[pct-l] Re: Boots

[Karl Brandt <brandt@snf.stanford.edu>]

Knowing what a religious subject this can be, I was hesitant to say
anything either. The funny part is Mountain Dave's comment was
sufficiently vague that I thought he was advocating shoes over the use of
boots. That's one of the weaknesses of E-mail communication.

The fact is it's kind of a silly thing to argue about because people's
individual needs vary so much. A lot of thru-hikers do very well with
light weight shoes. Heck there are even folks that hike in Tevas and love
them. In my case, fabric boots were the way to go. They're the only
footwear that I've tried that don't blister my feet. I sort of learned not
to mention it around other thru-hikers because so many of them were having
constant troubles. For other folks, a more traditional heavy boot is the
cat meow.

I'll just add a little of my own experience which folks are free to
ignore. I have narrow feet, loose ankles and high arches. The Vasque
Clarion Impacts that I use seem to fit narrow feet better. They provide
enough ankle support but I wouldn't mind a little more. The reason I don't
try something else is again because these don't blister my feet. I do need
to use arch supports in them but that's true with all my shoes and boots. 

Just one other thing, if you're budget minded, a set of heavy boots will
pay for themselves in the long run. They can literally last a lifetime if
you resole them now and again. Thru-hikers that I saw wearing shoes were
replacing them as often as every 500 miles. The total cost of those shoes
over the whole trail was much more than a single pair of boots. 

Find out what works best for you and enjoy. 

-Karl

*********************************************************************
Karl "Birdman" Brandt PCT97 LT98                       (650) 363-1350
http://www.stanford.edu/~kbrandt/

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