Shoes

[Roll Tide]

Shoes - Shoestrings or Velcro which do you prefer?

[StovieWander]

I have not seen or hiked in footwear with Velcro on the AT. I like laces because they can be replaced with bear bag rope in an emergency. Laces let me keep enough tension on the upper to limit fore and aft movement of the foot, to avoid blisters, stubbed toes, and toenails delaminating due to catching against the front of the toe box. Some use surgeon knots (twisted laces) halfway down the tongue to separately control tension around the ankle vs. the top of the foot.