UKH

The time has come for another newbie to ask for boot advice, I'm sure you're all sick of it by now!

Last year I did Helvellyn in a pair of £20 Karrimor walking shoes. They were ok, but towards the top I started getting pain underfoot and serious joint pain. It took me a good 5 days to recover properly.

I enjoyed myself so this year I plan on joining my friends more often. The next 'big one' being Snowdon in July, which gives me a good few months to properly wear in some boots, maybe around the Peak District so it's a little less strenuous. Most walking done in alright weather, but rain will be unavoidable sometimes.

Hopefully, if some good boots can reduce underfoot and joint pain, my recovery will be quicker so I can go out more often.

Now, the reason I chose shoes is that I have bad knees and wanted ankle flexibility to take the strain off them. I've been told by a friend with similar issues that the way to go is a lightweight boot with a softer/flexible ankle and tape the knees.

A lot of my friends swear by Salomon, I've heard great things about Berghaus and Brasher, my Dad says his Hi-Tec Summit WP boots are the best he's ever found.

So, what am I looking for?
Flexible uppers
Fairly rigid sole
Waterproof
Padded Sole
Easy to care for
Lightweight

I'm thinking leather would be the easiest to care for (hose them down, wax them and off you go). My budget is about £100 and I have my eye on the following:

Berghaus/Brasher Fellmaster £100 Sports Direct (Seemed a bit rigid when I tried them on and have heard horror stories regarding the slippery sole and build quality recently)
Berghaus Expeditor AQ Leather £80 everywhere (very comfortable, slight flex in the sole, more horror stories re waterproofing)
Hi-Tec Summit £90 Go Outdoors (seem fantastic, but would need new insole and are a little heavy)
Karrimor KSB Jaguar eVent £60 Karrimor online (seem to fit all my criteria, similar to Expeditor with more padding in sole butKarrimor have a bad reputation and unsure on care - part leather, part textile)

So, any advice on the above boots? Any horror stories? Any obvious contenders I'm missing?

And re Salomon, are there any within my price range with a good reputation? I can see Quest 4d GTX are the closest, but they're £125...

Thanks!

In reply to Badgerboy88:

You are best off going to a shop with a good range of boots and spending a few hours trying them all on in a range of sizes.

No one can recommend a boot for you beyond last shape because they don't have your feet.

There are very few bad boots out there but I would avoid the cheaper end of the market not least because of durablity but customer service/aftersales tends to be very poor.

In reply to Badgerboy88:

I totally agree with Highclimber.. And when trying them on, don't settle for "they feel ok". I've done this so many times and it always comes back to bite me. If you can feel even a slight squeeze, or slip in store, it'll be a hundred fold on the hill! Try everything! If nothing in the store feels perfect, go somewhere else, or the assistant may make other suggestions that they can order in.
It maybe that, like me, your feet won't find a perfect fit. In which case, you will have to go with the best of a bad bunch, but at least you will have minimised the pain as much as possible.

In reply to Badgerboy88:

As the others have said really you have to try them on. Hillmasters are a love hate thing it seems, a lot of people used to bring them back suffering from blisters but then some people swore by them. The soles are pretty naff agreed.

I tend to steer clear of leather these days, I know quite a few people whose first boots are traditional leather boots and they end up with sore feet, tired legs and blisters. My first boots were leather and I'll probably always have a pair for short walks where i want dry feet but generally I wear trail running shoes for walking. Better grip, lighter, cheaper and so much better for your ankles - you only ever trip up when you've got half a kilo of bulky boots strapped to your feet which is unsurprising when you think of it.

You might find that your arches are supported by a better quality shoe/boot and that solves your pain, the likes of £20 trainers are very minimally supportive. Another option would be insoles but either way if you're generally sedentary (maybe youre not?) and then jump into a big walk the issue is just as likely to be a lack of build up as a poor pair of shoes.

If you find something comfortable and that's reasonably supportive (arch support) and then build up your level of walking intensity I suspect you will find that your pain goes away. You shouldnt' really need to be taping up your knees to go for a walk unless you've suffered some kind of injury and all else has failed. If your still getting pain having bought decent footwear and built things up gradually then a quick trip to the physio might be in order to iron out whatever is causing your issues.

In reply to Sharp:

I too prefer to walk in trainers when the weather allows.

Unfortunately yes I have recurring knee injuries. In my recovery I have always got to the level where I could run for a bus if needed, then left it at that. After twisting my knee getting off an exercise bike (rock and roll) I've decided I need to take it more seriously this time and will be bringing more leg weights into my gym routine, along with the stairmaster and short walks 'off road'.

I am fairly sedentary, but my general fitness is ok. Went to Disney last year and my smartphone says I averaged 15miles a day for 2 weeks, so I guess it is more about building the different muscles required for hillwalking (i.e on an incline). It was mainly the joint pain last time that worried me - I can deal with tired muscles.

I see what you mean re fellrunners, but I will need 1 pair for everything and boots are much more versatile, especially if the weather turns - the flood level alone can be handy if you misjudge a puddle/stream!

I have tried them all on, the fit was all marginally similar, but the fellmasters felt very heavy, as did the hi-tecs, which is making me lean towards expeditors/karrimors. The expeditors were definitely the closest to a fell runner so maybe they might be the way forwards, but the Karrimors come with eVent and deeper tread on the soles...

Thanks guys, some good advice there!

In reply to Badgerboy88:
I toO have dodgy knees. It's the downhill that kills me! Nowadays, I break out the walking poles for the downhill sections. I find they take a lot of the pain from my knees. Granted they transfer a certain amount to my shoulders instead, but hey ho...

In reply to Badgerboy88:

The Merrell Moab are light and waterproof and fine for Munro bagging in Summer worth a try if you can find them.

http://www.merrell.com/UK/en_GB/moab-mid-gore-tex/16222M.html?dwvar_16222M_...

In reply to Badgerboy88: ITS a long, long time since i used boots for the type of walking you describe. Something like a Salomon Speedmax and walking polse sound a lot more appropriate to me.