You obviously do not.

I think your best option is some approach shoes.  People resole climbing/approach shoes all the time.  Check out La Sportiva TX4 and 5.10 Guides.

Federico, it depends if you are looking for a stiff high top boot or a more flexible low top. What is your preference? Or are you interested in both? That helps narrow things down.

I think Roger wasn’t saying there’s anything wrong with people talking about it, just that people here are more into light weight

http://www.wikihow.com/Resole-Your-Footwear

They say athletic shoes can’t be resoled.  They sort of imply only leather can be resoled.  Find an expert resoler, maybe someone that makes shoes.  Maybe they could tell you what type of shoes can be resoled.

Federico, it depends if you are looking for a stiff high top boot or a more flexible low top. What is your preference? Or are you interested in both? That helps narrow things down.

Given a choice I would go ‘flexible’ low top before stiff high top.  I do not need heaps of support when I am carrying a load but it is nice to have some rather than none.

I think your best option is some approach shoes.  People resole climbing/approach shoes all the time.  Check out La Sportiva TX4 and 5.10 Guides.

Thanks, I will!

I think Roger wasn’t saying there’s anything wrong with people talking about it, just that people here are more into light weight

Dear Jerry, the reason why I posted here is because lightweight is a relative term — what is unbearably heavy for some ultra minimalist might be very light for others.  Most importantly I assume that some people in the forum might have had a similar idea (finding the lightest durable boots) and I was curious what people found — most of what I found felt pretty heavy weight.

The La Sportiva Gandas were advertised for their ability to be resoled: http://www.sportiva.com/products/footwear/climbingapproach/ganda

There was some problem with the molds, and they stopped making them, but you can still find them around. I have no experience with them.

Maybe good to check with these folks to get their opinion.

They should have a pretty good idea of what works and what doesn’t.

Also, this guy is well known in mountaineering circles for resoling plastic mountain boots. I had him relole some Scarpa Invernos for me (and replace a little tongue padding as well) quite a few years ago and they looked like new.

Hi Sam
What is the weight limit for discussion of trail footwear on BPL?
Anything above 100 g is obviously far too heavy …  :-)

There are no weight limits, just people with opinions.

Cheers

Hi Federico

I do not care if the boot are *leather*, I care the boots are *durable* and can be resoled. 
Ah, and therein lies the problem. You see, the outer soles of most joggers are now made of a ‘sufficiently good’ material that they last longer than the internal foam core of the sole. Longer sometimes than the uppers as well. So what often happens is that the shoe is effectively ‘worn out’ before the sole is worn out. Replacing the soles is never an issue.

If you want shoes (or boots) with replaceable soles, the inner sole has to be much heavier – much heavier than is needed these days. Since 1 kg on your feet is equivalent to 5 – 7 kg on your back (published research), we go for footwear which is as light as possible. That is a bit of a core concept here at BPL.

Many of us find heavy boots far too clumsy on tricky ground as well, compared to UL footwear, but that is another story.

Cheers

I agree that there are no weight limits, per se.

However, it is also true that there is no such thing as lightweight AND durable; anything that’s going to last for years with normal use — even with resoling — is also going to have correspondingly heavier uppers and lasts, and would not meet very many people’s definition of ‘lightweight’.

Having said that, I must admit that I have fairly thoroughly investigated various options for a UL solution for winter (down to about -10°F) footwear and found that the various combinations of trail runners, overboots and VBLs end up weighing just as much as, or more than, a standard pair of Vasque Snowblimes, and are much more fidgety, not compatible with crampons, and don’t work that well if not wearing microspikes or snowshoes because the overboots’ soles aren’t designed to hike on.

. HERE ya go

LOL, I like it… gettin’ all paleo. :^)