It can be said that hiking boots are the ideal footwear for hiking because they provide comfort, foot protection and durability for long walks.
However, practically, it happens that you don’t have to wear hiking boots for all trips. Sometimes, running shoes, hiking sandals or trail runners are enough for you to hit the road.
Even so, you need to be aware of when to wear hiking boots and when not to. Not having enough knowledge can sometimes be dangerous for you, especially on difficult roads.
Today’s article will be a detailed guide for you before throwing your hiking boots aside.
Can You Hike Without Hiking Boots?
In fact, in strange places with really cool roads and great climate, humans just want to be…naked to fully enjoy the magnificence of nature. The feeling will penetrate deep into our skin and breath.
Therefore, accessories like hiking boots sometimes become a barrier to prevent you from enjoying nature fully.
However, in fact, you don’t absolutely have to wear hiking boots on every trail. Instead, other comfortable footwear can be used.
The biggest highlight of hiking boots compared to running shoes and hiking sandals is that they offer better support in the arch, heel, toe and ankle for the wearer.
In addition, hiking boots also have better shock absorption, strong grip and unquestionable stability. Many waterproof boots are also amazing.
Hiking boots possess a high structure and thick material, so they can prevent collisions with stones very well, they also protect your feet against dangerous animals prowling such as snakes, scorpions, spiders, etc.
They guarantee the wearer a very high level of safety in different terrain or rough environments and good comfort for long journeys.
Therefore, hiking boots will be essential if the trails are slippery, steep and dangerous. Or when the weather turns nasty with sudden rains or snowy terrain.
But also, for simple, open, flat, stable and high-grip terrain, you can absolutely use sneakers or hiking sandals.
On flat roads, you can completely replace your hiking boots with other more breathable footwear such as hiking sandals. It is much easier for you to feel the climate of the area you are standing in.
And in fact, my friends, professional hikers, also often use sandals on familiar trails.
You don’t necessarily need good shock-absorbing hiking boots or lots of ankle support or reinforcement at the toe in the terrain without large rocks or uneven ground.
And in fact, it is not entirely good for hiking boots to hug your ankles (ankle support) with padding. Over time, your ankle will lose flexibility and become weak. We all expect the opposite, and it only happens if you wear shoes that don’t have ankle wraps.
Last update on 2023-11-10 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Even when you’re in easy terrain, but on long trips, we still recommend shoes with good arch support and cushion. This ensures that the joints in your arch, ankle, knee or back will not be put under much pressure and you will not suffer from pain in the whole body after a long trip.
Luckily, today’s most good footwears have good arch support and well cushioning, such as sneakers, hiking sandals, trail runners, etc.
The big benefit of wearing sandals or hiking sandals for hiking is that they are lightweight, airy and comfortable in their own way. Just like you use your barefoot for hiking.
A lot of people love this feeling, the real feeling in every step.
Compared to wearing heavy duty hiking boots, the barefoot feeling helps you quickly determine how difficult the terrain is.
You will have a better sense of the terrain and environment to make accurate decisions.
It also shows that many American soldiers like to wear military boots with minimalist structure. The reason is that the structure helps them feel like walking barefoot, detect danger signs on the ground or feel the difficulty of the terrain faster.
Besides the impact of external forces on your decisions, you should also pay attention to your own health. It also plays an essential part in deciding whether to wear hiking boots or not.
For example, for people who have a history of ankle sprains and have not fully recovered, you should wear high cut or mid cut hiking boots. They will greatly support your ankle to fight steep terrain.
For others, whether you have flat feet, high arches or plantar fasciitis, you will really need shoes with good arch support to ensure comfort during your trip.
Conclusion
In summary, for difficult terrain (unstable, slippery with sharp rocks) or challenging environments (a lot of rain, snow, sand and slopes), we still recommend wearing hiking boots.
For relatively open, flat terrain, with favorable and easy weather conditions, you can completely use footwear such as hiking sandals, trail runners, or even sandals. From there, you can feel everything around you more wonderfully.
Even so, such footwear should still offer great features such as good arch support and cushion to ensure your trip is really comfortable, especially for people with flat feet, high arches or plantar fasciitis.
That’s all you need to know!