r/hikinggear

Hey guys, so I bought Merrell Moab 3 shoes, and so far they are the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever had. I loved the shoe because of the comfort on my feet, but the thing I’ve noticed is that when I walk—not always, but sometimes—I get a very sharp pain underneath my right calf muscle. Is this a shoe problem, or was my walking posture wrong before and now the Merrells are correcting it and making me walk properly? Thanks in advance!

My wife and I are heading to Sedona for 4 days of hiking in about a week, and after that we're planning trips to Oregon, Washington, Montana, and Wyoming — so I'll be hiking a lot over the next year.

Quick background on me:

• 2 years hiking, max 8 miles on easy trails
• 5'8", 170 lbs, pretty athletic
• Flat feet, wide toe box, run hot easily
• Prone to ankle rolls, need good shock absorption

What I've tried so far:

• Merrell — tried 5 pairs, heel slips out on all of them, writing off the brand entirely
• KEEN (own a pair) — haven't stress tested them yet because I don't want to lose the return window. Seeing a lot of reviews about soles delaminating and comfort dropping off after the first mile

Brands I keep hearing about: Salomon, Adidas Terrex, and Asics keep coming up. I'm familiar with all three as brands obviously, but I genuinely can't tell what's real performance versus expensive marketing. Same question for the hiking shoe space in general — are there other brands I'm not even thinking about that are actually worth looking into?

Budget: Under $150, ideally closer to $100. Still figuring out what I like so I don't want to drop $200 yet.

What would you actually recommend? Looking for something non-waterproof (desert heat), wide toe box, good ankle support, solid shock absorption, and durable enough to hold up across multiple trips throughout the year.

Above all I'm interested in durability and longevity. I'm young and not afraid to drop a buck on a pair that will last me a long time—I wore some Timberlands that I thrifted on a 13 mile overnight and came back with black and blue toes.

I enjoy hiking and I'm not afraid of a long hike or overnight endeavor—but I'm also not hiking every other day or hiking the entire west coast.

Based on my interests and priorities I've narrowed it down to the Jim Green Razorback or Danner Mountain 600 Leaf.

Jim Green Razorback

- I really like the thick, traditional build and the durability that comes with it
- Like the brand; the shoes look cool, they're supporting rangers and seemingly doing the right things
- Good value $190-$210 (depending on size/amazon vs site)

- However, I'm worried that they are only water resistant. I enjoy that I don't need to worry about stepping in shallow streams when I wore my Timberlands.
- I can be critical about my fit of shoe, and Jim Green are only online.

Danner Mountain 600 Leaf

- I appreciate the modern tech of these—Vibram grippy soles, Goretex waterproofing/breathability and lighter
- I have access to a Danner store and can go in to get the right fit of boot the first try
- Whenever I bring it up my dad mentions how great his own pair of Danner boots are—the have held up great for the last decade.

- Slightly more expensive $250
- As I understand it the tech comes at the cost of durability—the Vibram is softer and wears away easier, and the lighter materials are less durable. There seems to be reports of them not holding up too well with regular use.
- Website is very salesy; extra soles, misleading discount advertisements, lots of name "Gore-tex" and "Vibram" with branding on the shoe

Would love to hear from people who know their stuff and have experience rather than throwing endless questions at google. Thanks so much!

My partner and I are planning on doing quite a bit of portaging this summer and we’re looking for recommendations on sandals or shoes that would be good for the water as well as trails. Last summer, we both did a short portage in crocs, which was fine because the trail wasn’t that treacherous and most of the time was spent in the water but this summer we’re planning on hiking more which means we’d need a sturdier shoe. We try our best to be ultralight because we mostly do backcountry camping so we’d like to only have to bring one pair of shoes on the trip, which means it would need to be fast drying so they’re functional all day. Preferably close toed shoes, but also open to an open toed sandal if that’s the best option.

Up until now I’ve been using a Fjallraven Kanken 17” Laptop backpack as a catch all for everything, and recently I’ve really begun to see how it’s not working for me. So now I’m looking for a day hike/walking all day bag and I’m having more difficulty than I’d expected.

I like to go on easy to moderate hikes, recently 2-3 miles but hoping to get back up to 5 now that the days are longer. Generally I try to avoid very steep hikes because I have bad knees. I also like to take a backpack when I go on longer walks or have days where I’m walking around a lot in an urban area.

Usually I’ll pack my 21 ounce Hydroflask, a protein bar, a portable charger, a jacket or sweatshirt, 1-2 sketchbooks (or one sketchbook and an ereader), some drawing pens, sunglasses, sunscreen, a small bag with my wallet and keys, and occasionally lunch. When I travel (and every so often at home) I’ll have a small camera bag in there too. So I’m not looking for something that can haul a lot of hiking or camping gear, but rather something that won’t cause pain from me walking around with a bunch of things that tend to concentrate toward the bottom of the bag.

This week I tried out an Osprey Daylite Plus backpack. I took a small load hiking on one day, walked around a flat area by a lake a different day, and fully filled it up going to an adult rec league I play in on a third day. The ventilation on the back was nice but the bag really irritated my lower back, particularly when I had a lighter load. My suspicion about this was that the weird handle kept me from tightening the bag enough against my body and it just meant the curve of it pushed into my lower back.

I tried going to REI and asking for help in their backpack department but the guy helping me wouldn’t measure my torso (my home measurement was 15”) and insisted my back pain was because I wasn’t transferring weight to my hips. He had me try on the Osprey Tempest, which I found uncomfortable because of how firm the back panel is. I also tried the REI Trail 25 and the Gregory Maya 20. The Maya was probably the most comfortable but it also felt like overkill for my purposes, and I couldn’t really tell what the hip belt was doing besides stabilizing the bag.

Anyway sorry for how long this is! Here are my actual questions:

* How do bag shape and torso length play into comfort with hiking backpacks?

* At what point is a hip belt actually necessary?

* What “level” of backpack do I need for my use case? (AKA how specialized)

For the record I’m a 5’7” mid-thirties woman with what I suspect is a short torso (home measurement was 15”).

I see Branwyn recommended often, but it doesn't look like I can buy in the UK.

Any other suggestions welcome please. Looking for a very lightweight, light to medium support bra to use on the Pennine Way in June.

I'm a bit stuck deciding for an all round hiking bag (mostly for 3/4 day hiking trips) and am deciding between the Mammut trion 38l and the 50l.

I heard some good things about the 38l bag but am a bit worried it will be too small. Does anyone have expierence with this or other 38l bags and their size? Other bag recommendations are also welcome. For context my current set up is:

- mammut -7 sleeping bag

- big agnes rapide sl

- big agnes copper spur ul2

I have a road trip planned for min June going from Bar Harbor to York beach with hiking planned along the way. I need some good clothing suggestions on what to pack! Anyone have any experience hiking that area and that time of year?

Hey y’all! I’m a forester in the Appalachian region & I need a new pair of boots. I’ve owned Lowa’s for the past 5 years and I do really think they’re great boots. I am trying to figure out if there are better ones, though. For more info: I’m a female, forester who does majority field work, so I put a lot of hours in the field hiking. I have a wide toe box, and am excellent at rolling my ankles.

I went to a shop recently and am torn between sticking with Lowa because they’re durable and I know them, or switching to one of the following I liked:

- Mishmi takin Kameng (seems similar to Lowa with maybe even more stability)

- Danner Mountain 600 Leaf GTX (recraftable… does that mean they wear down quickly? Is it a good option for recurring costs? Lots of reviews on comfortability)

- La Sportiva Ultra Raptor 3 Mid (great traction reviews, maybe narrow shoe?)

- La Sportiva Aequilibrium Trek GTX (also great traction, and are resole-able, but is that worth the extra cost?)

-La Sportiva TX5 EVO MID GTX ( resole-able, vibram grip so again, great traction)

If anyone has had experience with these shoes or even the brand, it would be super helpful to hear opinions. Thanks!

Hello, I used to wear a pair of Mountajn Warehouse Storm IsoGrip boots (linked them). They did me really well, summited Kilimanjaro in them and many other shorter hikes like scafell pike, madeira etc., and they fit me great.

I was looking to level up in boots and get a new pair because those were reaching the end of their time. I got my foot scanned and because of my wide toe box I was suggested the Meindl Baltimore GTX or Scarpa. I ended up buying the Meindl Baltimore GTX but upon researching I was just wondering if they are suitable for the activity I do?

My next big hike trip is hiking in Kyrgyzstan and I want these to last me as long as possible. Future things I would like to do is Toubkal, Mont Blanc etc,.

The main thing I am looking for in boots is comfort, waterproof, breathability, quick drying, easy to break in, ankle support, grip. But it definitely needs to be suitable for all sorts of adventures.

Am I missing something? When temperature allows, I just hike in a sports shirt. I have a simple decathon fleece for when it gets cold. I bring a windbreaker (not very warm) or simple softshell if I expect it gets even colder. But, 15c during the day sometimes can go down to 0c at night, where the setup is not warm enough. Yet, for the entire day, a puffer would be to warm. How do you deal with this?