Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

Our Recent Essays Behind the Front Page

Much Sorry with Delays
Birth, Death and All That Stuff in Between
How to Honor Labor Day, Every Day
My Yom Kippur Miracle (Repost from 2010)
Good intro to fly casting
Peach update, with pie
NYC update
Easy for you to say: To the elites on mass immigration
For NYC on 9/11, Sailors' Snug Harbor
Pickled Peaches
Water Shoes
Labor Costs in U.S.
Your "identity"
Good news about The Great Courses
Uses of Hot Pepper Jelly/Sauce, Chutneys, and Jams
A Saturday Drive to Litchfield County, CT
How to Pick a Kayak
Civilized: Fruit forks and knives
Loads of kayaking on Cape Cod
Psychology Experiments' Questionable Results

Categories


All categories

Quicksearch

Links

Blog Administration

Open login screen

RSS Readers

Add to Google

Subscribe with Bloglines

Saturday, June 25. 2022

We have lots of readers who are hikers


Lots of hikers here, and plenty of interesting opinions about footwear and foot care.


It depends on whether you are climbing steeps, rock-scrambling as a big part of it, or strolling on a comfy trail. The terrain matters, but most hill-hiking has varied terrain. Still, lots of people prefer various sorts of light-weight, quick-drying sneakers even when taking on the AT to Maine.


I like my heavy-duty (and heavy) Meindls for rocks and rocky steeps, Adidas for mild varied terrain, and running sneakers for ordinary trail hiking. The weight matters - less is better.


Mountaineering boots are a different topic. I am not climbing Ben Nevis, although we did as kids. The easy route, and in summer - not winter.


Links:


Best German hiking stuff (I did not know that Adidas was German) 


Best Walking Boots 



Posted by Bird Dog in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 13:51 | Comments (11) | Trackbacks (0)

Trackbacks
Trackback specific URI for this entry

No Trackbacks

Comments
Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)

I was station in Germany for three years doing radio intercept work, copying and locating all of the commies behind the Iron Curtain in the old Cold War. We were at Herzo Base with a huge antenna field where the Luftwaffe runway had been and we worked in a building totally free standing in a huge old Luftwaffe hanger that had been built before WWII not far from Nuremberg.

The town was Herzogenaurach at that time a lovely ancient town with great old buildings and some really good places to eat. We were aware of the conflict between the two shoe factories Adidas and Puma and we knew the town was kind split across the river by the two. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassler_brothers_feud Now our Herzo Base which was occupied by the US Army from WWII to about 1972 is the world headquarter for Adidas and they don't like to recognize the spy stuff we did there from the 1940's to the 1970's but, oh well.
#1 OldTexan (Link) on 2022-06-25 19:22 (Reply)
So interesting, Old Texan! Thanks for posting.
#1.1 Ann K. on 2022-06-26 08:46 (Reply)
My American born son knows that Britain is basically flat pastureland. It was quite a surprise when he learned that Snowden, basically a hill with ambitions, claims about 8 lives in the average year. Did that as a callow yoof, never did Ben Nevis.
#2 bilejones on 2022-06-25 19:35 (Reply)
50 years ago all the geologists wore serious mountaineering boots...thick leather and substantial Vibram lug soles. Heavy, Yes, but supported and protected your ankles in the mountains and especially crossing scree slopes. It was rare for us to be on a trail. Common brands were Vasque, Raichle, Lowa, and a host of others. Expensive but worth it. There were a few custom bootmakers in Denver who would make you a pair but most of us were priced out. Not many made anymore as most hiking boots are really designed for trails. The closest I've seen recently are the Alica brand made in Italy.
#3 rocdoctom on 2022-06-25 22:19 (Reply)
I wore out two pair of Fabiano mountain boots, re-soled both of 'em with Vibram lugs 3 times before they finally fell apart. They came from Eastern Mountain Sports, EMS, back in the 70s. I was pursuing a degree in geology at the time, in NE. I loved them, heavy but super comfortable, with speed laces all the way up from the first 2 eyelets. When I heard they were going to stop making them, I think it was in the late 80's, I bought a brand new pair that I still wear.
#3.1 Aggie on 2022-06-26 01:27 (Reply)
Hah. Guess what, you can still find Italian-made, hard rock boots with a Norwegian welted sole, i.e. the heavy lug Vibram sole that's stitched on, not just bonded.

https://www.gronell.it/en
#3.1.1 Aggie on 2022-06-26 01:35 (Reply)
I agree with the Alica recommendation, I have had nine years of hard use out of my first pair, they are still going strong. Bought a second pair just in case they went out of production, that pair is still in the box. Really well made, leather lined so the interior is not falling apart, and as long as you put a good orthotic footbed in place, very comfortable and supportive. Just an incredible value, too, the only comparable boots cost many hundreds of dollars more.
#3.2 Dan D on 2022-06-26 09:59 (Reply)
If I knew how to post a photo on Maggie's I would. It would show my well worn Alicas just took them off after a day on the job in the mountains out west. Old geologists just don't give up being geologists. I'll be 74 on Thursday and even tho I'm "retired" I still work for the love of the game.
#3.2.1 rocdoctom on 2022-06-26 21:55 (Reply)
Love, love, love my Lowas. I won't wear anything else. I do enough hiking (and just walking really) in rattler country, it's worth it to have good over-the-ankle boots on pretty much all the time.

As William O'Blivion mentions, to get breathable boots, you need nylon fabric patches backed by a membrane... this means the boots won't survive to need more than one re-soling, if that, but they are FAR more comfortable... definitely worth the tradeoff for me, but again, YMMV.
#3.3 Janet on 2022-06-28 07:00 (Reply)
Not going to speak to any brands, as IMO the fit of the boot or shoe is the most important thing, followed by adequate support for the ankle.

One thing I will kvetch about is this idiotic insistence of putting goretex under leather and calling it "waterproof" (which it is), and "breathable", which it isn't.

Goretex, and AFAIK all of these "permeable" membranes require a pressure differential for the moisture to be forced through the membrane. By putting leather on the other side you are essentially increasing the pressure on the outside of the membrane to far more than you can create inside, thus the moisture stays inside.

So if you want Goretex boots, get ones that have broad areas of fabric to "breath" through.

My "backpacking" boots are straight up Yak Leather https://www.hanwag.com/us/en-us/men/trekking/lhasa-ii?v=H400210%3a%3a4047761432233, but I don't have enough miles under load on them to recommend or not.
#4 William O. B'Livion on 2022-06-26 10:51 (Reply)
Here is a site https://andrewskurka.com/ to get more information about hiking and equipment. Skurka is an ultralight hiker with incredible hiking experiences. Lightweight hiking is a movement and like everything it has it's pro's and con's. One of the things I have adopted from ultralight hiking is ultralight shoes. I have a pair of hiking boots and have had many pairs of hiking boots over the years. I hike in my boots once or twice a year partly to keep them in condition and partly to remind me why I don't use them anymore. They remind me of that craze from the 70's to but weights around your ankle when you walk to "build up your legs" I don't know if they worked or not but I imagine it made your legs tired by the endo f your walk. And that is what hiking boots do. Your tired legs will make missteps and trip or catch on even tiny ground obstacles.

Wearing light weight hiking shoes https://www.big5sportinggoods.com/store/browse/footwear/mens-footwear/running/_/N-5Z3Zafx prevents that tiring of your legs and the missteps and tripping that the fatigue causes. And since I only buy on sale not only do I get shoes that weight a couple of ounces but I often get them for $20 or so. I find them better for rough terrain, better sensitivity to tripping or slipping hazards and easier to navigate scree and rocks and roots. Kinda like the difference between how a cat walks through obstacles without knocking anything over and how a dog does it by brute force.
#5 OneGuy on 2022-06-26 12:00 (Reply)

Add Comment
(Your e-mail will not show in your comment)

By commenting on this site you agree to the site rules listed here. Email
addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for email notifications.

Quick reference guide: [i] italics [/i], [b] bold [/b], [u] underline [/u],
[url] (web address) [/url]. More tips here.

Enclosing asterisks marks text as bold (*word*), underscore are made via _word_.
E-Mail addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for E-Mail notifications.

To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly.
CAPTCHA

BBCode format allowed
 
 
A Chris Southern Consulting website.