Boots, Shoes and Sandals

The only category where fit is the entire product.

Updated

Footwear is the one place where spending real money is nearly always right, and where no review can help you much, because the answer is the shape of your foot.

Get fitted, late in the day, in the socks you will wear

Feet swell through the day and swell further on trail, so a boot fitted at 9am is a boot that hurts at 4pm. A thumb's width in front of your toes, a heel that does not lift, and no pressure across the top. Walk the shop's slope in both directions.

How much boot you need, honestly

The trend over the last fifteen years has been decisively lighter. Heavy boots for summer walking are now the exception rather than the default.

Waterproof or not

A membrane keeps water out and sweat in, and once water gets over the cuff it cannot drain. In hot places, or where you cross streams, a non-waterproof shoe that drains and dries beats a waterproof one that fills. In cold wet country the membrane earns its place.

Sandals are a real category, not a compromise

For rafting, kayaking, river crossings and rocky beaches a sport sandal is better than any shoe: it drains, dries, and protects your toes from what you cannot see underwater. Get a heel strap, not just a toe post, or you will lose one in current. Closed toe protects against rocks and holds grit; open drains faster and runs cooler.

Socks and care

Merino, not cotton, one pair rather than two, and do not overtighten the laces. Rinse anything used in salt or river water in fresh water and dry it out of direct sun. Sandal odour is bacteria in damp footbed foam: preventable, not curable.

And resole rather than replace where you can. A good boot takes two or three resoles for a fraction of the cost of new ones.

Kept current

The reviews (94)

Written at the time, about gear that in most cases is no longer made. Useful for what the writer noticed, not as a shopping list.