Hiking Boots

The parts of the boot below are noted by number. As you go down the first part of this page, each part is explained a bit so that you will know a lot more about hiking boots than you might have known before. Have fun learning!

1 — Foam pad "collar", padding around ankle, and in the boot's tongue

Your boot should have foam padding at the top. This provides comfort, and helps keep little bits and pieces of the terrain outside where they belong. Padding in the tongue and around the ankle helps provide comfort and support.

2 — Boot height

Your boot should come up to at least your ankle or a bit higher to provide you with adequate support on rough trails or other uneven terrain. Your ankles are inherently unstable, and can use the help, especially when you are carrying a heavy pack. There are some other considerations, such as the idea that an above-ankle boot also helps keep mud or snow from trickling in to make your day uncomfortable.

3 — Seams

Your boot should have as few seams as possible. While you can do a pretty good job of water-proofing a good pair of boots, the seams will ALWAYS be the weak point in the link, and the first places where water will seep in. Seams are also the most likely areas for boots to come apart with heavy use.

4 — Removable inserts

While not exactly essential, inserts can make the difference between comfort and agony if your feet are hard to fit. You can use inserts to fine-tune a boot's fit and make your hiking life more enjoyable. This is especially important if one of your feet is larger than the other...

5 — Lug sole

A deeply lugged sole provides you with good traction. Many boot manufacturers have their own preferred design, while some use soles provided by companies that design high-quality soles, but don't make boots. The sole should be made of rubber that has some "give" to it. Hard synthetics may not be a good option, depending on the manufacturer.

6 — Hardened midsole

High-quality hiking boots have a hardened midsole made of steel or plastic (or a combination of materials). This stiffens the boot's sole, and helps allow you to carry heavy loads over varied terrain. This is an essential part for your boot to have, and you should ask the salesperson what the boots you are thinking of buying have that will meet this requirement.

7 — Rand

This is a covering, usually made of rubber, that protects some of the highest abrasion points of the boot around the toe and heel, as well as providing a better seal between the upper and the sole. This may extend all the way around the boot, but should at least protect the most critical areas near the toe and heel of your boot. If your boot does not have a rand, or if it does not go all the way around, you will have to pay special attention to the seal between the upper and the sole when you are applying waterproofing materials.

8 — Material(s) used in making the boot

All boots have compromises between weight and flexibility, as well as in several other areas. The boot we show here is made of leather. Other boots are made of a combination of leather and tough water-resistant fabrics. All-leather boots provide more support and are easier to waterproof, but are heavier and somewhat less flexible than their leather/fabric combination cousins. If your hiking will be done in a dry climate, and the weather will be warm, leather/fabric combos may be the way to go. However, if you are going to be hiking where the ground is muddy or wet, the terrain especially rough, and/or the weather is often cold, all-leather boots are probably the better choice.

9 — Liner

With the right construction and well waterproofed leather, a boot will not really need a liner to keep water out. Liners are another compromise. If you will be hiking in very wet areas, they will help keep water out, but this happens at the expense of making your boots hotter to wear. If your feet have a tendency to sweat, then they will become wet as a result of the increased heat. Think hard about how much you really need your boots to include built-in liners. (You can also purchase socks made from the same materials as boot liners are made from, so you can always have an option that you can move to, based on where you will be going hiking or backpacking.)

10 — D-rings and speed-hooks

A combination of the two help you quickly and easily adjust and fine-tune the way your boots fit on any given day. There is a method of lacing the speed-hooks that will help prolong their life — ask your salesperson how to do this.

11 — A fully gusseted tongue

Didn't leave you with much option for this one... The gusset is the flexible leather part that attaches the boot's tongue to its body. The main reason your boot's tongue should be gusseted all the way to the top is to help keep out water and trail grit. Keep in mind that the gusset is very important when you are waterproofing your boots, and make sure it gets a good dose of whatever you are using at the time.

You do have to keep a few things in mind when you are choosing your boot, though. If you will be doing a lot of your outdoor activities in rather dry and warm climates, the leather/fabric combination will often be the better choice. However, an all-leather boot will do a better job at keeping water away from your foot, providing you use a good waterproofing material with the leather.

Waterproof fabrics, such as Gore-Tex®, will do a good job at keeping water away from you if they are backed up by quality boot construction and good care. They are good choices if you need a combination of light weight and the ability to help moisture migrate from your feet to the environment.

Liner materials surround your foot and protect them from chafing against either the upper or the sole of your boot. They should be made of a material that will help wick moisture away from your feet. Some boots have smooth leather liners that mold nicely to your feet. These are wonderful — but only if you take proper care of them. Leather liners are harder to break in and can wear out faster than synthetics if you ignore their needs.

Timing is everything. You should not get fitted for hiking boots in the morning, but in the late afternoon or evening after a full day's activity. Why? Well, your feet swell during the day while you are in the more or less vertical position as a result of carrying you around and being part of whatever you are doing. This difference in size can easily make the difference between comfort and agony.

Once you decide on the right time to go shopping, you are going to have to surmount the hurdle of finding a salesperson who actually is a competent boot-fitter. These folks are not common, and they are becoming rarer every day. Spend some time talking to the fitter to find out how much he or she knows about the line of boots the shop carries. If they don't know much about their boots, they are not likely to know much about fitting them to your feet.

Don't be rushed!

A good boot fitter won't mind inspecting your bare feet before the socks go on. This is the time when you should be very open about your bone spurs, arches, calluses, and other foot wierdnesses. A good fitter who is aware of the individual peculiarities of your feet is going to be better able to help you into the best-fitting boot in the place.

Your fitter will need to have a Brannock device, which is that flat plate thing with all the moving parts that will tell you what size your foot is. At one time, Brannock devices were a given in every store where boots were being sold. Like good fitters, though, they are not as common as they once were. If the shop where you are looking at boots doesn't have one, then you may be better off looking elsewhere.

When you are trying on new boots, you need to wear the sock combination you will actually be using on the trail. A bit obvious, maybe, but you'd be surprised at how many folks don't remember to bring their socks with them! While you are in the shop, though, don't be afraid to experiment a bit. A slightly different sock combination may well be all you need for that last little bit of added comfort in your new boots.

Your new boot should feel snug around the ball and instep without having to strangle your foot by cramping down on the laces. If your toes are tapping against the front of the boot, you should go a half-size larger. Check the fit even more by lacing the boot snugly, then walking down an incline to see how much your foot will slip inside the boot. If your heel can slide forward or slop side to side, you probably need a slightly smaller and/or narrower boot.

Once fitted, stroll around the shop for awhile. Keep thinking about the fact that you are going to have to be living in these things for considerable lengths of time — and that where you are going to be, carpets will only be a fading memory!

Don't stop at just trying on one manufacturer's boots. Every manufacturer builds boots around different lasts. (A last is that generic foot-shaped block of wood or other material around which boots are made.) One manufacturer's lasts may just match your feet better than another's. Besides, each company has a different philosophy about where the padding should be, and how much of it there ought to be in any given part of the boot.

Now, at some point in this game, hopefully before you completely exasperate the salesperson. you are going to hit on that perfect pair of boots that were made just for you. Grimace if you must, but part with the cash that will keep your feet comfy.

Leather boots, on the other hand, need considerable attention to become properly broken in. You will need to begin with short hikes or walks near home. Keep away from the real steep or rough stuff when you first start. If you begin to develop a hot spot, you will need to cover it with mole skin so that you do not get a blister. Once you get home, you can apply a leather softener to the area where the hot spot began to develop. If this doesn't solve the problem, you may need to work at the area from the inside, using something such as the curved end of a pocket knife to help shape the leather to where it will fit that part of your foot properly.

Once you are able to go on short hikes in your new boots without discomfort, you will be ready to start using them for gradually increasingly more difficult trips until they are part of the equipment you wouldn't do without. Properly cared for, a good pair of leather boots will become your favourites for years.

A boot's internal volume increases slightly over time as a result of compressed padding, stretching, and increased suppleness. It may well also widen slightly at the flex point near the toe. As they age, boots tend to shorten a bit as a result of a little curling and flexing. The heel will fit tighter as the ankle areas crimp down a bit, and the tongue and its gussets will develop permanent wrinkles that will actually help make your boots more comfortable.

All of these things are normal, and you should expect to have them happen as your boots mature. They will customise themselves to your feet to the point where you will hate having to give them up when the day comes that they are too worn out to live through yet another sole change.

(This self-fitting with time thing is what makes the purchase of used boots a chancy thing to do, and only adds to the irritation of younger siblings whose early pairs of boots are hand-me-downs from older brothers and sisters.)