Replacement Shoes: Buy Now or Later?

[Half-Life]

I'm using 10.5 Men's Montrail Mountain Masochists to start my hike. I've found a decent deal on replacement pairs, but I've read that my shoe size will likely increase as I hike.

So I'm wondering if putting off the purchase of replacement shoes is the best idea, even though I lose out on a potential $40 savings? Or is there merit in saving $40 and just adding +1 size (the roughly suggested guideline) to my shoe estimation?

I'm leaning toward waiting, but would appreciate the feedback.

[leaftye]

If it's a good deal, you can resell your spare shoes later.

[fiddlehead]

Buy them a size bigger and you'll probaby be fine.
Half size depending on how much you run/jog/hike now.
But, I'd go a full size bigger if you are not very experienced. (your feet will grow, plus you'll find that you prefer shoes that are too big rather than too small)

[Donde]

If it is a steal then just go +1 or 1/2 ( I find going wide useful also YMMV), but in general I would just wait.

[leaftye]

I'll go ahead and elaborate on my last post. Back when the Inov8 US store was still open, I bought a bunch of Roclite 315's at a really good price. I ended up preferring another type of shoe, so I ended up selling most of those 315's. I got back most of what I paid for them, but could have got back more if I really wanted to make money.

[10-K]

It depends on how active you are. I hike all the time so my shoe size doesn't change if I go for a long hike. So.... if you're not out much you might gain a half size or so but if you're on your feet a lot maybe not.

You can also manage small size changes somewhat with thicker/thinner socks and inserts like Superfeet.

[Jack Tarlin]

I would NOT buy additional shoes/boots ahead of time. Your feet will change quite a bit during a long hike....usually they'll get considerably bigger. I suggest you visit outfitters as you go, and take the time to be professionally fitted by someone who knows what they're doing. And try different styles/companies......a "10 and a half" from one manufacturer may fit you entirely differently from one made by another. Some companies run "narrow", some don't. Take the time and do it right. And avoid, whenever possible, buying shoes on-line. All too often, this simply doesn't work out.

[Half-Life]

Thanks for the input everyone.

After sleeping on it (and then thinking about it some more after waking up), I've decided I'm going to wait to purchase. 10-K, I'm an avid weightlifter, but I'm not sure what effect squatting, dead-lifting, etc. have on my feet as compared to walking long miles.

Adjusting my footwear needs as I go seems to be the easiest way to manage it - I like keeping it simple. I also don't like the idea of potentially purchasing more pairs than I might actually need. And with postage hikes, any deals I find will be partially eroded through higher shipping costs.

[Teacher & Snacktime]

This brings another question to mind....if you're not supposed to hike in shoes that haven't been fully broken in, wouldn't you want to buy them in advance, break them in and then ship them to yourself? Also, if you lose considerable weight you may not need a larger size. I would probably buy the shoes a 1/2 size larger, break them in and ship them with extra socks in case I didn't need the extra size. Now mind, I'm not experienced AT ALL at this, but for what it's worth, that's my 2 cents.

[Mr. Bumpy]

I'm an avid weightlifter, but I'm not sure what effect squatting, dead-lifting, etc. have on my feet as compared to walking long miles.

That is a really interesting that I'd like to know the answer to. I hope you post a follow-up after your hike. I started lifting almost a year ago with a lot of pulls and squats and haven't had my feet change any.

[colorado_rob]

This brings another question to mind....if you're not supposed to hike in shoes that haven't been fully broken in, wouldn't you want to buy them in advance, break them in and then ship them to yourself? Also, if you lose considerable weight you may not need a larger size. I would probably buy the shoes a 1/2 size larger, break them in and ship them with extra socks in case I didn't need the extra size. Now mind, I'm not experienced AT ALL at this, but for what it's worth, that's my 2 cents.

This is my exact M.O. Pre-break-in a couple pair of my absolute, tried and true favorite hiking shoes, 1/2 size larger than usual. If I need "filler" in shoes that are too large, I use an extra foot bed rather then thicker socks. I actually almost always have two footbeds and swap back and forth between one and two in each shoe.

[leaftye]

I haven't have to break in any trail running shoes. Not one bit. They're best in their first mile.

[Malto]

This brings another question to mind....if you're not supposed to hike in shoes that haven't been fully broken in, wouldn't you want to buy them in advance, break them in and then ship them to yourself? Also, if you lose considerable weight you may not need a larger size. I would probably buy the shoes a 1/2 size larger, break them in and ship them with extra socks in case I didn't need the extra size. Now mind, I'm not experienced AT ALL at this, but for what it's worth, that's my 2 cents.

I bought five pairs of shoes before my thru. Worked out great because I hiked a lot prior to my thru and my feet didn't change. I did either a thirty mile day hike or a 13 mile run on each pair to break them in. Completely unnecessary. I had to buy a pair of shoes in Tahoe when a resupply was diverted. No break in and it didn't matter. I believe breaking in was a bigger deal back in the days of heavy leather boots. Ymmv.

One reason not to buy...... 80% don't finish.

[MuddyWaters]

If you find shoes you love, buy a few pair. You can always sell them later. Mfgs change models too often, shoes are a fashion item, more than anything else , for most people.

When I graduated from college at 21, I wore a 9.5, Now I wear an 11-11.5. My foot increase occured from lifting heavy weights I believe.

[Teacher & Snacktime]

This is my exact M.O. Pre-break-in a couple pair of my absolute, tried and true favorite hiking shoes, 1/2 size larger than usual. If I need "filler" in shoes that are too large, I use an extra foot bed rather then thicker socks. I actually almost always have two footbeds and swap back and forth between one and two in each shoe.

Cool...nice to know my instincts aren't all out of whack!

[Half-Life]

That is a really interesting that I'd like to know the answer to. I hope you post a follow-up after your hike. I started lifting almost a year ago with a lot of pulls and squats and haven't had my feet change any.

I have not found any definitive information on this. There are some anecdotes of people losing (significant amounts of) weight and having there shoe size decrease, albeit not by much. I will surely keep track of my pre- and post-hike shoe size and width, though.

As for buying shoes on the go, are along-the-trail suppliers pretty well stocked?

If it turns out I love my Montrail's, I'd be happy to find them along the way. But I've also heard (in running circles) that it's good to change shoes every now and then to avoid repetitive stress injuries.

[evyck da fleet]

Keeping my feet happy was probably the most important thing on a daily basis during my hike (you know since lightning, hypothermia wasn't a daily worry) so I would not look to cut costs there. If you're an experienced hiker and you know you'll use the shoes later I don't see much harm buying them beforehand because you're feet probably won't get too much bigger. If you're newer to hiking I'd leave open the possibility to changing brands and sizes throughout your hike.

[BrianLe]

I buy shoes ahead of time for long trips, and even did so before my first one, but I had done quite a number of miles in shoes on more modest (couple hundred mile) hikes and had gone through some evolutions with shoe types to even get there, to include sizing up --- so I felt comfortable buying ahead of time.

There's no way that I can find shoes that work for me (for long distance hiking) at local stores along the way, plus buying ahead gives some hope at stocking up at a decent price. But this is indeed a tough conundrum before a first long hike. I think the best solution is to do a relatively long shakedown trip (hundred miles or even more if possible) and see how you feel at the end of that. I'm standardized on shoes that are nominally 1-1/2 sizes bigger than my feet are, and now in EE width (which is new for me). Unfortunately there's no standard formula here.