6 Amazing Tips on Choosing Hiking Boots

Embark on a Thrilling Odyssey: Conquer the Outdoors with Mighty Hiking Boots! Unveil their secrets, master blister prevention, and choose the perfect fit with six essential tips. Follow through our page to unravel epic tales and uncover the magic in every step. With these six tips, you will go on your adventures without worrying about your boots!

Why is it important to choose the correct hiking boot?

There are several reasons why you want to choose the correct hiking boots. One of the main reasons is that it will help with your traction and weight distribution, whether it is backpacking, camping, or hiking. Choosing the correct boot will also help prevent any blisters. I will show you what to look for when choosing your hiking boots.

Going through step-by-step on choosing your hiking boot.

When I go through and choose a hiking boots, there are six steps I go through and double check to see if it is even a boot I will consider. The first step is to check what type of boot it is; the second I go through is whether it is a hiking shoe, mid, or high hiking boots. The third step is to ensure that the boot I am looking at is in my size. The fourth step I go through is where and if there is a plate in the hiking boots; the fifth step is what material the boot is made of. Finally, the last step is if the boot is waterproof or if I will use a separate product to make them more water resistant.

Types of Boots

Hiking Shoes, Mid or High Hiking Boots?

There are a couple of different types of hiking boots that you can choose from, depending on what your adventure is. The different types of boots include Mountaineer boots, backpacking boots, hiking boots, casual boots, and some dedicated to trail running. The kind of boot you want all depends on what you will do. Are you going backpacking or hiking? How serious are you getting with it staying on the trail, or are you bushwacking? These are something to consider; let’s say you are going on a regular track backpacking, then that’s the type of boot you will want—a sturdy, durable boot dedicated to backpacking.

When choosing a boot, another choice to consider is doing want a hiking shoe where the ankle is open. It is easier to move, or a mid boot, where the ankle is covered to help prevent rolling of your ankle, or a high hiking boots, where the boot comes farther up on your ankle to help keep everything out of your boot. I prefer an excellent mid-boot if we continue getting ready to go backpacking. It allows going down the trail prevent rolling of your ankles when looking around and protects you from different outside elements getting into your boot while walking.

Size

The size of your boot is essential; I like to choose the size I usually wear. When you select the size of your hiking boots, remember that your feet will swell a little at the end of the day and that you will have thicker socks when walking. You don’t want your feet to slide while they are in your boot. If your feet slide while roaming will be uncomfortable, and if your heel is loose, this will cause hot spots and could cause blisters if you do not get the correct size.

The Plate

When choosing your hiking boots, remember that there is a plate in the hiking boots is designed to help eliminate the “flex” in a boot. This plate is there to help when backpacking or mountaineering to keep the foot stiff and be able to dig into the mountain and help with the weight of your gear, giving your feet a solid place to stand. Mountaineering boots have a plate that runs the entire shoe length, making it extra sturdy, whereas hiking boots could have a couple of different versions of a plate in them. They could be a plate about 3/4ths of the way in the boot or no plate at all. When choosing a boot, keep this in mind, as this could make or break a trip. The easiest way to test what type of plate is in a boot is palace a hand on the toe of the boot and the other on the heel and bend it in half. One of three things will happen, it will either fold in half, which means there is no plate, or just the toe will bend, which indicates its a 3/4ths plate, or it won’t fold at all and which means there is a plate the entire length of the boot. Returning to our backpacking trip, I choose a mid-boot with a plate about 3/4ths of the way through the boot. I enjoy that stiffness with a bit of flex at the toe, which helps with the weight of all the gear in my bag and help support my ankle while hiking.

Material

There are a couple of options for the material: rubber, polyester, leather, GORE-TEX, etc. With each of these materials, something to think about is how sturdy each one is, as well as breathability while still being able to resist the elements. There is also recycled rubber as a choice; it depends on what suits your preference. I enjoy leather, polyester, and the GORE-TEX combination. The reason behind this is I want how sturdy and durable the leather is, the polyester makes the shoe a little more breathable, and the GORE-TEX makes the boot waterproof. Now with GORE-TEX, that does cause it to be more expensive, so go with what you can afford and enjoy the look, don’t stress if it’s not GORE-TEX.

Waterproof

We are at the final step I go through when deciding on what type of hiking boots to make. GORE-TEX will make the boot waterproof, and it works exceptionally well! That does raise the price of the boot, though, so maybe you want to choose a boot that doesn’t have GORE-TEX because of the cost, or perhaps you enjoy the look of that boot a little better. That’s completely alright; there are a couple of different types of waterproofing appliances that you can use on your boot that work very well. The biggest thing is to ensure you have your boots waterproof; it is uncomfortable when you are walking around with soaking wet boots and feet. Plus, that will cause trench foot which causes the skin to peel away and damage blood vessels and nerves. Make your boots waterproof. This step is much more significant than most people think.

When Buying Hiking Boots

Don’t be too stressed when choosing a boot, have fun, do what you like, know what type of trip you will be taking, and keep everything dry. If you go into a store, don’t be afraid to ask an associate for help and information on the boot, and if you are buying online, don’t be scared to reach out to a forum about what they think of the boot you can also reach out and ask us what we believe.

To Improve

With this how-to, find ways to improve your search, and if there is something you thought of that we missed, feel free to reach out to us and let us know. We always want to improve, help others learn, and go out and enjoy God’s creation.

Wrapping it up

I wrote this because some friends have asked how to choose the correct hiking boot for themselves. When I searched and looked, I had yet to find someone who mentioned that support or “plate” in hiking boots and wanted to let others know about this support. I have also seen multiple other hikers I have gone with get trench foot because they did not have a waterproof boot that was also breathable, nothing terrible happened, thankfully, but it was still painful for them. I aim for everyone to have a fun, safe time in the great outdoors.