“The idea is you can get the shoe wet - you don’t have to fight against keeping your feet dry,” says Hazzard. The industry is trending toward ventilated boots and sneakers that air out quickly after being submerged. Newer styles of hiking shoes might not be waterproof at all. While it’ll never keep them 100 percent dry, the best waterproof hiking boots will use Gore-Tex or a membrane that’s very similar to it. “Then of course Gore-Tex came out.” An outdoor-gear fixture since the late 1970s, Gore-Tex is a finely woven membrane that locks out moisture while remaining breathable. “Originally, people would oil them or wax them,” says Hazzard. Waterproofing: Old-school hiking boots are by definition waterproof. “Sections of rocks on the Appalachian Trail are thin and stacked so you can’t step flat on them, and that’s the case where I’d recommend something beefier, because it shreds shoes quickly.” “If you’re hiking over really rough rocks, a hiking shoe or a more traditional boot would protect your foot,” Hazzard admits. Rather than wearing out in a few months, they’ll last forever and serve you especially well on wet or gravelly terrain. In fact, the best hiking boots are so lightweight and comfortable that they may as well be sneakers - except more durable. That’s not to say boots don’t have their place. “Now it’s the opposite - you can put on a pair of new trail runners and do a long-distance hike.”
“In the old days when you bought hiking boots you’d have to wear them around your neighborhood before the hike, to be confident you wouldn’t get blisters,” says Cris Hazzard of. Trail runners are essentially grippier, more hiking-specific sneakers, and they’re built for comfort. Rachel Gross, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado in Denver studying the history of outdoor clothing and gear. “Elite hikers, long-distance hikers - no one is wearing boots above the ankle,” says Dr. Boots versus sneakers: Talk to almost any serious hiker or outdoor-gear enthusiast these days, and you’ll hear the same story: stiff and heavy hiking boots are out, flexible and lightweight trail runners are in.
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