I was talking to some hill walkers at work and we were discussing the different boots we use. I thought it would be interesting to see what people use. You can select all the items of footwear you use for SOTA activations.
0 voters
Wondered what type of shoes would fall into the category āOthersā?
Then I remembered what Iāve recently seen during trail-running in snow conditions and also a longer time ago on the summit in a rather alpine region:
Five fingers:
People swear theyād have less problems with their ankles, knees and backs when they wear this shoes 
Maybe itās worth to add them to the list as well 
73 Stephan, DM1LE
(no, Iām not affiliated with Vibram in any way)
I saw a couple passing Crina Bottom farm who were ascending Ingleborough the girl was wearing filp flops!
73 Chris M0RSF
The top of Snowden can reveal a variety of TRAINing compatible footwear 
OTHER: May 2010 - photographed on his way down from Fairfeld G/LD-010 - a geordie guy in his 20s wearing a slack pair of crocsā¦ macho man? Only flip flops could beat that for stupidity!
73 Phil
Back in the day we used to joke in the climbing club about āDr Scholls climbing sandalsā as so many members wore flip flops in the evening as their feet recovered from a day being confined to PAās (very VERY tight high friction smooth soled climbing boots.) One member actually glued Vibram Montana soles on a pair of wooden flip flops, but they were rubbish for bouldering!
One parameter not discussed is stiffness. For higher mountains or winter outings many of us used to wear āhalf plateā boots which had a metal plate in the sole making the boots practicable for wearing the more bendy crampons. If real ice work was expected then āfull plateā was preferred. These were so stiff that you could stand comfortably with the tip of the boot on a pair of rugosities about the size of a match head projecting from a cliff face!
Brian
Iāve voted considering these boots I usually wear fall into the āFabric boots (waterproof membrane)ā category.
They are less than 2 years old and are already showing huge cracks on each inner front side, where the front rubber protection meets the fabric. Typical of a bad designā¦
Disappointingā¦
Best 73 from Guru
Put on the right shoe for the weather. In the US Western mountains, there is a wet season and a dry season. In the dry season, you want light, breathable shoes. Even in the US Eastern mountains, a lot of hikers like shoes that breathe and dry out quickly after rains or stream crossings.
wunder
Put on the right shoe for the weather.
In Scotland that will be 6 months with waders, 3 months with wellies, a few months wearing good water proof boots and of course there is the odd 2 weeks you can wear sandles - when you go abroad on holiday.
73 Neil
And for those (like me) who still wonder what distinguishes a technical training shoe from an ordinary training shoe, here is a tutorial how to build yourself āreal technicalā shoes:
Wouldnāt it be a great idea to enhance those shoes with some kind of Morse functionality
73 Stephan, DM1LE
Brand name and cost.
Training shoe (cheap)
http://direct.asda.com/george/men/trainers-pumps/athletic-works-trainers/G005266081,default,pd.html
Technical training shoe
I like to wear the same type on both feet.
Iāll get me coatā¦
Most outdoor shops I visit only have footwear with membranes.
Seems to me that marketing people have taken over footwear design.
Personally I am happy with something that lets water in and back out again. I use water proof socks if I think the day is going to be very wet.
Warren.
Hi,
I typically use leather boots. Fabric ones do not stay waterproof for very long. Sometimes a technical training show in summer (e.g. GM/SS-253, Black Hill).
In the āotherā category I also use wellingtons; pretty hi-tech versions with a vibram sole for short wet approaches (GM/SS-133, Minch Moor) ; ski boots of three types, downhill (HB/GR-155, Aroser Weisshorn), ski mountaineering (HB/VS-016, Strahlhorn) and cross country skiing (OH/KI-039, KƤtkƤtunturi) ; finally technical rock climbing boots (on GM/SI-002 Sgurr Dearg - Inaccessible Pinnacle and the Old Man of Hoy of course).
73s
MM0YCJ
Iād hate to carry your boot bag Colwyn
I use these and I think theyāre good shoes
http://www.millet-mountain.com/trident-guide-grey-alpine-approach-shoes.html
http://mountainmoxie.com/gear-reviews/review-la-sportiva-ganda-approach-shoe
I know this is a late post, but thought Iād contribute.
I tend to wear leather boots with a waterproof liner. Iāve had a couple of bad experiences with lined fabric boots that keeps me with leather as a protective layer. On both occasions, the Goretex layer in the fabric boots was pierced by a thorn: making the boot useless immediately. Iāve not had that with the two pairs of Meindl Bhutans Iāve had over the past eight years; or the heavier Scarpa Mantas I use for proper mountain work. The Mantas are not lined but with thick leather they are absolutely waterproof IME.
At the other extreme, I wore Teva sandals when I activated SV/AG-021 in the middle of summer. Theyāre very comfortable and give plenty of support once they are adjusted properly.
As a lad, in about 1956, I remember seeing a broken high heel at an altitude of 2500ft on the Gable screes in the Lake District, does that qualify as āotherā footwear?
David
To me, it would depend entirely on the conditions. Weather, terrain, distance, etc.
ā¦ a geordie guy in his 20s wearing a slack pair of crocsā¦
ā¦ I always tell people when they ask where Iām fromā¦ āthe UK, up North, where men are men, and sheep are scaredā¦ā
Geordiesā¦ a breed apartā¦
RJ // N2GBR
