Walking Helmets Have Arrived!

[Cugel]

Why can't I just wear my boots - they're fine!?!

p.s. I did summit Goat Fell* in wellies on a student trip - I'd had them since I was 15, no boots yet. Do I get a forum correct footwear badge now?

"Fine boots" suggests that you have made a fundamental error and bought some designed as a fine art (i.e. for fashion and showing orf - promenading rather than just walking). A boot for the fell walking should be a matter of form following function rather than for being a pose-in-boots. Did they have flappy turnovers on their tops and shiny albeit redundant buckles and spurs? Did one wear them with a 'Artagnan hat with a Big Feather? Did corns ensue?

As to the "correct footwear badge" ...... well ..... I feel you should not be given badges as it will only go to your head (possibly pinned to the d'Artagnan hat) and you will come here crowing about having it and showing it off, possibly whilst snootily dismissing those without such a badge, which would include me! So no.

[Mike Sales]

When my age was counted in single digits I ran around barefoot, amid thorns and stinging ants, like the native children I was playing with.
Much later I spent a day climbing barefoot, doing about twenty easy gritstone routes.
I have climbed delicate routes in alpine boots, great, heavy, stiffened things.(Super RDs,)
I remember a photo of a climber on a severe, Little Chamonix, in roller skates and boxing gloves, proving his boast.
I have been stared askance at, climbing an easy snow gully in street clothes and shoes.
I think that one's own judgement is paramount.

[Bmblbzzz]

Some boots develop other issues, becoming irrecoverable and so abandoned, despite costing loadsamoney.

Bad boot bend-1.JPG

This one is probably now home to lichen, moss, woodlice and perhaps some earwigs. None of them will use it for fell walking, wise creatures.

Surely that's a "traditional hill boot"? In other words, it's meant to be like that.

https://williamlennon.co.uk/shop/268-hill-boots/

[axel_knutt]

The typical example of this is people wearing chunky leather walking boots, suited for high fells and moors, to walk their dogs in the manicured grounds of National Trust properties.

I did all my fellwalking in lightweight Brasher boots up until I started to stray off-piste more. Then I found that the Brasher soles which were fine on well trodden paths weren't stiff enough for virgin moorland, and had to switch to Scarpa Treks.

[Bmblbzzz]

The typical example of this is people wearing chunky leather walking boots, suited for high fells and moors, to walk their dogs in the manicured grounds of National Trust properties.

I did all my fellwalking in lightweight Brasher boots up until I started to stray off-piste more. Then I found that the Brasher soles which were fine on well trodden paths weren't stiff enough for virgin moorland, and had to switch to Scarpa Treks.

Interesting. I have Brasher boots and have never found them insufficiently stiff, nor considered them lightweight. But we're probably talking about different models, so no surprise. I wouldn't wear them to a NT garden, but then I do have shoes which are non-smart but non-hiking. (In fact, smart shoes are the sort I lack, currently.) After ~25 years, they're getting a bit worn out – soles mostly okay but uppers cracked and lining ripped on side. For walking (fells etc, not town or NT!) I mostly wear something lighter like Merrell Moabs, but I'll keep the Brashers as long as they're wearable as they're great for the rainy winters.

[axel_knutt]

Interesting. I have Brasher boots and have never found them insufficiently stiff, nor considered them lightweight.

They have poor torsional stiffness, on rough ground the toe end twisted from side to side and made my feet sore. I've just checked, the Brashers are 1224g, and the Scarpa 42% heavier at 1734g. I found that the different boots required a different walking technique in places, too.

I don't know who makes Brashers these days, I had to stop using them in 1997 because they didn't fit any more after the design changed when the franchise switched from K-Shoes to Guimar.

[drossall]

p.s. I did summit Goat Fell* in wellies on a student trip - I'd had them since I was 15, no boots yet. Do I get a forum correct footwear badge now?

We went to Arran on honeymoon over 40 years ago. I remember a display at Brodick Castle about the people mountain rescue had had to save because they had gone up Goat Fell as day trippers in casual gear. I'd have liked to go up, but we hadn't brought walking gear, so didn't.

I'm caught in two minds on this as a Scout leader. On the one hand, we train young people to be properly equipped in the hills. On the other, I'm in a lowland area (Hertfordshire), and overdoing the equipment requirements just creates barriers when we're walking on path in summer that are perfectly safe in trainers.

So it seems clear to me that some people underestimate what's needed, some overestimate it, and there are grey areas in the middle. And lots of people don't like having their assumptions challenged, including around helmets of whatever type.

[pjclinch]

For a good piece on how one doesn't need dreadnoughts to go for a walk see https://www.christownsendoutdoors.com/2 ... r.html?m=1

I think the main dangers of inadequacy for footwear on a hike are not enough grip from an inadequate outsole and at certain times of the year not allowing feet to keep warm enough. A boot cuff combined with over-trousers and/or gaiters definitely helps feet keep dry, and thus warmer, but beyond that they really don't help as much as folk assume.

Pete.

[Bmblbzzz]

I mostly agree with Chris Townsend there but I think there are a couple of factors he's not included.

The first has already been mentioned here: mud. For me, this is by the far the biggest reason for wearing boots which cover the ankles. Mud on boots is not a problem, mud on socks will soak through, cold and wet, and very probably abrade the skin. Wellies are suggested as an answer, clearly they work for a lot of people but I've never found a pair that fits without flapping against my calves.

The second reason, which really applies to sandals more than trail runners etc, is vegetation. I love wearing sandals in summer, but I don't like thorns, thistles, brambles (or even sand – and definitely not broken glass!) in my feet.

The idea that splinting your feet in stiff heavy boots protects them and helps them support heavy loads puzzles me. I find that such boots restrict my normal foot movement so I feel more unstable and insecure than in lighter more flexible footwear. Footwear that doesn’t twist much along its length can be useful on rough ground, as it gives some support when traversing. However soles that don’t flex easily across the forefoot make me feel clumsy, as I can’t walk naturally or place my feet normally. Straining against the stiffness is tiring too. With flexible footwear I can place the whole of my foot on the ground, even on steep terrain, which I find more stable than balancing on heel or toe.

Proprioception. This is the very best argument for lightweight footwear, and even more important than lightweight is thin, flexible soles.