Sensible Shoes

[Pat]

Carl:  I copied and saved this info.  I'll have to check my boots to see if they have that moccasin toe construction.  One of the problems with the lacing over the instep is pain.  In order to keep the foot from sliding down into the toe, I picture that lacing would have to be too tight for comfort.

--pat

 

[Karl]

Carl,

What is the axle? Also, don't they make somethng called 'gators' to protect the lower leg from brush scrapes and snakes; etc.?

 

[Carl L]

Carl:? I copied and saved this info.? I'll have to check my boots to see if they have that moccasin toe construction.? One of the problems with the lacing over the instep is pain.? In order to keep the foot from sliding down into the toe, I picture that lacing would have to be too tight for comfort.

--pat

If it hurts when you lace the boot, guess what?  It is too tight.  Try lacing in this manner.  Lace, snugly but not painfully,  over the instep to the start of the ankle.  At that point hiking boots always have a break in the lacing patter -- often a eyelet set well back separating the instep from the ankle.  At that point tie an overhand knot of one or two turns.  That will separate the tension of the instep lacing from the ankle lacing.  Now lace up the ankle and secure with a doubled knot.

Experienced hikers often leave the ankle a bit loose on uphill goes to permit ankle flexing.  On long downhill goes they will tighten the ankle snugly to give additional ankle support to restrict torquing of the ankle joint.  In either case the overhand knot will make this independent of the restriction on the instep.

Good sox are vital.  Wear only well fitted wool or artificial fiber sox --- cotton sox are deadly, they retain moisture and will slowly boil your feet in the summer and freeze them in the winter.    Heavy sox are indicated for insulation, padding, and sweat wicking. 

 

[Carl L]

Carl,

What is the axle? Also, don't they make somethng called 'gators' to protect the lower leg from brush scrapes and snakes; etc.?

An axle here is a spill-chuckerism.? It really should have been ankle.? I have edited the change.

Gaiters are generally nowadays made of heavy-weight, waterproofed nylon.? In ankle lengths they are for waterproofing boot and sock tops against heavy dew, rain, or snow.? ?In knee lengths,? they are used in mountaineering over knee socks for heavy and crusted snow and ice as both water proofing and leg armor.? ?Neither type should be worn in dry conditions as they tend to act as steam bath for your poor feets.

There are snake gaiters.? However, those tend to be heavy bullhide and are about as comfortable as the greaves that old timey armored soldiers used to wear.? ?I have heard them used only in heavy cover in snake country -- think Florida palmetto slash.

 

[Lorna]

Carl
Very good info about shoes, lacing and socks.  I just talked to our friend/hike leader and since he hikes in the Palm Springs area mostly that is why he suggested a heavy cotton sock because wool gets to hot.  The liner sock that he suggested when I bought mine was a material that he couldn't remember what it was but is available at sporting goods stores and the purpose for the liner sock is to wick the moisture away to the outer sock.  He didn't use the liner sock but used baby powder to keep the blisters at bay and also to obsorb the mosture.  When he had a hiking business he hiked every day all year in the Palm Springs CA area.  He did say that when hiking in cold weather wool socks are definitely better.  I really got in some good hikes when we lived in the Palm Springs area near him.  Our longest hike was 11 miles up Devil's Slide out Idlewild CA on the west side of Mt San Jacinto and no blisters.  Devil's Slide is a major incline.  Our turn around point on this hike was the lookout tower on the west side of the mountain at about 10,000 ft.  It was a great hike.  We have also hiked to the first waterfall in Tahquitz Canyon in Palm Springs.  This was a cleanup hike because you have to have a permit from the local Indians to hike that canyon and it is also a very dangerous canyon, but very beautiful.

 

[Pat]

Carl:  Could you name a couple or so makes and models that can be located on the internet that illustrate your description of a good hiking boot?

Thanx.

--pat

 

[Lorna]

Pat
I hope that Carl can give you some makes and models to look for on the internet but with a hiking boot it is still better to be able to try them on before buying.  Of course, that is just my opinion since I don't like ordering shoes of any kind from a catalog or the internet.  I can't even get it right when trying them on in the store sometimes?????

 

[Carl L]

Carl
Very good info about shoes, lacing and socks.? I just talked to our friend/hike leader and since he hikes in the Palm Springs area mostly that is why he suggested a heavy cotton sock because wool gets to hot.?

I could not disagree with him more strenuously! ? Cotton hiking socks are an invitation to blistering in the summer and trench foot in the winter. ? My background is in Sierra and desert mountaineering bacl in my salad days (the middle Pleistocene). ? ?I even taught the subject for the Sierra Club and was on the Los Angeles Chapter's mountaineering training committee and lead trips for it. ? I cannot number all the sad cases I have nursemaided that involved cotton socks. ?

Wool is an insulator. ?Cotton is not, except as batting, and even then not very well. ? All it does is sop up moisture and lose insulation the minute it gets wet from sweat or rain. ?Wool, otoh, as any Scot will tell you, insulates, wet or dry. ? Why do you need insulation in the summer? ? Heat. ? Back when I was field mapping as a student geologist, my mapping partner on a warm day in El Paso, in July, stuck a thermometer into the ground. ?It registered 154?! ? The air temp was in the 100-110? range.

I found a single combination to work in all situations, from 110? in the Grand Canyon to God only knows what on the summit of Mt. Rainier. ? The thin inner sock should be of silk, WickDry?, or olefin. ? The outer sock should be ragg wool or a similar thick wool sock. ? Now there are some thick artificial fiber socks that claim to be as good, but I have not tried them in the range of conditions I describe. ? There is some hope for them; there is none for cotton.

 

[Carl L]

quote author=Pat link=topic=93.msg6457#msg6457 date=1113718872]
Carl:? Could you name a couple or so makes and models that can be located on the internet that illustrate your description of a good hiking boot?

Thanx.

--pat

Sure.? ?Try the REI online store boot section.? Click HERE

Read their blurb on boot recommendations.  If you are hiking in the mountains of the West, with their ups and downs and rocky trails, I would go for medium duty boots.  If you are forest or  East coast hiking, most any light boot that they show will do.  If you are full bore mountaineering ... well if you are full bore mountaineering you already better know what you want.    REI is not bad for a range of quality.  Try ?m if you have a store near you.  Boots should be tried on and tested in stores.

 

[Pat]

Carl:  I've made a sort of hobby of stopping in certain stores as I travel, REI being one of them.  Of the at least 8 that I've shopped, I have never been in one where there is more than one clerk per half dozen customers in the shoes. It seems to be the busiest department.  It's quite frustrating getting any help in REI.  Nice kids much of the time, but too understaffed.  Most of those boot buyers need expertise, so each sale takes time - assuming the clerk does have the knowledge to sell the right boots.  I like REI and thoroughly enjoy the Seattle main store, among others, but it is often a do-it-yourself project.  Lots of people hike here around the Phoenix valley, so I tried the boot department here a couple times with the same results.  No help.  Maybe early in the morning...

There was a climbing hill in the Settle store, but I haven't seen one in any of the others. 

--pat