Lightweight walking/hiking boots suggestions?

Meindl, I bought some lightweight boots for mountain hiking in the pyrenees and they are still going strong 15cyears later. Excellent quality.

seanoconn said:

If there is such a thing as lightweight boots. I need the ankle support boots offer for uneven ground. Is there anything out there that’s durable but not too weighty?

Have been in an outdoors shop in the last few years and picked up the boots? You can get mid-height boots that weight little more than a pair of running shoes nowadays.

If you want value, do you have a Decathlon store near you? Go along and pick up a few and try some on.

seanoconn said:

elbowloh said:

seanoconn said:

If there is such a thing as lightweight boots. I need the ankle support boots offer for uneven ground. Is there anything out there that’s durable but not too weighty?

Have been in an outdoors shop in the last few years and picked up the boots? You can get mid-height boots that weight little more than a pair of running shoes nowadays.

If you want value, do you have a Decathlon store near you? Go along and pick up a few and try some on.

I could pick up a few and try some on but light and comfy doesn’t mean they’ll be any good. I’d rather pay more for something that isn’t going to kill your feet after a few miles, supports your ankle, doesn’t slip around on wet rocks and offers some protection against the wet.

Honestly, the Decathlon stuff is really good, they have a really good range of ankle supporting, grippy and waterproof boots. However, they stock Merrell and Salomon as well for a bit more money.

Meindl are good but quite wide fitting.
Brasher boots are the very definition of lightweight, comfort focussed boots but are not very hard wearing.
Karrimor owned by sports direct. I bought a really nice pair that were dirt cheap and super comfortable but have come unglued. Maybe just unlucky but am now wary.
Salomon are premium brand but notoriously short lived. None of my Salomon running gear has been fault free.
Inov8 are my preferred running shoe. Quality was great but then dipped after sale of business but now bought back and seems to have improved again.
Scarpa, asolo are premium quality and price.

Grip is a very conditional measure. For mud and wet in winter, deep aggressive lugs are most important. For wet rock, don’t expect miracles from any brand despite any marketing guff. Salomon contra grip is notoriously bad on wet rock.

Decathlon stuff very good pound for pound. Have a lot of their gear where I can’t justify premium brand for occasional use.

Teva Arrowood riva Event leather boots are good. They're lightweight, waterproof (Event) and come with slipper like comfort straight out of the box. Prices seem to have rocketed recently- along with everything else.

grenw said:

Inov-8. I use their Roclite 275 trail running shoes for everything including climbing munroes in the summer. They do boots too which are not much heavier and much lighter than pretty much anything on the market.

In the winter I turn to a pair of Salomon XA Ultra gore-tex shoes. Heavier but sturdier and again they do a boot version

I don't know what the boots are like but I used to use their fell shoes (X Talons, X Claws) but switched after the uppers kept tearing, always at the point the material met the toe bumper.

I bought something like this a couple of years back...

https://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/15958468/brasher-men-s-country-walker-walking-boots-15958468

and was surprised to find that they weighed in at less than an all fabric pair that I'd had for year, something like a hi-gear pair I think.

As @elbowloh says above, it depends what you mean by lightweight. The leather ones are very comfy but can be a tadge on the warm side!

North Face used to make something like that called the fastpacker or similar.

Durability was about as good as a pair of trainers but they were very comfortable for me

I have found the feeling of weight is as much to do with the stiffness of the sole as the actual weight. I had some cheap Hi-Tec boots which were fine, but the softer soles made them feel heavier on longer walks. I splashed out on some Scarpa replacements when the Hi-Tecs wore out and the stiffer sole makes them feel lighter even though they are probably a touch heavier.

pangolin said:

I had some scarpas that ...

The plural of scarpa is scarpe

photonic69 said:

My advice is to go to a "proper" outdoors/walking shop. None of your Go Outdoors/NorthFace/Blacks etc. I went to our local one when I was looking for new boots. I tried on at least 6 different pairs from all manufacturers. The shop let me take them home to wear indoors over the course of a week and return them to try others. 10 minutes trying them on in a shop is very very different to walking for 10 hours on hills! The initial Meindl ones I thought were so comfy in the shop were not after 30 minutes at home.. Nor were the Scarpa ones. After 4 visits and 4 weeks I opted for the Berhaus/Brasher ones (Berghaus bought out Brasher but sales fell under the Berghaus brand so they renamed them Brasher again).

Try them with summer and winter weight socks. Also try different footbeds. Brasher do volume reducing insoles so if you need a bigger size you can reduce it somewhat.

I love my Brashers. Shame I still developed Plantar Fasciitis and can't walk at the moment!

I got my last proper pair from a specialist shop. They had a ramp for you to walk on to get a better feel for the fit when walking down steep slopes where you can real problems with the toes. A lot will depend on their intended use though.

Are Berghaus yet another of the once good brands now owned by Sports Direct?

TheBigBean said:

None of you just have leather ones anymore?

Yes, my 'Scarpe' are leather. I much prefer over the textile ones. Would also add that I have really noticed the benefit of Vibram soles.

As a competitive fell runner, I used Inov-8 Mudclaws and X-Talons for years and really liked them. But I’ve developed hallux rigidus (stiff arthritic big toe) in recent years and am now finding that the flexible, narrow, thinly padded fit of Inov-8 performance shoes increases pain in my bad toe. Stiffer, max cushioned, rocker soles are recommended for hallux rigidus and I’ve now switched to Hoka for my walking and non-extreme trail running. It’s been a revelation. In particular, I’ve found Speedgoats to be blissfully comfortable. The high stack soft cushion, stiff sole, rocker design and super grippy Vibram outsole help me walk for miles with only minimal pain in my toe because it is not being constantly flexed with each step. Despite appearances, they are really lightweight. Although designed as an ultra running shoe, they are very popular in the USA for fast through hiking on long distance trails. You can get Speedgoats in mid height Goretex versions which might suit the OP. Hoka also do other more hiking specific shoes which are heavier and more substantial.

ddraver said:

TheBigBean said:

None of you just have leather ones anymore?

Heavy and less waterproof without severe faff. Part of me mourns with you, but a lot of me doesn't...

Almost everyone in Chamonix uses trail runners to walk below the snow line now. Leather (likely pseudo-leather) is reserved for alpinism. Unless you're carrying a big pack, boots for dartmoor bogs is the only exception I've found where boots win.

I should qualify this opinion by noting that I walked the Ananpurna circuit in sandals, but leather just seems to be strong, breathable and comfortable to me.

ddraver said:

You were ahead of your time!

By using old tech leather boots?