Today, let’s discuss a question: Are army boots good for hiking? I believe this problem is also a concern of many outdoor sports enthusiasts.
We should know that a pair of professional shoes is one of your most important equipment. Comfortable shoes that fit your feet can escort your actions. On the contrary, a pair of unprofessional shoes will not only affect your mood of exercise and walking, but also hurt your health. So, how to judge whether you can wear military boots when hiking? We should look for the answer by judging whether a pair of shoes is suitable or not. That is, judging from five aspects: comfort, weight, breathability, grip and waterproofness.
Difference between army and hiking boots
- Comfort: Mountaineering boots focus on relieving foot pressure and providing some ankle protection. These requirements will not affect its flexibility.Besides, its waterproof, weight and temperature control effects are far more suitable for long-term walking than military boots.
Although military boots can replace mountaineering boots to deal with some environments to some extent, there is still a big difference between them. The key point of military boots is to protect the soles of soldiers’ feet and ankles. And they also provide the functions of puncture prevention, temperature control, waterproof and buffering. Therefore, its comfort and flexibility are not the primary considerations. On the other hand, even lightweight military boots are not necessarily lighter than hiking shoes.
- Weight: Military boots are usually heavier and more rigid than hiking shoes. This is because the outdoor environment and combat environment faced by soldiers are much more complicated and dangerous than the hiking environment. However, when climbing mountains, it will increase the burden on the feet. Then your feet will easily feel fatigue and discomfort.
- Permeability: In order to increase its protective function, military boots usually use thicker materials. This will cause the air permeability of them to be slightly lower than that of mountaineering boots. That may cause feet to sweat more when climbing mountains. Therefore, you will get discomfort and even cause gait problems.
- Grip: Mountaineering boots usually have a special outsole design to provide better grip and stability. This feature can make it suitable for different terrain. On the contary, the outsole of combat boots may not be suitable for complex mountaineering environment.
- Waterproof: Most military boots do not have professional waterproof function. Therefore, army boots are poor in protecting feet from moisture and rain.
Through the above explanation, the question that are army boots good for hiking has been clearly answered. Army boots are mainly designed for military purposes to provide sufficient support and protection for soliders. Therefore, in mountaineering activities, you need more professional and functional hiking shoes to meet different challenges.