Boots vs Shoes?

[climberman]

No to goretex runners ! runners that drain and dry are the go. http://www.adventureracegear.com.au/onl ... e-gaiters/ look interesting.

[climberman]

A bit of foot treatment doesn't hurt either, this is a must for adventure racers and works well for walkers I think. Vaseline is great as a start, or something like https://www.gurneygears.com/gurneygoo.

[forest]

A bit of foot treatment doesn't hurt either, this is a must for adventure racers and works well for walkers I think. Vaseline is great as a start, or something like https://www.gurneygears.com/gurneygoo.

That looks like good stuff. Personally I've been using body glide and had good results. Only a little on my heel where I have had issues in the past. This gurneygoo looks like you put it pretty liberally on your feet. Mmm interesting.

[wayno]

gurney knows his stuff, won nz's coast to coast adventure race something like nine times.
engineer by trade, worked for formthotics who do orthotic shoe inserts

[TerraMer]

Boots for multiday walks for ankle support and rigid sole.
Runners for day walks unless it's rocky or snaky scrub.
Sandals, sometimes thongs, if it is a short summer walk on a well maintained or sandy track, beach or along a river.

[corvus]

Boots for me all walks in Tasmania.
corvus

[radson]

Im definitely in the shoes camp but would never begrudge anyone in the boot camp. I wish I had worn shoes instead of boots on the OT in June this year but I must admit I was hoping for some more 'interesting' conditions.

My favourite shoe ever was the LS Exxum ridge but sadly not made anymore. Now I like the trail runners that is unless i can forsee some smear action happening and then the approachy shoes like the Ganda Guide or Scarpa Zen are cool. Downside to approach shoes is that they can be very hard underneath over extended distances.

My choice for my next trip is a quasi boot shoe. http://www.scarpa.com/tech-ascent-gtx

Personally ankle support is not something that I have ever needed, but a slight compromise for snow/cold can be found with the LS Crossover GTX. Has a small built in gaiter which handles quite well. Managed to keep my toes warm down to about -10 (Just)

[jacko1956]

I'm sold on shoes but belong to the "don't do as I do, do as you feel you need to" brigade.

As well as the Bibbulmun here, I did not find anywhere on the Appalachian Trail that I felt I wanted boots.
I feel that I would only consider hiking in boots if I was hiking in snow more than a couple of inches thick.
Snow would also be the only reason I would consider waterproof as well in boots or shoes.
But I was told by other experienced hikers I walked with that I have very large (as in solid) ankles.
I would strongly suggest that anyone with weak ankles should consider boots.

I always wear long trousers (the capilene type from makers such as Columbia) and never wear gaiters.
I have no problems with anything getting in my shoes. I had two occasions on the entire AT where I took my shoe off to remove a twig or stone.

Blisters in shoes or boots indicate you have a poor fit and/or you have walked an excessive distance without paying attention to what your feet are telling you. You will get a hotspot before a blister and a blister is just punishment for not paying attention to it. Long term damp feet are the real cause of most other feet issues and these seem to me to be more of a problem in waterproof footwear that has got wet than in non waterproof gear.

[GPSGuided]

Hi GPS,
My point being that in the hierarchy of lethality the non-wearing of footwear probably isn't right up there. Are you seriously suggesting that if lack of access to footwear was a serious impediment to survival that aborigines would have survived the hostile terrain and climate in tasmania (and Australia generally) for millennia?

Of course not. But the fact that we don't have direct hard data, we won't really know, but to extrapolate on indirect evidence.

[slparker]

The tasmanian aborigines hunted the OT, west coast, ben lomond, etc without boots. There is nothing in the historical record to suggest that they were prone to any sort of foot of ankle injury as a result, or suffered any greater proportion of injury than those who wore boots. In fact the historical record mentions the ease that native Tasmanians displayed in traversing the bush and the clumsiness of immigrant bushmen in that same bush.
One could just as well argue that bio mechanically they were less prone to injury by not wearing footwear.
You implied that the tasmanian aboriginal had a shorter lifespan due to not wearing footwear, this is an opinion only as there is no data to extrapolate from.

[corvus]

slparker ,
Interesting repartee on this subject especially your mention of early Tasmanians walking the OT bare foot which indeed they did , there and elsewhere as they had no choice.
Question is do you walk barefoot everywhere now by choice or by necessity ?
corvus

[andrewa]

I've thought about this a fair amount, and I think it comes down to where you are walking, and whether you use walking poles or not.

My personal observation is that I am more likely to "go over" on my ankle if wearing shoes than boots. This doesn't mean that I tear a ligament, just that it is less stable in shoes. Much of my walking involves Mt Bogong via Eskdale Spur. If carrying walking poles, or ski stocks, I am happy in walking shoes out of winter, as the ground is unstable/rocky. If there is snow, I'll walk in Telemark boots, as the snow cover makes this less cumbersome. Outside of this, I'd be happy in walking shoes on reasonably even ground, but would add walking poles if ground was significantly irregular, of otherwise walk in boots. I think that walking poles make up for a lot of the deficiencies of shoes.

Bogong this weekend, even though we are skiing, as there is little/no snow on north side, I'll use walking shoes, and carry ski boots, and only chuck them on when I need them. Stocks will provide sufficient support on the way down.

A

[Son of a Beach]

slparker ,
Interesting repartee on this subject especially your mention of early Tasmanians walking the OT bare foot which indeed they did , there and elsewhere as they had no choice.
Question is do you walk barefoot everywhere now by choice or by necessity ?
corvus

For me, I walk barefoot by choice. However, my boots are just about dead, and I can't afford a new pair any time soon, so it may soon be by necessity.

[slparker]

slparker ,
Interesting repartee on this subject especially your mention of early Tasmanians walking the OT bare foot which indeed they did , there and elsewhere as they had no choice.
Question is do you walk barefoot everywhere now by choice or by necessity ?
corvus

Hi Corvus,
i think thatyou are mixing up some issues here. You ask whether the early tasmanians had choice whether they wore footwear or not. Indeed they did. Other hunter-gatherer peoples in other countries with similar technology wore footwear made from animal hides. The tasmanian aboriginals certainly had time to develop footwear should they have been so inclined. They did not;or, if they did, no evidence exists of the fact. I htink it is reasonably to infer that the reason they did not use footwear is that they had no use for it.

You second point was a question to me as to whether I choose to wear footwear. I've already stated previously that I do, indeed I wear boots when walking. But that's not the point - it's not what i choose to wear it comes down to the question from the OP 'boots or shoes'. The answer is that the minimum suitable footwear for walking on tracks is no footwear at all. Wearing no footwear from birth might even be the most biomechanically sound option. Which is hardly a surprise as this is what we have evolved to do and a million years of natural selection tends to weed out the worst options.

But back to the OPs point of 'boots or shoes' well I guess that is up to the individual - there is no minimum requirement by any objective measure. To say that it is 'unsafe' or 'risky' to not wear boots (as some claim)is too broad a statement. Of course, walking on an icefield in trail runners is more risky than in crampons (and crampons require boots) but walking the overland track in barefeet has been perfectly acceptable for 40,000 years.

Now I'm not arguing against boots at all, I'm just saying they aren't necessary for most walking and never have been.

Oh, I should answer your question: i wear footwear from necessity - because biomechanically I am now dependent upon them.

[GPSGuided]

For me, I walk barefoot by choice. However, my boots are just about dead, and I can't afford a new pair any time soon, so it may soon be by necessity.

You 'Son of a Foot'!

[nq111]

I guess I am firmly on the side of good stiff boots for carrying a pack on rough tracks up and more importantly down hills. I had a walking partner who wore trail shoes with ankle braces for a 3 day trip in the WOJ and struggled with blisters and going down hill with his pack was near impossible due to struggling with ankle support. He now owns a pair of Zamberlans and now has no issues with his ankles.

This argument just keeps coming up again . Yep - i have crappy ankles and are a boots person too.

But i can't find any boots that do what i want for warm and hot weather conditions. So i have just kept on experimenting.

So like your friend i now have ankle braces (http://www.swedeo.com/TarsalLok.htm) paired with Inov8 trailroc 245s. I'm pretty impressed and unlike your friend have had no blisters or other issues (and have now done a couple of overnight all off-track rough mountain climbs with this footwear). I wear a very light heatgear sock under the braces (and nothing else over the top).

I'm going to take a slightly oversized pair of Inov8s to NZ next year with neoprene socks, darn tough socks and the ankle braces. Getting the footwear on with so many layers will be a bit tedious but the light weight fully drainable outcome should be nice.

[nq111]

Just reading back up, for further information on the ankle braces system:
- I never use walking poles (I tend to walk where i need my hands too much anyway).
- Pack weight has been up to 26kg at start (mostly water).
- Yes, the ground has been rough, like loose rock on slopes concealed by grass and deadfall.

I think both the ankle braces and the very thin sole / low drop on the inov8's has contributed to the stability. Given I can roll an ankle walking barefoot with no pack I am pretty confident now with the set up.

[nq111]

Of course, walking on an icefield in trail runners is more risky than in crampons (and crampons require boots).

Yep, but looking into that too and the gap isn't absolute - http://sectionhiker.com/kahtoola-k10-ultralight-hiking-and-trail-running-crampon/. Certainly not going to extend to the full technical range of a boots and crampon set-up though.

[Overlandman]

I am also a boot person, use to wear heavy scarpa boots, but now prefer light weight merrell boots.
I can recall a barefoot guy on the Overland, he wore a bluey coat, had an old green canvas pack, he showed me the soles of his feet, they looked harder & tougher than my vibram soles.

[wayno]

An Australian man with very sore feet has had to be whisked from the NZ Tararua range to hospital after he decided to take his shoes off while tramping, stunning his rescuers.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/ne ... -mountains

[GPSGuided]

He hasn't been reading this thread has he?

[wayno]

if he has, he thinks we're a bunch of idiots

[TerraMer]

Have you ever trekked in the Himalaya?
thongs (flip flops) or wellies do the job

[Mark F]

Was it the smell that stunned the rescuers?

[wayno]

its a stunning place, but you couldnt pay me enough to go barefoot there, no end of sharp stones, tree roots and twigs on the ground

[GPSGuided]

its a stunning place, but you couldnt pay me enough to go barefoot there, no end of sharp stones, tree roots and twigs on the ground

By deduction, you could not possibly be one of the "First Tasmanians"!

[Joomy]

Wow! Great pic, wayno!

[wayno]

not my pic, havent been to the tararuas since i was a teen nearly thirty years ago

[Waza]

Does anyone strap their ankles anymore ? Much less bulky I assume than braces on your ankles. I strapped both ankles for rugby as a rule to avoid rolling under stress when playing & never got blisters from strapping.

[HarryCallahan]

For a half way option I reckon Merrell do it right.

Models like these

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Merrell-Mens-Refuge-Core-Mid-Brindle-Waterproof-Hiking-Boots-J50989-/281159504838?pt=AU_Men_Shoes&var&hash=item41766993c6&_uhb=1

Light, snugger fit, and the rounded sole tends to roll over the ground instead of slapping it.