How to buy hiking boots that fit

For nearly any sort of prolonged outdoor activity your footwear is the most important gear you’ll own. Good boots make long backpacking trips sightseeing bliss, and make any sort of tricky scrambling seem intuitive vs terrifying.

Most people never get the true pleasure out of their footwear. Many people complain about boots having to “break in” despite going on multiple trips in them. Often people buy boots based on their styling or color, vs lightness or construction.

Differences between synthetic and leather boots

In the past decade most boots have undergone a massive change. Most boots of yesteryear were heavy leather tanks, nearly indestructible and about as light as an anchor. Now most manufactures have abandoned that style of boot making in exchange for lighter boots that use synthetic materials. These boots have some serious advantages, first off they’re crazy light easily weighing half to a third of a full leather boot of the same size. Second because the synthetic materials are also much flexible than leather, many of them don’t have a “break in” period, you just pull them on, and go. They often cost less than full leather boots as well.

There are a few disadvantages to synthetic boots. First off they’re not as durable, expect to get between 30-40 nights in the back country less if you’re spending much of your time in rocky terrain. Most of the synthetic materials rely on GORE-TEX for water proofing. With full leather boots you can apply a few coats of mink oil to protect your feet should you step in a stream. With synthetic boots the GORE-TEX works great out of the box and lasts a while but it’s not going to last forever. The friction caused from you socks and feet rubbing against the interior of the boot will wear down the GORE-TEX and eventually cause it to fail. With full leather boots you can simply keep reapplying a waterproof treatment and they’ll stay dry for years. The other issue with synthetic boots is that they are often stitched together out of many separate pieces rather than a single 1 piece upper like traditional full leather boots. These additional seams can cause blisters if the boot doesn’t fit you well from the start.

The other option for backpacking boots are leather boots. These boots look more like a Timberland boot with a single 1 piece leather upper (meaning that nearly the entire boot is made from one seamless piece of leather.) This provides great comfort and reduces the chance that a seam will rub up against you unexpectedly. Leather boots are also unafraid of extra weight it seems so they also often come with Vibram soles which provide stunning traction (at the cost of a shorter lifespan). Leather boots can be re-waterproofed over and over again and aside from an actual puncture (which is unlikely, unless you regularly trek across plains of nails) will take years to wear out.

The downsides for leather boots are mostly weight related. Leather boots are extremely heavy, and after a 20 mile day the difference (if you count the weight difference of the boots for each step taken) between leather boots and synthetic boots is the equivalent of carrying an extra 2500 pounds up the mountain. That’s about as much weight as a mid size orca whale. Leather boots do require routine maintenance. This isn’t much but you will want to oil them down after each trip and keep them in good dry conditions. Leather boots also can require a bit of break in even if they are sized to fit correctly. This isn’t much and typically should not cause a blister but the first few miles in new boots may be uncomfortable. Leather boots are often more expensive than all but the most expensive synthetic boots.

There’s a couple of odd ball options as well:

Trail Running shoes:

These ultra light synthetic shoes often have fantastic traction, weigh a fraction of what a pair of leather boots will weigh. If you’re looking for less water protection and are not carrying more than 20lbs worth of weight on your back these are a fantastic option. Don’t bother getting shoes with goretex, not only will it wear out but GORE-TEX is useless if you step in a stream that goes over the cuff of the shoe which is likely to happen if you step in a stream wearing trail running shoes. Plan to take your shoes off for most water crossings.

Mountaineering Boots:

If weight doesn’t bother you and you want the maximum amount of support and traction check out mountaineering boots. These boots are often insulated with synthetic insulation, protected by GORE-TEX, and even plastic at times. Shoes like these are designed to do everything from ice climbing, hiking, climbing, some you can even ski in. They’re very expensive and their weight is very prohibitive as well. Expect these to weigh as much as 2 pounds more than leather boots. Still, if you’re carrying 60 lbs up a 14er in winter little could offer you more support or warmth.

Trying on boots

Ok so no you have a idea of the type boots you want to get, when you go into the store to try them on fit is the most important factor of the boots. When I buy new boots I just go in and ask for every boot they have in a particular brand that I know fits me well then try them all on testing the fit for each one. Wear the same sock that you often take hiking, if you don’t already own hiking socks ask the store rep to let you try on some socks while you try on the boots. I’ll narrow the selection down until I come up with a finalist or two before even looking at other brands then try on other unknown boots to see how good the fit is. Whatever fits best is what I buy, irregardless of brand, or color. So how can you tell if a boot fits well?

Toes: I find it preferable if my boots have less room in the toe box than my sneakers. I like having the ball of my foot and my toes work together to provide forward traction. You still need enough room in the toe box to flex your toes I prefer enough room that I can curl my big toe but any more room than that is a bit too much. If you feel your smaller toe nails scrape the sides of your other toes look for a wider boot. If your foot can slide at all in the boot or if the ball of your foot can move forward or backward try a smaller size. To test this stand on the benches in the store and hang the front half of your foot off the edge. Tilt forward so that your toes are point toward the ground at a 45 degree angle. If your feet don’t move and your toes don’t touch the front of the shoe it’s a good size.

Heel: A properly fitting boot should have 0 heel lift. When you walk your heel should not slide up in the boot. If it does try a smaller size or look for a different model of boot. When I’m out on the trails I see more people treating heel problems than any other.

Arch: Some people have very high arches and some are nearly flat footed. I find that I’m in a pretty happy medium area. The best way to correct arch support aside from buying a shoe with a specialty arch shape (which is often costly) is to use insoles. Buy insoles in advance or use old ones when trying on your new boots to ensure that the rest of the boot fits well.

Ankle: I like to have a lot of range of motion both in front and behind the ankle.  Boots should provide good laterial support so you don’t twist an ankle when a rock shifts under your feet or when muddy ground  causes you to loose your footing.  If  I can comfortably go to a forward leaning squat and back to a standing position without feeling like I’m straining against the boot I feel that I’ve got a good range of motion for my ankles.

Other nice features to have: If it comes down a boot that fits well vs features I always choose fit, however if I do have a pair of boots that both fit well a boot with these features will often break the tie.

Lace Locks: These oversized lace hooks will lock the lace in place this way you can losen the top of the boot without losing tension on the lower portions of the boot.  This is great if you need to adjust the tounge often, or if you want to losen the upper portion of the boot for stepping up the pace on flat ground.

Lower boot protection: La Sportiva is really great when it comes to this feature.  Most boots have a little bit of extra rubber over the toe to help protect the boot in rocky conditions but I find that the lower sides of the boot get just as much if not more wear.  An extra thin layer of rubber over this area can drasticly prolong the life of a boot.

Vibram cleated soles: So far I have not found any other sole that provides as much traction as Vibram soles. Whether it’s wet granite, or sucking mud, they shed dirt well and just stick to nearly all surfaces.

If you have any questions about boots, or the typical fit of a brand feel free to leave a comment.

Eric Starling is a webmaster and photographer.