suggestions on boots for desert hiking

[AllDownhillFromHere]

Can anyone recommend a beefy pair of boots that work in hot/desert conditions? Conventional wisdom says your feet sweat too much - I'm considering using a drill or awl to punch holes, but I'm also thinking someone has solved this problem already.

[Dogwood]

Merrel Moab Ventilator Mids or Keen Voyaguer Mids is prolly what you're thinking. I tend to not go all leather and certainly not high tops preferring a synthetic thinner construction main upper with lots of mesh that breathes well but doesn't let too much sand into the shoe. What I wear depends on if it's a day hike or I'm thru hiking in the desert. There's some misconception what a desert entails as well. Deserts can vary wildly in conditions. For example, high desert or low elevation or mixed. Always hot during the day or a cold desert like the Gobi. These details are vitally import IMO in shoe options..


The sock one wears and how one cares for feet also plays significantly into dealing with sweaty feet.


Punching awl holes in shoes? Good luck. There are other less destructive options.

[AllDownhillFromHere]

As an example, something like this, but where (somehow) your feet don't get hot?
https://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/14774?page=mens-gore-tex-cresta-hikers-leather

[Venchka]

Several hundred folks a year hike 700 miles from Mexico to Kennedy Meadows in the flimsiest trail runners they can find. 2/3 to 3/4 of those miles are pure desert. The rest is evergreen forest.
Where are you going that you need something different?
Wayne


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Dogwood]

Please explain why given what you've said you are looking at a high top leather WP heavy boot?

[Leo L.]

I'm doing most of my hiking in the Middle East desert.
Have tried so many shoes, more than I can count.
I came from sport shoes/trailrunners, then tried ruddged work shoes, lightweight handmade leather boots, and now am up to Military desert boots (leather&canvas).
My mates do wear all type of footware, sandals, hiking boots, trailrunners, whatever.
Every shoe I've seen so far has a pretty short life and has some disadvantages.

What I didn't like with trailrunner-type of shoes:
- too much sand/debris in the shoe
- may become smelly soon
- too short life

What I like with my desert boots:
- no sand/debris in the shoe
- keeps away all the thorny/scatchy things from foot&ankle
- reasonable lifespan
- smell doesn't get out of control
There are still disadvantages, like, higher weight, tedious to get in&out, etc.
But until now, they are the best option for me.

I would never try to hike in a all-leather Gore Tex boot in the desert.
The counterproductivity of this could be maybe topped by punching holes in them.

One question I'd like to ask, which kind of desert this is?
Sand? Rock? Mixed?

[garlic08]

Leo L. does a great job of evaluating the problems with trailrunners. I particularly don't like throwing them away after 500 to 700 miles. The other issues I can deal with.

For me, lighter weight is critical, since my desert hikes tend to require (for me) ridiculously long water carries, over 40 miles--gotta move fast and light. I know I can't do that in heavier boots. Well, maybe once, but not on a thru hike, day after day.

I agree the answer depends on the type of hiking and terrain, as well as your goals and experience. And your feet. If there were one best hiking shoe, there would only be one hiking shoe. I also agree on a categorical "NO" with the Goretex-lined leather boots.

[Leo L.]

There is another issue with trailrunners in the desert, I only hinted in my text above:
In the Middle East deserts Acacia trees are most common. They have thorns the size and strength of a darning needle. It can easily punch through a trailrunner. When this happened first time to me, I was lucky enough to have a leatherman-type tool at hand to pull the thorn out of the sole - just to discover 4 more thorns stuck in the shoe. I'm afraid such an event could render a shoe useless if you could not pull out the thorn.
Remember that in the US West you have similar thorny things, remember once a Jolla thorn pierced my shoe in Arizona.
My desert boots have soles strong enough to block thorns.

But again, this is just my opinion and experience, and all depends on where the desert shoes would put to use.

[Dogwood]

Yes good pts. Goes back to where you're hiking...the conditions. Low cut trail runners don't have to be an absolute NO NO in desert! If you're on highly used maintained wide enough to avoid desert spines tread like on the PCT through the Mojave or going off trail through cholla, bush manzanita, Acacia, thorny Mesquite(here in Hawaii and Nevada), fishhook barrel or ferro cacti, prickly pear, thorny palms, etc makes a difference! Different deserts have different thorny plants with different high low hazards to legs with some deserts and hiking conditions having a much lower risk than others.

Hear ya Leo. Working on trails in HI or in NV doing landscaping thorny stiff 2-3 inch lethal mesquite spines through a shoe right through the sole is no fun. Been there. Walking through a date farm or trails with wild palms was lethal too with the spines on the base of the fronds. Easily infected. Some palms like in the Phoenix genus have lethally dangerous stiff needles.

[Dogwood]

BTW, you can find several Acacia species here in N. America that are super thorny sometimes in hiking situations in Arizona, Florida, Texas, etc, One species has the common name catclaw for good reason.

[yaduck9]

Can anyone recommend a beefy pair of boots that work in hot/desert conditions? Conventional wisdom says your feet sweat too much - I'm considering using a drill or awl to punch holes, but I'm also thinking someone has solved this problem already.

http://ruggedoutdoors.com/moab-venti...hoCCdQQAvD_BwE


The souls are thicker on these then the trail runner versions, helps a lot when walking on rocky trails or following a dry stream bed.

Medicated foot powder keeps the funk away

Don't lace the up all of the way, use with dirty girl gaitors to keep debris out

Good for crossing streams, good traction, dry out fairly quick.

They are a compromise.

[Dogwood]

Yaduck gave the same rec in the second post.

In regard to long thorns piercing soles in SOME desert hiking and working conditions one solution I've found is not just the shoe but switching out stock foot beds. I like Sole Dean Karnezes for not only this but other attributes that address my foot traits. https://www.backcountry.com/sole-dea...dition-footbed heck I might sometimes even use these in my tennis shoes.

[Leo L.]

I'm always wondering how does any shoe inlay influence the space for the feet?
Tried inlays in my recent desert boots while doing some winter nighthikes in them, to prevent the cold to creep through the thin soles, but the inlays ate too much space and I developed two black toenails within a few hours.

[Dogwood]

I'm always wondering how does any shoe inlay influence the space for the feet?
Tried inlays in my recent desert boots while doing some winter nighthikes in them, to prevent the cold to creep through the thin soles, but the inlays ate too much space and I developed two black toenails within a few hours.

That's certainly a consideration! Different foot beds or orthotics, whether OTC or custom, have different volume hence affect the interior shoe volume. Different sock designs and sock thickness affects the same. It absolutely pays to consider this which is why SOLE has their silver and red THIN models and Superfeet has models such as their Flexthin.

Most times stock foot beds in everything from running to hiking shoes are ridiculously thin and cheap even in high end $$$ shoes so if considering switching out to a thicker foot bed volume the shoe size should be increased at time of purchase. Also, what I do is buy hiking shoes I intend to LD hike in a size larger possibly leaving the Swiss cheese stock foot beds in at the beginning of a hike but lay the much thicker and supportive SOLE Karnezes over the top. As temps tend to increase on many of my hikes and as my feet swell I'll remove the stock cheapie foot beds to get more interior shoe volume. Sometimes I'll switch out to a thinner sock as well.

BTW SOLE has a model for Snow Sports users designed exactly for keeping feet warmer. But, just the addition of a thicker foot bed or orthotic in itself usually increases warmth compare to thin cheap stock foot beds.

[Dogwood]

I'll change up lacing techniques or employ stretchable bungee like laces too to tweak interior shoe volume or add foot comfort. Being aware of things like conditions and individual usage responding proactively adapting is a key component to backpacking IMHO and in LIFE.

[AllDownhillFromHere]

Specifically, the PCT - a mix of high desert, Mojave, then up into the hills. The footbed is well trampled and generally not thorny. I stay away from Merrell's these days as they've gone all cheap and the soles are all wobbly. If I could find a 'ventilator' style upper with a proper 'boot' sole, I'd be in heaven.

[AllDownhillFromHere]

Since I cant edit previous post (SUPER lame btw), the response was to Leo L. Can you recommend a brand of "desert boot" ?

[Leo L.]

I've described my specific boots here (the one in the middle):
https://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/sho...=1#post2158003
Unfortunately you may not be able to purchase them outside EU, but I belive they might be a bit overkill when doing the PTC.
What I'm doing you can look up here:
https://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/sho...=1#post2156634
A good part is bushwhacking (except there are no bushes), not on well-trodden paths.

For the years I'm a registered user here I'm always thinking about to do the PTC one day, and in the back of my mind accounting the necessary gear.
Not sure if this desert boots would go with me.
I think, there might be lighter options that would fit better.

[AllDownhillFromHere]

Thanks, looking online there are 100s of boots which are similar to the middle ones of your picture, what I worry about is that 90% of them are made poorly. The search goes on. Do yours have the ventilation holes in the arch? (if so, are they actually useful?)

[CassSarahSilvius]

i had a pair of altima desert boots in iraq. american made relatively light and they had a "sand sole" looked like a rippled potato chip but helped. mine were serviceable for close to 7 years. dont know if they still make them but might be worth looking into.