East coast mtn. Trail hikers street runners vs trail runners???

[petedelisio]

??? For you that have hiked more than 20 miles of east coast with wet vs dry.(definitely not object to any terain experience any where in the Multiverse.
But what percentage of the AT do you think can handle a cheap road walking or running shoe vs. a "higher dollar"/or even cheaper """ trail runners or shoes or boots"""

I am coming to the conclusion that on average, one can get more traction in many cheap street sneakers for about 80% of the international AT. Even including some of the mud.. snow and ice meh...
Cheap more grippy quick wear rubber on some big chain crap sporting good store road walkers, and even dare say W world seems to afford me more grip than top end trail runners and boots....
Trust me, I've dealt with slick cheap sneakers In the wrong places, but it seems every high dollar "trail runner" I try any more just fail when it comes to moistened forever heat compacted dirt.
I'm hoping many of you understand where I'm coming from.
Thank you... - Broken Knee

And I do understand the whole road bike tire vs mtn vs $ concept. Just hoping someone shows me a trail that works best for me.

[peakbagger]

If you go the route of using cheap sneakers or even trail runners, throw away the inserts that come with them and replace them with a good quality insert. I use the Columbia (formerly Montrail) heat moldable inserts. They cost as much as some trail runners but they last several years. They tend to take up bit more volume than the standard inserts so you need to take them with you if buying in person. I live and hike in the whites and have section hiked about 2/3rds of the AT after I switched to trail runners (I used heavy hiking boots with vibram soles for the first 1/3rd). New Balance still makes a standard trail runner https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 in addition to their high end trail runners that may be ultralight but also tend to fall apart a lot quicker. The 418ATs I linked have far better traction than standard sneaker but realistically if you are in mud/clay, whatever you use for traction is going to get slick. Trail runners are not going to last forever, I hike every weekend and on occasion during the week and I wear out a pair about once a year. The nice part with having good inserts is I throw the trail runners away, swap the inserts in and do not have to break the new ones in.

The other key with trailrunners is buy some lightweight gaiters. The Dirty Girl brand, despite the name, are about the best design. The one caveat is the stick on velcro patches that attach to the heel of the shoe does not last very long. I buy standard velcro at a hardware store and use 3M super weather strip adhesive to glue them on. That lasts a lot longer. The gaiters keeps dirt out of the shoes and it looks.

The other general comments is the old school thoughts were buy high boots with good ankle support. That may apply to occasional hikers who only hike a couple of times a year but for someone who hikes often, the best ankle support is developing and strengthening the structure of the various muscles and ligaments of the ankle. I expect a PT person could recommend exercises but the other alternative is just do it by hiking. The other thought is use hiking poles and cut the straps off them. It takes a bit of getting used to them but once you do you will find that you slip and slide a lot less even in the mud.

[LoneStranger]

Do what works for you is a good rule to follow in all your gear choices. I find good boots to valuable to me in the places I go. When I am on trail I see other folks wearing boots, shoes, sandals and barefeet. Can only assume that is what works for them. If cheap shoes are working for you, enjoy!

Don't cut the straps off your poles though. That is always wrong

[peakbagger]

Its regional issue with straps on poles, in rocky areas like the whites, having your hand in a strap is an invitation for a dislocated shoulder when a pole catches in the wrong place at the wrong time. If someone is urban walking on smooth trails I agree using straps is more efficient but in the whites there are more negatives than positives.

[LoneStranger]

Sorry if folks in your region are having issues using their poles pb, but I will continue to use the straps on my poles as the gods intended. Thousands of miles in ME, NH & VT without dislocating anything. Once you cut the straps off poles are pretty useless since you can't possible hold on to them strongly enough to use them properly without wasting a lot of effort.

Besides, how do you pick up a dropped pole if it doesn't have a strap for you to use to pick it up with the other pole?

[CalebJ]

I would question how you're using the straps if you're having issues with shoulder dislocation.

[peakbagger]

Okay I have only hiked the AT once and have lived and hiked in the whites since 1987 and probably started using poles around 1990. Arm and shoulder injuries are fairly common with folks using poles with their hands in the straps. They dont choose to do so, its just physics. Someone slips down a slab and tries to catch themselves with a pole. The poles catches while they keep going down, the pole catched and acts as lever in the wrong direction because the hikers hand is caught in the strap. I do know the common statement the reason this happened is that the person did not know how to put their hands up through the strap. The proper method may reduce the chance of entaglement but does not remove it. But HYOH and I hike mine.

[petedelisio]

Thanks peakbagger.
I'll try that.



I know I kind of asked the same thing before, but no luck.
So figured I'd try a slightly different approach.

[LittleRock]

Agree... I never noticed much difference hiking in cheap sneakers vs. high-end trail runners. They both wear out pretty quickly.

Boots are the best, though, both for traction and durability. I've been wearing the same pair of Merrills hiking nearly every week for 3 1/2 years now (plus two 150-mile AT section hikes) and they're still in decent shape. I also wear them to work every day, though I have a desk job and I'm sitting 90% of the time. (With my custom orthotics, they're really comfy.)

[RockDoc]

Common sense: Gear your footwear based on the load they carry. Don't put bicycle wheels on a Mac truck, and you don't nideeed massive boots if you're 100 lbs soaking wet. Trail runners work for most, but boots might be a good foundation if you and your load approaches 300 lbs.

[petedelisio]

The thing that got me most is after trying a bunch of "trail runners" even recently bought a pair of Scarpa Moraine midGtx boots with Vibram soles and I still can get more traction with street sneakers with no tread on dry rocks, wet rocks,, layed over tree trunks, even in rocky creek bottoms, some flat muddy trails. But still am needing lugs tho for muddy, gravelly, leaf, covered hills and snow .ect
My Street running Altras have more sticktoitivness that the Altra lone peaks trail runners for maybe 80% of the AT trail. And obviously the other 20% which of course, one can not ignore in the least.
Did not seem to be such a problem with
some years ago, imo.
Maybe the added weight in my front pouch is breaking the traction.

[HankIV]

Its regional issue with straps on poles, in rocky areas like the whites, having your hand in a strap is an invitation for a dislocated shoulder when a pole catches in the wrong place at the wrong time. If someone is urban walking on smooth trails I agree using straps is more efficient but in the whites there are more negatives than positives.

That’s why I cut those damn poles right off, and just go with plain old straps.

[Traveler]

On average by my experience, which coinsides with other information sources on what one can reasonably expect from different shoes: Trail Runners typically wear out in 300 - 400 miles, Trail Shoes typically wear out in 500 - 600 miles, Mid-High boots typically wear out after about 500 - 800 miles, High top boots (leather) will typically last about 1,000 to 1200 miles.

To be sure these mileages can differ depending on a lot of factors. Terrain, rocky, steep terrain will be more punishing to any footgear than pine duff and dirt. Hiker size and load, I am a fairly big guy over 6' and I have noticed the life goes out of lighter footgear like trail runners long before the tread/traction starts to breakdown due to my weight, load I am carrying and stride impact on the footgear. Weather, if you are in wet weather more than dry can have significant impact on any footgear.

I am not sure how much pricing plays into this, more expensive does not necessarily translate into better performing. However, having had a lot of "bargain basement" gear including footwear fail in the middle of a hike I came to the conclusion that people of modest means cannot afford cheap gear. Wrestling with an inexpensive off-brand tent in a wind/rain storm that suddenly fails along seams is not something I particularly want to do again. Same holds true for footwear and having my fill of duct tape repair techniques. I'm not saying that people should stop looking for bargains and trying new gear at bargain prices, some gear is over priced to be sure. But one does tend to get what they pay for, much as the old adage illustrates, "You can get better, faster, cheaper. Pick two".