Shoe longevity
how often do you find yourself replacing your hiking boots or trail runners on the Appalachian trail? well, really on any trail.
Now I see the secret of making the best person, it is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth.
--Walt Whitman
I went through 6 pair of boots on my 2009 AT thru hike. Granted it was a very wet year. I attributed it to the modern boot construction methods (gluing the soles instead of stitching them). The constant wet conditions caused the shoe cement to de-laminate.
YMMV
"Fish Camp Woman.... Baby, I like the way you smell"
- Unknown Hinson
I was able to get about 600 miles out of my trail runners on the AT.
I did the AT in 2009 with 3 pair of boots. I had intended to just use 2 pair, but Pennsylvania through the Whites literally tore up the soles of my boots prompting a unexpected next pair.
One of my hiking partners used 6 pair.
2 pairs, Salamon goretex trail runners to start. Got about 1,000 miles on them. Then got Salamon non-goretex trail runners that lasted the remainder of the hike, but only just barely. Left them in the trash bin before leaving Millinocket. IMO they were well worth the money as they fit perfectly and I didn't get one blister the entire trip.
My NB trail runners shoes last about 800 miles before falling apart, but they degrade long before that time. Around 400 miles they go "flat", even though they still look OK and have plenty of tread. I use a good trick I learned from Mags and put Spenco insoles in to get a few hundred more miles out of them. Some (with money) change them out every 400 miles. Others (like me) get about 700 miles out of them. I threw away three pairs on the AT.
"Throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence." John Muir on expedition planning
so one could say i could make it around 6-800 miles in a pair of hiking boots? i'm starting out in a pair of Merrell mid height hikers and thinking about switching to a pair of Adidas Kanadia trail runners in warmer weather. I'm a huge fan of the Kanadias, they feel like you're wearing nothing but socks while still keeping feet safe.
Now I see the secret of making the best person, it is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth.
--Walt Whitman
I did it in 09 with 2 pairs of Garmont 'boots/shoes'. I probably could have done it with three, but the Duffy repaired the first set when I was in Waynesboro - which gave it a bit of a boost. Tread wear was fine, my issue was the toes tearing through from constant bending.
I replace my trail runners pretty frequently. About every 400 miles.
Climb a mountain...wash your spirit clean - John Muir
Hiking Blog NEW MY 10 Essentials
AT NOBO and SOBO, Long Trail
Shenandoah Ridgerunner, Speaker, Author
I guess I must be dreaming then, cause I was hoping to get a pair of Asolo TPS 520s to last the whole way.
Something about the way I walk caused my trail running shoes to wear unevenly. The uneven wear would actually begin to magnify over time so that by about 500 miles the shoes would have me walking with a pronounced limp that I could feel.
One pair of my trail runners wore a hole through the uppers in only 2 days. By then I think my feet were too big for my shoes anymore.
I'm a little disatisifed with trail runners, with what they are made of, specifically weak and squishy EVA foam and fabrics that aren't very durable. But I don't like boots either. Too stiff for me.
Some knew me as Piper, others as just Diane.
I hiked the PCT: Mexico to Mt. Shasta, 2008. Santa Barbara to Canada, 2009.
I second the recommendation for Salomon trail runners. They're the only thing I've used since switching from boots in Hot Springs on my first thru-hike. I use the XA Pro 3D Ultra (or some such ridiculously long name). They're a bit more expensive than most trail runners but I get great mileage out of them.
2 pair to a thru-hike.
The second pair on the PCT last year went for 1,400 miles, though that was overdoing it a bit.
had a single pair of montrails last me from fontana dam to dwg they were donezo when i got there used a second pair of montrails on and off with chacos the rest of the hike wore the sandles thru vermont and new hampshire.. did fontana to georgia with second pair of montrails.
I hiked the whole trail with a pair of keen newport sandals. So its possible, but recommended would be at least two.
Montrails?
That's a pretty good comment on Salamon as a brand. Unfortunately, my feet are not Salamon feet. I'd like to read a similar post about Montrails, which ARE made for my feet.--KinnickinicOriginally Posted by Croft
You never know just what you can do until you realize you absolutely have to do it.
--Salaun
2.5 Norwegian welted soles using 2 pair of boots: my starting pair (with low mileage), then came the spare pair in a Harpers Ferry mail drop, starting pair shipped back resoled, eventually shipped back to me in Bingham. Both pairs still used, one on it's 4th resole. I avg 1000+/- miles per resole. I'm a real fanatic about keeping my footwear in the best shape possible.
How many boots.
I started my thru with a pair of Montrail AT hiker boots. They had about 100 miles on them when I started. Wore the soles out at about the 1/2 way mark. Had the resoled and finished the hike with them. At the end the boots were shot.
The unfortunate thing is Montrail has been sold out and the boot is no longer made.
Grampie-N->2001
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
