Most breathable, wide fit, shoes or boots
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Hello.
A recent re-start with hiking proved how stiff my muscles had become, ending up in a strain to my hamstring. The cause? I find my Merrell Capra boots very comfortable and nicely waterproof, but their soles have the grip of a soap bar on a banana skin, there is me ending up in a split while crossing a small wooden bridge (while my partner didn’t had the slightest problem in her Vibram shoes).
And the Merrell’s are too hot in the summer. So I’m looking for a new pair.Ideally, I’d like a mid-height to reduce the amount of debris, since I’ll be doing mostly bridleways/moderate rocky terrain with only the occasional tru-hike.
Mid height and summer don’t seem to go well together, since the 99.9% of those shoes will have a waterproof membrane, so the breathability is limited. The only exception I can see, it’s the Moab Ventilator…but as you’ve read above I’m growing skeptical with the brand!
I had tried before the Inov8 roclite, but their “size 3” width rating proved too small for me, even when sizing up 1/2 number. Same for Aku and Salomon.
For camp/running/pack shoes I’m good with with a pair of New Balance Minimus Trail 10V3 -check out the wide toebox :-D
but they are definitely unsupportive so not good for anything but the flat terrain or short hikes.
So what’s your preference for those requirements, what shoes/boots you find good for hot weather?
Thanks in adavance for your help!An update: I went for a pair of Hi-Tech (they’re a popular brand in UK) V-Lite Rapid.
Although described as “sandals” they’re actually fully enclosed shoes. Essentially, it’s a shoe where the uppers are mostly made out of mesh.
After a 40 miles hike, in the best summer you can get in Britain, I surely appreciated the ventilation those shoes offered. And the soles proved to be grippy enough to deal with grass and rocks when wet.
All good there, but what’s the drawback?
Well, seasoned hikers won’t have soft feet as me, because we had to shorten the last part of the hike due to (my) sore feet and a blister.
Those shoes run a bit large -which is usually a good thing for me- and I made two big mistakes: the first was to remove the original insole for a very soft foam insole (hence my toebox had almost zero support), the second was to use light socks and leaving the laces not tight enough (pair this with the lack of support, there you go with a blister!).
I was glad to find a well-stocked outdoor store in a small town we passed by, to get some good insoles. That made a big difference, and lesson learned!FWIW: here’s the average type of terrain we had to deal with, nothing extreme but enough to require more than just an “approach shoe”.
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