How to Size Your Hiking Shoes (and save your big toe nails)

[@naughtyscottie3377]

This was absolutely perfect precise and toe the point! Thanks for the video super helpful

[@Micheal-Ireland]

Great advice! Thank you for taking the time to make this video! I especially appreciate the tip about positioning your heel in the heel of the shoe and tying it up tight to secure it in place to prevent your toes from sliding forward and hitting the tip of the toe box! 🥾👍🏻

[@howarthe1]

Tighter laces! Of course. I just got back from a hike during which my feet were sliding down my boot during descents. It is painful! No one else is explaining how to avoid this. Thank you so much.

[@bobmarley6161]

Great advice much appreciated

[@gunfutraining]

Thank you for your video! I typically wear a 10.5 in Merrell shoes, and the Merrell boots I received today seemed big in the toe box. Your “rule of thumb“ show me, my sizing was spot on. 👍🏻

[@bigmac3006]

Great vid! Headin to the Rockies in July and also the Manitou Incline. ....WISH ME LUCK.

[@jespah36]

I really appreciate this video. Thank you

[@mingakinsgibayuxds7542]

New sub! Very informative and precise.. no bs.. plus I like his southern accent

[@ikirakom]

Thank you so much for this! I'm sitting in my new walking shoes and feeling they are a bit bigger(longer) and I have been considering fir the last hour or so if to exchange for smaller. Wel, thanks to yoh for having consolidated my final decision to keep them! 😀🙏💚

[@onthetrailwithbart523]

Glad it was helpful

[@curseofthepirates]

Thanks for the tips! I didn't realise how much my feet could swell within just one day while buying my first pair of shoes, gonna definitely go for a bigger size next time :')

[@ericman3234]

That helps a lot! Thank you

[@saibot7218]

Great information. Thanks

[@nirvana613]

Great video !

[@jamesss1953]

Common sense advice here; but worth giving. I’ve lost a few big toe nails; it’s the simplest of things I tended to forget 🤔. Thanks for sharing

[@factChecker01]

Good video. I came here because my big toenails are in terrible shape and bruised. A foot doctor told me that my shoes were too small at the toe -- exactly what this video is saying.

[@11thsm]

My son came across a pair of salomons at the thrift store in perfect condition for 10.00 so he got them for me. They’re a half size larger than I wear in regular shoes. I was concerned that hiking shoes need to be snug so thanks for this video saying to get extra length. The width feels good (I have bunions, so it’s nice to have some room). Only issue is the shoe is rubbing ankle so i think a heel lifting inserts will solve that problem. Thrilled that I’ll be able to make these work. Thank for the video:) I’ll check your other videos to see if any tips on selecting socks.

[@onthetrailwithbart523]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/m5u3gaWQYtGtn80

[@There-Is-No-Virus]

Socks play a huge part also. I had done dozens of hikes in cheap shoes, not thinking too much about the socks, never had any problem. One day I decided to do 3 times the length I normally do. I had thin socks, my feet were badly blistered on the heels by the end and my big toenail was black as I stubbed my toe about a dozen times. I think I was focused on going fast and finishing it and wasn't thinking enough.

[@markos_]

Great Video! I kinda have a flat foot, just got some 11s. Obviously after a few miles. Toe was banging. Think some arch support insoles would counter the flat foot causing toe bang? Or just cause more pain within foot? Thanks

[@onthetrailwithbart523]

The only way you're going to be able to tell is to try is out. Generally even flat feet will benefit from some kind of arch support. The one's I use are from a company in Portland, OR called Fitthotic.

[@Call_Me_Dragon]

Thanks

[@Anomalous-Plant]

Do you mean that there should be this gap after you're already wearing all the socks you usually wear. I have about thumb width with my normal socks, but as I put in double socks the way I use at hiking, there is maybe a index finger of space after pushing my toes to the tip of the boot. But when I go one size up to 46, I don't feel my foot touching anything, even if I stand on my toes my toes wont touch the tip of the boot and as I walk, my foot doesn't really rattle around with the double sock, but I don't feel contact with my heel or toes, I feel like my feet are in empty space while the boot is secured around my ankle. So.. is 45 good? Or is the bigger 46 better? 46 obviously feels warmer, since the boot doesn't seem to compress the sock much at all. I tried these two sizes back and forth, walking around for like 30 minutes and couldn't make up my mind. Help me out if you can.

[@onthetrailwithbart523]

Boy, the main thing is that when you've walked for 6 hours, and you're going downhill...your big toe doesn't bang up against the front of your shoe.

[@1z1zmike]

Hummm, thanks 🙂🙏

[@tinetannies4637]

I'm about to get my first pair of hiking boots and am confused about something related to sizing. Some people advise getting hiking boots that fit on the snug side when they're new because they say the boots will stretch, while other people advise the opposite and advise getting hiking boots that fit on the looser side because feet will swell with heat and use. As a novice without experience this leaves me perplexed since both sides seem knowledgeable even while they're suggesting opposite things. Which is it?

[@onthetrailwithbart523]

They use to say to buy boots snug, when the boots were made of leather. The leather did stretch. It was true back then. Today, hiking shoes are made of synthetics and don't really stretch that much. There are two thoughts on how snug to buy shoes. People like Andrew Skurka say they like shoes to fit on the snug side. He says he doesn't get blisters from the snug fit. It's why he doesn't like Altras. I like my shoes to be a little looser. 1100 miles on the AT so far, and not even a hot spot on my feet. It's just personal preference, how far you plan on hiking, what kind of terrain you plan on hiking over, and also the shape of your feet.. For flat terrain, my loose Altras work best for me. On rocky/uneven terrain, my loose fit IS harder to work with on rocks, but I get by. You'll notice climbers buy their shoes a size too SMALL, because they don't want the shoe to move on they foot.

[@tinetannies4637]

@@onthetrailwithbart523 Thanks so much, hugely helpful. And yes I have rock climbed a few times and wow did those climbing shoes hurt though I understand why they fit so tight. I'll err towards slightly looser. Thanks again, much appreciated.

[@Canuck037]

Don't get shoes to big though, iflve giving myself pretty bad turf toe because I've gotten shoes to big, and it makes the big toe joint sit in the wrong spot, putting way to much pressure on the joint

[@Whaaaaah]

What about socks with thicker /padded toe box ? Do those exist and are they a good idea for hiking downhill?

[@onthetrailwithbart523]

yeah, they can be ok. The problem with really thick socks is they can make blistering WORSE, because there is a lot of movement of your foot inside the shoe due to the thickness of the sock. Same idea if you get a shoe that's too wide for you.

[@There-Is-No-Virus]

How about 2 socks? A wool sock over a tight silk sock eliminates friction on your feet entirely by making the silk sock essentially a second skin layer.

[@Comrade134]

Took me 20 years to figure this out.

[@thevillageyid]

Would you say if I wear 10.5 snug that an 11 would be good or should I go 11.5? .5 up doesnt seen like enough room but maybe I'm wrong.

[@onthetrailwithbart523]

Howdy, it just depends on the shoe company and it also depends on how many miles you're gonna be walking. If you're just doing a day hike, then your feet don't have the time to expand as much as a thru hike day where you're walking 20 miles day after day. On me, in an Altra, if it were snug at 10.5, and I was on a day hike then 11 would be fine. On me, in an Altra, if I were thru hiking day after day, then an 11.5 would be better. But the rule of "thumb", is a thumbs' width between the front of the big toe and where the big toe will contact the front of the toe box. Your foot at 6PM after 21 miles will easily expand to fill that gap. Hope that helps.

[@mmarialexx]

Hi, I got hiking shoes that leave space for my big toe nails (my toe being the longest toe of all toes), but after two times of using the shoes, my third and fourth toes on each foot hurt! They are both shorter than the index toe. I’m confused!

[@onthetrailwithbart523]

probably the toe box is too narrow. Try Altra's if you haven't already.

[@tomdavis3038]

Many shoes will heel slip and blister your heels if you have that much room in front of big toe.