What footwear for outdoor activities should I own?
3
5
Ṁ129resolved Jan 1
1D
1W
1M
ALL
40%16%
Approach shoes
30%10%
Waterproof hiking boots
15%16%
Microspikes
15%7%
Climbing shoes
7%
Timberland boots
8%
Winter boots
0.0%
Trail runners
0.0%
Hiking shoes
10%
Xero barefoot sandals
What footwear for outdoor activities should I own?
I hike 10 to 20 miles in a typical week, backpack a few times a year, camp, and just started climbing. I'm moving toward more technical mountain summits, but nothing intense enough to require mountaineering boots or crampons (yet).
I currently have these:
Timberland boots
Approach shoes
Climbing shoes
Winter boots
Microspikes
I want the right tool for the right job, but I'd like to get away with as few shoes as possible.
Which ones do I need, and which can I live without?
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answered
Xero barefoot sandals
answered
Xero barefoot sandals
@Alice yup the zero drop and relatively small amount of padding that will make it very obvious when you're walking heels first!
answered
Waterproof hiking boots
answered
Xero barefoot sandals
@ian When you say "walk as our ancestors did," is that specifically about zero drop? They look tempting given how light they are, but the Bay has so much poison oak.
answered
Waterproof hiking boots
answered
Xero barefoot sandals
They're ultralight and they teach you how to walk as our ancestors did! I backpack in them all the time, have done hundreds of miles in them and love em. I use these: https://xeroshoes.com/shop/sandals/ztrail-men/
answered
Approach shoes
My mountain guide recommended I get approach shoes, which are a hybrid between hiking shoes and climbing shoes. Should I hike in hiking boots (or hiking shoes or trail runners) and switch to climbing shoes when it gets technical? Should I do everything in approach shoes? I'm not doing difficult climbs, so maybe the extra traction from approach shoes is all I need? They're not the best choice for mud and slush though, because the soles lack lugs.
answered
Timberland boots
Buying boys' Timberlands was a purely aesthetic decision. I don't do gorpcore and find every other hiking boot to be unacceptably ugly. But the original Timberlands haven't changed much since the Seventies, so they're by far my heaviest gear. They also aren't fully waterproof; the tongue isn't gusseted and rain seeps in. I'm debating whether to replace these with actually waterproof hiking boots, hiking shoes, or trail runners.