[pct-l] Heavy Leather Hiking Boots

Tue Feb 16 20:36:19 CST 2010

The #1 rule is to get footwear that works for you.  It appears that trail runners are comfortable for most people here, but I have yet to find a shoe at REI and the local running shoe superstore that's comfortable.  My training hikes are also telling me that I need much more footbed protection than my 7 ounce running flats offer.  This may be due to my weight, especially tender feet, or more than likely it's a combination for the two.  At this point low top shoes with hiking boot soles are the lightest footwear I can wear without considerable discomfort, and I haven't even found shoes like this that are comfortable.  So for me, midweight hiking boots are the best choice.  A couple hundred miles of training hikes so far tell me that they should be suitable for moving me down the trail at a 2.5 mph average at this point in my training, which should improve.  If there's a lightweight trail running shoe that is comfortable and will allow me to hike faster, I hope I can find it before my start date.  I'll be trying out at least half a dozen more pairs before I leave.  I won't use it for the entire trail, but there are sections where the promise of a lightweight hiking shoe is very enticing.

When it comes down to it, my advice would be for thru-hikers to go on training hikes with a simulated thru-hike load to find out what works for themselves.  Start with trail running shoes if boots aren't already owned, simply because the first shoe may be perfect, and they're much less expensive than boots.

Also, I'd like to see people that recommend trail running shoes to post their weight.  There's an owner of a popular lightweight backpacking site that frequently recommends lightweight trail running shoes.  This guy weighs 130 pounds.  Sometimes advice is highly dependent on body weight, and this is one of those times.  He also tries telling big guys what's up about chafing.

Eugene

> Date: Tue, 16 Feb 2010 14:09:26 -0800
> From: steeleye at wildblue.net
> To: pct-l at backcountry.net
> Subject: [pct-l] Heavy Leather Hiking Boots
> 
> Good afternoon, all,
> 
> 
> Lately there’s been a barrage of posts advocating the use of traditional,
> high-topped, Vibram-soled, leather hiking boots. I believe this advice is
> ill-advised because following it offers few real advantages, and it imposes
> a very substantial burden on a trail hiker. For 99% of the PCT boots are
> just a solution in search of a problem.
> 
> 
> 
> While I hike in running or trail shoes I also wear heavy boots a great deal
> -- and have for the last 60 years. I wore them while serving in the Army; I
> wore them while working around heavy equipment; I wore them while on a USFS
> engineering crew; and I wear them while performing PCT maintenance in N.
> Oregon and S. Washington. I wore boots then because I was required to do so
> as a condition of employment. Currently, I choose to wear boots only while
> cutting and logging timber for my season’s firewood, or when I travel
> cross-country over steep, rough terrain. I do that only because sturdy
> boots provide the kind of protection I find necessary for my feet and
> ankles.
> 
> 
> 
> Historically, most people who wore boots on the trail did so because that’s
> what they wore in their everyday lives. Look at old photographs and note
> that instead of wearing dedicated hiking attire they were probably dressed
> in worn or shabby business suits; often including a necktie. When the
> backpacking craze of the early ‘70s arrived thousands of inexperienced
> people headed for their outfitter. What was popular then was the U.S.
> spin-off of the relatively light, leather, Vibram-soled European walking
> shoe, except our version became the ubiquitous, heavy, stiff,
> lace-to-the-toe “waffle-stomper”. Since there were few alternatives
> available at the time -- except for tennis shoes and a few field hockey
> shoes -- the “waffle-stomper” became most commonly used shoe. After all,
> “everybody’s doing it”.
> 
> 
> 
> Trail hiking is entirely different from walking cross-country hiking or
> wading through brush and logging slash. The tread of the PCT is
> substantially flat and level, with grades rarely exceeding 15%. In my view,
> the relatively rare instances of rough trail do not justify the penalties
> associated with stiff, heavy boots; and I wouldn’t wear boots just for a few
> short sections of steep, side-hill snow-pack any more than I would wear
> snowshoes the entire way just to avoid the occasional chance of postholing.
> Similarly, I wouldn’t carry a bow saw, a shovel, and a Pulaski for 2,663
> miles just to help myself across a few obstructed stretches of trail that I
> could otherwise slow down to negotiate or avoid.
> 
> 
> 
> More specifically:
> 
> --- Decent quality leather boots, particularly the lighter imported European
> varieties, are ruinously expensive. When you select a style and size you
> better guess correctly because most of us can’t afford to experiment by
> trying a dozen or more pairs to find just the right item. Overall, a hiker
> wearing sneakers will probably pay as much for his/her five pairs compared
> to possibly one pair of heavy boots. In my view wearing out more -- but
> less expensive -- shoes is a good thing. I prefer the ability to change my
> style and/or size while in-route rather than having to gut-it-out with one
> expensive pair for all conditions.
> 
> 
> --- Sturdy leather boots typically weigh between 4 and 7 pounds per pair. 4
> pounds is twice what my sneakers weigh, and 7 pounds equals the base weight
> of my pack. Then again, anyone who carries a traditional 65-pound load
> probably won’t notice an additional 5 pounds on their feet.
> 
> 
> --- Breaking-in heavy boots is usually a long and often-painful process,
> particularly if you try to hurry. With rare exceptions, if you bought boots
> now they would not be broken-in and trail-ready by the Kick-Off. In the
> process you can expect to develop blisters in places you didn’t even know
> you had places.
> 
> 
> --- Contrary to some inference, wearing boots will not obviate the
> possibility of having foot/leg problems such as plantar fasciitis,
> tendonitis, shin splints or any of the other maladies that trail pounding
> produces. In one important respect boots are worse: Because of their
> stiffness repetitive force is applied to limited areas of the foot
> localizing and concentrating the damage.
> 
> 
> --- Ankle support provided by boots is not what it’s cracked-up to be. While
> trail walking, the force of one’s leg goes directly into the heal and
> forefoot without a tendency to turn the ankle. A low-top sneaker will move
> on the foot to comply to trail irregularities without torquing the ankle
> sideways. Off-trail, my ankles don’t turn either, but the shoe could easily
> turn sideways off my foot. That’s not desirable but, again, PCT hiking
> isn’t about cross-country travel.
> 
> 
> 
> --- Stiff boots with Vibram soles, laced tightly at the ankles, are great
> for kick-stepping and “edging” on slick side-hill snowpack, however, this
> very rarely needs to be done. Most of the time a hiker is following the
> tracks of numerous previous hikers so useable footprints will be in place. I
> can’t remember more than a few times over the years when I broke a fresh
> track across slick side-hill snowpack, and even fewer times when I really
> “had to” vs. “wanted to”. Being generous, I would estimate that an average
> thru-hike would involve possibly 100 meters of un-trod, slick, side hill
> travel. In my mind that doesn’t justify wearing heavy boots for thousands
> of miles.
> 
> 
> 
> --- Typical boots – particularly boots with high, distinct heels – are much
> worse than sneakers in potential postholing situations. Sneakers usually
> have longer and wider soles for a greater total area, plus those soles are
> somewhat flexible to provide a better “feel” of the surface and to more
> evenly distribute the step force across the entire area. Stiff boots will
> concentrate step force -- first at the heal, then at a forefoot edge – to
> locally crush the snowpack and cause the hiker to posthole.
> 
> 
> 
> --- Boots with high, distinct heels are pretty good when charging down
> steep, loose grades. I’ll keep that in mind if I ever find a significant
> stretch of steep, loose grade and I feel that I simply can’t slow down for a
> minute or so. Remember though, heel-stepping down steep grades is a major
> cause of shin-splints, and it doesn’t take very long to do the damage.
> 
> 
> 
> --- The hard plastic Vibram soles are a hazard on hard, wet or frozen
> surfaces. Smooth wet logs are a particular treat, as are slick rocks in a
> river crossing. For a lasting remembrance of the resulting antics be sure
> to have someone standing by with a movie camera before you cross.
> 
> 
> 
> --- I recommend wearing shoes while fording, and leather and GoreTex boots
> are the very best at keeping the water in. Both dry much more slowly than
> regular sneakers.
> 
> 
> 
> Overall, it’s good to remember that the nearly-total movement of PCTers to
> hike in lightweight running shoes did not evolve in a vacuum. It evolved
> over many years when bright, thoughtful, innovative, and experienced people
> looked at whatever became available and asked, “Why not give it a try?” What
> they found was that ultra-lite gear works.
> 
> 
> Enjoy your planning,
> 
> 
> 
> Steel-Eye
> 
> Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965
> 
> http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye
> 
> http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09
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