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I bought them a few days ago and took them for a long walk and then a short hike to try them out. They were fine with the walk, they felt great, but with the hike, problems problems problems. A seam seems to have been done slightly wrong and looks damaged. A friend who runs the shop and was with me at the time took one look at them and apologized, offering either an exchange or money back, that it's clearly a manufacturing fault, very uncommon with this brand, but it can happen.

I thought I'll go for the exchange, but then on the unaffected boot something started rubbing really bad against the top of my big toe joint with every step. The other with the loosened seam was OK. We were going downhill for most of the time. I had an unrelated blister on my heel from before so I started out with that foot slightly loosened, but then came to the point that no matter how I laced it was just bad. It's like the boot decided on a point where it bent in and that point was exactly against my toe. It was really, really painful in the end.

Now I have the option of looking elsewhere, but after trying on tons of boots these are the closest I came to a good fit. They were also great on the walk and they felt fantastic at first. I actually have this problem very often with boots, just not this painful. I often pad that area for a while until the boot "learns" to bend differently. I think I generally get shoes that are too long to accommodate my width and then certain parts of the shoe hit places they were not designed to... But it also could have been down to the initial bad lacing. That is why I don't want to give up on them.

But then, I'm really afraid that this coupled with the defect is actually a sign of them being a poor fit on me. That perhaps there was no fault in the boot and it's just my foot and walking style that broke it and I feel really bad about it...

I just don't know. Any ideas or pointers?

Martina
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  • what kind of boots are those? sturdy full-leather? – njzk2 Sep 15 '16 at 19:36
  • Nope, a combination of leather and membrane. – Martina Sep 15 '16 at 19:48
  • if the shop thinks it's a defect, you can probably accept that it is, and that it is not because of your foot. Maybe you can try a lighter shoe, that would not be pushing so hard on your feet? – njzk2 Sep 15 '16 at 20:13
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    Why to vote to close this? Question about boots might be one of the most important topics in this whole SE. – Desorder Sep 15 '16 at 20:27
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    Is there a reason you want boots rather than shoes for hiking? Ankle support is a myth for most folks. I just did a week long off-trail trip over talus and boulders in Inov-8 trail runners. I would have hated it in boots. – topshot Sep 15 '16 at 20:28
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    I was actually looking at lighter shoes at first as I'm used to being barefoot a lot of the time, but they lacked certain things I feel I need for hiking while being as clumsy as I am with my totally flimsy joints - proper grip, not shifting on my foot (all low shoes do that on me), waterproofing, cushioning, some ankle support - things like that. These actually were the lightest option with these features.

    It has been remarked that I bend and work my foot a bit too much compared to other people and that it might not be the best idea while wearing most shoes, though.

     – Martina Sep 15 '16 at 20:32
  • I went in my otherwise well fitting running shoes a couple of times and decided it's not my thing. All that I hated about it was OK in the boots, that is until they started developing issues. – Martina Sep 15 '16 at 20:52
  • @topshot "Ankle support is a myth for most folks." I'm not challenging that but boots came really handy when you're carrying a pack. – Desorder Sep 15 '16 at 21:02
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    Martina, welcome to outdoors.SE! However, SE is not for personal advice. SE questions are supposed to be ones that have answers that would be of more general interest to people other than the OP. This is very specific to you and your situation and your boots. –  Sep 15 '16 at 21:20
  • @Desorder for most people, it is rare to be in a situation where you actually need a pack heavy enough to justify that (not that a lot of people don't carry very heavy packs, but often they don't really have to) – njzk2 Sep 15 '16 at 22:13
  • Again. I wasn't challenging that. I use shoes myself whenever I have a up to 5kg pack. That's a rare occasion and only happens when I'm planning to cover a good 50km track in a weekend. I tent to carry more stuff (replace the dehy food for real stuff, a couple of beer cans) if the trip is shorter. That's when the boots come handy. – Desorder Sep 15 '16 at 22:20
  • @Desorder Personally, I wouldn't go to boots except for winter or if I was carrying LOTS of weight like over 40kg (I normally carry 10-15kg). I'm not sure I would even then because having the best foot/ankle control possible would be even more important though I suspect I'd be moving much slower then, too (certainly uphill!). – topshot Sep 16 '16 at 12:03
  • @Martina I'm surprised that if you go barefoot a lot that your feet and joints are weak. That's an issue for most people that wear today's overly cushy shoes, heels, etc. Not sure what you mean by shifting on your foot. I like room to move since feet will expand as you hike. A good fitting sock is crucial though! Maybe you have oddly shaped feet that will require more searching. I would stay away from Goretex - more marketing spin. Your feet will get wet with sweat if nothing else and once they do will take forever to dry. You need something that drains quickly (highly breathable). – topshot Sep 16 '16 at 12:15
  • @topshot I believe liking boots or not is not in question here. Martina is asking if the pair of boots might have fitting problems or not. I personally like boots as you can see in the list below but I use shoes as well just less often. I don't think I'm going to convince you or vice versa. It's personal choice. Again I wasn't challenging your opinion. :) – Desorder Sep 18 '16 at 23:43

1 Answers1

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Boots take a little while to break in. My La Sportiva Makalus is a full leather mountaineering boots and took years to break in. In our mountaineering group, we had another 3 guys using Makalus and we would always finish a trip with busted feet.

Some other boots I have for other activities don't take as long. It usually takes half a dozen trips to break in.

As your friend is the store owner and is happy to replace your boots, you could ask him if you could keep the boots for another couple of trips and see if they get better. Maybe try to use them for a few days (at home, to the supermarket, everywhere) and see if they break in nicely. If they do, then you could exchange for a new pair and go through the process again.

Another tip may be useful is to use a sock liner. That would help avoiding blister. What I usually do is to use a thin sock with a very thick on top.

As a matter of reference, below is the gear I use for my activities.

La Sportiva Makalu

Lowa Z-8s GTX

Vasques ST Elias GTX

Bridgedale Summit socks (the thick pair)

Bridgedale Coolmax Liner (the thin pair)

Desorder
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