Hiking Boots: What To Look For

Hiking boot buyer's guide

Lightweight leather-and-mesh hiking boots and shoes are often comfortable right out of the box, while heavier all-leather boots vary a lot in the uncomfortable break-in period required. If you're an occasional hiker or don't plan to carry heavy loads, a lighter boot or shoe with a shorter break-in period makes sense. If you plan mainly on warm-weather hiking, you may be happier with a quick-drying hiking shoe rather than a heavier, hotter waterproof hiking boot.

The trend is now more towards lower-cut hiking shoes rather than boots. Boots provide more ankle support for tougher trails and for carrying heavier backpack loads, so taking stock of the type of hiking you plan to do is the best way to choose. There's also been an explosion of mid-cut hiking boots in recent years. As the name suggests, these are cut somewhere between a low-cut shoe and a full boot, aiming to give you the best of both worlds.

Reviews often rate hiking shoes and boots based on the support and stability they provide for different types of terrain -- from smooth trails to off-trail bushwhacking -- as well as for various weights of backpacking loads.

Choosing the best hiking boots

Experts say to consider the following in choosing boots or shoes for hiking and backpacking:

• Get the lightest shoes you can. Experts say every extra pound on the feet is like carrying five or six pounds on your back. Unless you need extra ankle support or are venturing into very rugged territory, reviews suggest choosing the lightest hiking boots or shoes that suit your purpose.

• Look for lugs that release mud. Most current hiking boots and trail-running shoes have widely spaced or specially shaped lugs that provide good traction, but don't hold onto mud. Reviews say this is important, because otherwise a lightweight boot or shoe can become a monster weighted down with mud. Softer lugs give the best traction, but wear faster.

• Decide whether you need a waterproof boot. Quite a few leather or light hiking boots with waterproof Gore-Tex membranes let you wade through streams without getting wet, as long as the water doesn't go above the ankle cuff and the membrane is undamaged. Alternatively, you can wade right across even deeper streams wearing light trail-running shoes that drain and dry fast. Of course, temperature makes a difference, and some people like fast-drying shoes, while others hate having their feet wet even for an hour. For snowshoeing, you'll obviously need a waterproof hiking boot.

• Breathability is important on long trips or in hot or humid climates. Fast-drying hiking shoes with mesh uppers are the coolest for summer hikes, and don't build up sweat day after day on long backpacking trips. Plain leather breathes next best. Among waterproof membranes, reviews say eVent breathes better than Gore-Tex XCR, which in turn breathes better than regular Gore-Tex. Reviews note that on long trips the pores get clogged even in XCR membranes, so breathability greatly diminishes.

• For waterproof boots, look for a rand. This is a wide rubber wrapping around the upper shoe where the upper attaches to the sole to waterproof that area. The rand also protects the leather there.

• Leather linings are the most durable. Reviews say leather linings also mold well to your feet (eventually). Synthetic linings like Cambrelle nylon dry faster than leather, but sometimes wrinkle and chafe. Some boots use leather in high-wear areas at heel and toe, but synthetic linings elsewhere.

• One-piece, full-grain leather uppers are durable and easy to waterproof. The more seams in a shoe, the more chance of leaks or rips, and full-grain leather is much thicker and less prone to damage than split-grain leather. However, it makes for a heavier, stiffer boot that can take months to break in -- with a chance of blisters during that whole period.

• Choose boots with removable insoles and replace them with better ones. Experts say few hiking boots come with quality insoles or the ones that will fit your particular feet best. Be prepared to shop for insoles at the same time you buy your hiking boots, so you can get the best possible fit right away. Some stores even have an oven for warming the type of insoles that can be shaped to your exact foot, right while you shop.

Getting a good fit

In his book "Long-Distance Hiking: Lessons from the Appalachian Trail," author Roland Mueser's survey of AT thru-hikers revealed that "one-width" shoes fit only about 64 percent of the population. Some reviews say that most hiking boots are not snug enough at the heel, but are too tight at the toes. Obviously, buying hiking shoes or boots is best done in person. Online stores, however, are doing a decent job, offering free shipping on exchanges. So if you don't have an outdoor store nearby, the Internet is a good alternative resource.

Look for a snug heel fit with a deep Achilles notch and a roomy toe box. The Achilles notch is at the back of the ankle cuff, to keep the cuff from rubbing you there. Shoe and boot designers have devised various ways to keep footwear snug around your ankle, since any slippage there tends to produce blisters. You should have plenty of room to wiggle your toes, and the toe box shouldn't touch the tops of your feet.

If you want to wear the boots or shoes for backpacking, experts recommend testing them while wearing a pack loaded with the weight you intend to carry. This can change the fit and feel of the hiking boots a great deal. Remember too that on long trips your feet may swell half a size to a full size, so err in the direction of larger rather than smaller.

The fit of your hiking boots or shoes depends on the socks you'll be wearing, and the best socks may depend partly on the boots. Reviews recommend shopping for both at the same time so you can find the best combination.

Do you need a waterproof membrane?

Rain, snow, dew and stream crossings get hiking boots wet from the outside, while moisture from your feet dampens them from the inside. Many manufacturers use a breathable waterproof membrane inside the shoe to keep water out and to release sweat as it accumulates. For improved breathability, some hiking boots and shoes use eVent fabric rather than Gore-Tex, since eVent lets sweat pass through easier. In the best hiking boots, reviews say either membrane works well (as long as it's not damaged), allowing you to wade right through a stream as long as the water isn't deeper than the boots. Extended hiking in wet or melting snow is still apt to soak through eventually.

If waterproof boots do get wet, they take a long, long time to dry. Even Gore-Tex XCR, the most breathable type of Gore-Tex, doesn't breathe as well as plain leather, and certainly not as well as mesh, so boots and shoes with waterproof membranes tend to be hotter and sweatier to wear. From his survey of hikers, Roland Mueser concludes that it's better to let feet get wet in lightweight fabric or mesh, so they dry fast. He notes, as do several other experts, that the pores in Gore-Tex get clogged after a few hundred miles. User reviews note that the slightest hole in the membrane results in leaks.

Both Gore-Tex and eVent use a controversial chemical called PTFE. Scientists in Sweden concluded that fabrics using PTFE do contain residues of a toxic chemical used in their manufacture: PFOA, also known as C-8. This is the same chemical used to make Teflon. The European Union has decided that there's insufficient evidence to rule PFOA a carcinogen, but in the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency has called for a phase-out of its use. It seems highly unlikely that waterproof membranes in hiking boots would expose the wearer to this chemical, but no one knows for sure.

A brief summary of concerns about Gore-Tex includes links to more information.

You can keep up with the latest research at the official Environmental Protection Agency website on PFOA.