!44: Trekking Shoes - 5 Essential Questions to Ask Before You Choose a Trekking Shoe | !44: Shopping Lightweight Mountaineering Boots

!±8± Trekking Shoes - 5 Essential Questions to Ask Before You Choose a Trekking Shoe

Trekking Shoes are the most important piece of equipment for trekking. You'll be treading thousands and thousands of paces in rough country in them and you definitely do not want to spend days or weeks with sore feet, or even worse injure yourself in the wilderness.

So you have to make sure the shoes you have strike the right balance for your trek between comfort, performance, protection and durability.

All Trekking shoes are not equal. Unfortunately there is not really such a thing as a 'one size fits all' trekking shoe. Sandals, trail runners, light boots, heavy boots and mountaineering boots are some of the basic types and trekking shoes can have features of more than one basic type.

You can get away with one pair of hiking shoes on several different treks if the treks are fairly similar and not too demanding. But it is a really good idea to get the right kind of shoe for your trek. It makes all the difference in the world being able to walk comfortably and can often mean the difference between a trekking holiday and a trekking adventure.

A lot depends on the terrain you'll be traversing and how long you'll be traversing it for. Generally speaking the rougher the country the more you will need a tougher, heavier shoe that will need more wearing in and be less comfortable.

Questions to ask when choosing a trekking shoe:

1. How much ankle support will you need?

If you are ascending and descending steep inclines, you'll likely need more ankle support than if you are only on flat ground. For ankle support, choose a shoe that rises above your ankle.

2. How much punishment will your trekking shoes need to take?

If you are trekking through dense undergrowth full of sharp sticks and rocks, you'll need more foot protection that if the trek takes place only on well-trodden paths. For protection, a dense heavy material like leather usually offers more resistance to sharp sticks and rocks than a lightweight synthetic material.

A heavy trekking shoe will require more wearing in than a lighter one. Wearing in your trekking shoe is a very, very good idea. Who wants to deal with sore feet on the first night of their 30 day trek?

3. Waterproofing, how important is this?

Are you going to an extremely wet place like a swamp or a very dry place where getting your feet a little wet will come as a relief. Some trekking shoes are waterproof out of the box, others need to be treated or will be just water resistant.

4. Will there be extremes of temperature?

If the trek is very hot, will ventilating your feet be important? Will the weight of the shoe be a factor? What about warmth if it is cold? Will you need to wear very thick socks and so need a slightly bigger shoe?

5. What kind of grip will you need?

Here you are thinking about the sole of the shoe. Will it need softer rubber for wet rocks? Will the sole need a little extra cushioning because you'll be walking on tarmac all day? Will a heavier sole tire you out more quickly?

One last thing - be sure to clean and look after your trekking shoes well, especially out there on the trek. Look after your trekking shoes, and they'll look after you.