These are the cheapest new hiking boots I could find in our city, of course it was from the warehouse and at only $30.00NZ, let's see if they are of any practical use.
looks ok in the ad
Holding the shoe at the store didn't give me much confidence on how well this boot would give me ankle support. Trying it on then walking around I still felt the same, lack of ankle support. Also the heel was not only too thin, but made of too soft a material. I can picture a small twig piercing into my foot from under the boot.
The plan was always to purchase this and trial as our summer ends, therefore I had to come up with a quick solution to these concerns before heading out up onto the ridges.
partial solutin, GEL insoles
I had been thinking along the lines of adding an insole layer to solve the problem of the thin heel. Then I saw this on Trademe, this should make my feet more comfortable on the trail. On hindsight I doubt it would stop a twig from getting through to the sole of my feet.
GEL insoles and thick Hiking Socks
With the GEL in place and thick Hiking socks, there was a significant improvement to the ankle support. You may notice that the boots looks slightly big on my feet, and they are. From all the Youtube Hikers/Backpackers video's, they all recommend getting a boot/shoe the next size up after you do a fit. I totally agree with this, after walking for many years my toes always pressed against the front of the shoe that gave me pain hours after getting home. To compensate for the shoe, I wear 2 pairs of socks, it all fitted snuggly with no pressure on my toes especially during trail descents.
So today I went out on a small walk along one of the ridges around Wainuiomata. With both steep climbs and descents, it was a pretty decent workout. I only took 1 ski pole with me which helped making the steep descents comfortable.
decent workout
SUMMARY
If I had to give these boots a score, it would be 3/10. Yes it was cheap without adding the insole, but it just felt too thin all around. I will definitely invest in a good quality boot before next summer.
It is winter hiking that appeals to me right now, my goal is to sleep overnight up on one of these ridges while theres a torrential downpour going on!
| Crypto Support | Wallet |
|---|---|
| ETHEREUM | 0x23Bd7B699383D96513636bf145dCc272a1502076 |
| BAT | 0x6fE7EC6B8bB98210468a15B3235abC80edB70b3d |
- with every post comes experience, as we all strive to do better.
- curate/up vote, let's encourage and inspire each other.
- as always, thank you for viewing my post.
