Fresh Air

Good boots are something pretty critical to pleasant hiking and camping. In the course of the last few years I’ve owned and used a number of different boots with varying designs. I also recently read a book that gives a good review of the different boot types and their performance on the Appalachian Trail. The information I gathered from this book sheds a much more detailed light on the pros and cons of the different designs, but here is a basic breakdown based on my own experiences.

There a number of different hiking and camping boots to choose from today. Each manufacturer has so many varieties you could probably try on a few hundred pairs and not hit half of the options, though there are a few general categories that most boots will fall into. There are; insulated and non-insulated boots, full leather boots and leather boots that have synthetic uppers, gortex waterproof boots, and boots that are made with mesh spots for quick drying and different combinations from there.

The first real serious pair of winter boots I owned I bought from an EMS customer return "tent sale." I bought a fully leather pair of heavy duty insulated Asolo boots for only $20! These were my indestructible outdoor boots for the longest time.

The problem with fully leather boots is that if your feet sweat, they might not dry very quickly and they can be a little heavier than a synthetic upper boot. In any case, they offered me more stability in the ankle and were very durable (plus the price was right!).

The recent development in synthetic materials has lead to a variety of durable waterproof materials that don’t weigh much at all. I’m now using a pair of L.L. Bean fully synthetic boots made with kevlar thread material. They are very light, moderately stable and perfectly waterproof (a little steep at $190 — thanks to the fam’ for the gift certificate!). These boots aren’t insulated, but I did a bunch of winter hikes with them this past winter and didn’t have any cold foot problems to speak of.

A couple years ago, I went to China with a few friends and wanted the right footwear to backpack around in comfortably. I chose a light pair of Salomon ankle high boots with contagrip soles. These boots were not insulated or waterproofed, so they were very light and were perfect for the trip. We weren’t doing a lot of serious hiking, so ankle stability wasn’t critical, and when they got wet it was just a short time till they dried off — great for the summer.

Roland Mueser wrote a great book, "Long Distance Hiking, Lessons from the Appalachian Trail." In it, he dedicated an entire chapter to footwear worn on the trail. The author hiked the length of the AT in 1996, collecting names and addresses of 136 thru-hikers that finished the trail and participated in some post-hike surveying upon completion. This book is a compilation of gathered information from the trail and the results of those surveys. [insert boot-book-pic]

One piece of information that stuck with me from the footwear chapter dealt with the impact of boot-weight. Apparently the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine recently discovered that every 1 pound carried on the feet equates to 6 pounds carried on the back. That makes the case for lighter synthetic boots a little stronger (at least in my mind). The book breaks that weight down to percentages of total weight carried in an interesting way.

There are so many different tables in this book that are just fascinating. Here are the results from one table rating hiker satisfaction with boots made by the manufacturer they used:

This book was really a great source for gathering information on how well gear from different manufacturers perform on the trail. Before I make any big gear purchases I’m going to look back at this book to get a better idea about how different products perform. It also reviews tents, packs, stoves, food stuffs, as well as types of things hikers generally carry on the trail, the different animals you might encounter, the different people you might encounter, what sleeping is like on the trail, physical conditioning, etc. I really recommend it if you’re into backpacking.

After reading all the results and thinking about the boots I’ve used, I get a sense of comfort from using fully leather insulated boots in the winter. I’m getting use to the synthetics though. I like the idea that synthetics dry a lot quicker and are much lighter than leather.

Of course the real determinant is personal preference. So my only suggestion is to get what you think you’ll enjoy and be reasonable about what you think need.