Reboot question, footwear for off trail, tundra, tussocks, etc.

Men’s shoes are wider and they come in larger sizes. Many stores carry size 8 mens as the smallest size, which is equivalent to a womens 9.5 or 10. Most stores only carry women’s shoes up to a women’s size 10-11. Generally women have more smaller and more narrow feet than men. Of course there are exceptions and you should use whatever fits you best. If you are going with a wider shoe for more toe room you should make sure that the heels aren’t too wide for you which causes heel slippage.

There five areas of fit that you want to consider: length, heel width, midfoot width, toe box width, and height volume. If a shoe doesn’t fit well, try and figure out what parts of the shoe don’t fit your foot and why, then use that information to help you find a better fitting shoe.

When you get hiking shoes they should have a ramp that you can use. When going up the ramp, you want to check for heel slippage. Some slight movement is normal and will lessen with time as the shoe breaks in, but you don’t want to be rubbing up and down as that will cause blisters. Going down the ramp, you want to make sure your feet aren’t sliding forward and hitting the front of the shoe. You want no contact whatsoever with the tips of your toes and the front of the shoe. This includes both the front of your toes and the tops of your toes. If you are going with a wider fitting shoe you should also side step up the ramp and make sure you aren’t sliding around doing that. Finally, pay attention to the vertical volume of the shoe. You don’t want it to feel tight around your instep or the tops of your toes but you don’t want too much room or you will slide around the shoe. This can sometimes be adjusted by removing or adding insoles.

The ideal fit for a shoe is to be secure in the heel and midfoot but with lots of room in the toes. Ideally your toes should be able to fully splay out when walking. If the toes are constricted you will get terrible foot pain. If you have to compromise on a shoe, toe room is more important than having a secure heel and midfoot. A solid inch of extra length in a shoe is good.

Finally, if you buy from a store that you can’t return used, wear them around the house for a solid few hours. Sometimes certain parts of the shoe might rub your foot in a weird way that isn’t noticeable until you wear them for a while. Other features of your shoe like the amount of heel rise, height of arch support, structure of the arch, or position of the arch can cause your feet to hurt for reasons that are not easily understandable. These are things that you won’t always be able to experience wearing them around a store for a few minutes.

An experienced shoe salesperson should be able to look at your bare foot and find a shoe that fits you. The best places to buy shoes are smaller business and specialty shops. When the owner of a business works in the store they make sure to train and hire good employees. In larger stores like REI they have a huge turnover rate and the management only cares about satisfying the demands of corporate.

I can’t make a recommendation on boots since I don’t wear boots but I do wear men’s trail runners when I can get them in my size because I find women’s too narrow, and there is nothing wrong with buying men’s if they fit, Roger may chime in at some point, I know his wife were’s men’s also.

I’ll stir up the pot and ask why you think you need more “supportive” footwear for something that actually requires more agility?

Anytime you limit the movement of your ankle at times that you actually need a lot of ankle and foot movement – those forces go somewhere up the chain – knee, hips and back.  And not usually in a good way.

And if you think you are going to prevent sprains or fractures in your ankles by wearing stiffer, higher shoes then you are sadly mistaken – you need something like a ski boot in order to limit that….PLENTY of people fracture and sprain their ankles in stiff boots.

I spent two weeks in Brooks Range last summer on tundra muskeg and tussocks as well as lots of talus and loose scree and I used my normal trailrunners (Salomon XA Pro 3D for me but every foot is different).  I was was carrying 40 pounds for the first time in at least 10 years and over 30 pounds for the first time in 9 years.  My hiking companions chose to wear broken in Gore Tex boots due to the weight we were carrying and the amount of water in the area.  We saw rain, sleet, snow, a little sun – repeat over and over, with some minor (knee deep) crossings.  All of our feet were soaked.  Thier GT Boots kept thier feet dry about halfway through the first day.  By the end of the trip, two of them had blisters, while I had none.

I dried my feet each night and put on dry socks, but in the morning, it was back in my wet (occasionally frozen) socks and shoes.

You “might” keep your feet dry in GT socks, but GT boots won’t do you any good.  the boggy muskeg let them sink down enough where water came over top of the boot.

Read Jorgen’s article that was just posted here.

https://backpackinglight.com/brooks-range-backpacking-johansson/

Jennifer, I’ll reply with a question; have you walked across a mile of tussocks, with knee deep mud between each one? You either balance precariously on the hill, or plunge into the muck, with every step, which would pull a trail runner off and you’d never see it again. Ideally one would work around the field, but it’s not always possible. I do hear you on the ankle thing. I wasn’t thinking of the boots for ankle movement so much as protection on scree and talus slopes, and getting a shoe stuck deep in gushy tundra or mud. Plus alder whacking, warmth for glacial rivers.

I haven’t done much off trail hiking since I started using shoes for trails, so it’s possible I would indeed like them better. I think I’d need to do some short practice runs before committing to them for a longer commitment, a long way from help.

one of the things I loved about my old Asolos was no blisters, ever. Their only drawback was weight, definitely a lot heavier and more tiring than shoes.

What kind of trail runners have you been wearing lately? Do the bottoms of your feet hurt after long days in them? What kind of protection are you hoping to get out of a boot?

Have you or have you ever heard of someone losing their shoe in mud?

Personally I have never scraped an ankle walking on talus or scree.

Plenty folks use trail shoes for off trail/mixed ground multidays in Scandinavia and UK. (Scotland).

It’s common to have  feet  sopping wet and intermittently mucky for days on end in Scotland.    If crossing deep bog, do your laces tighter and pick your routes with care.  I know that it’s not always possible -especially in poor visibility and big country….

I have lost a shoe in the mud, tricky to retrieve! But only once, and actually on a trail (Little Troublesome), not cross country. The mud really does get that deep in the marshy areas, I imagine similar to Scandinavia, although I’ve not been there. Think Elbonia!

Kiel, I have Brooks shoes, and the longest I’ve used them at a time was a marathon on trails. I thought all my foot bones were broken by about mile 20, but the pain dissipated after a few more miles and no permanent harm done. When I do something like that I take a prescription anti-inflammatory, or it would be impossible. I did 12 mile days last summer in my Oboz Sawtooths, and my feel felt fine, except that they are now too small and my small toes turned black (but didn’t hurt). Now I’m doing easy 5-10 mile days in Ahnu sneakers ( guess they’re called trail shoes, but they look and feel like ordinary sneakers) with no pain, but they are easy miles. To get enough toe room, I had to half size up, so they’re quite loose and floppy.

Justin, my ankles have been totally bloodied moving through rock fields in trail shoes, especially trying to keep up with faster hiking partners. Also shins, hands, etc. I think boots like my old ones would give me a little more stability, and help prevent wedging a foot, but it sounds like most of you don’t think so. Maybe I’m a less skilled walker! (clutz)

I guess the consensus here is trail shoes and not boots, so I’ll try the low hikers for some short practice runs, and if that doesn’t work well for me I’ll check reviews for mids. I appreciate the suggestions. I’m grateful I can even still do hikes at all. Getting lighter has helped make it happen.