I didn't say anything about fashion, I said shoes that actually look good. They are universally hideous, I'm fairly sure that hiking and caring about one's appearance aren't mutually exclusive things.
I'm not sure how good waterproof boots need to look, when they spend much of their time in a river, propelling you across bogs, or coated with mud.
Unless you actually mean going for a gentle stroll boots?
It's very engineer brained of you to think that form and function is a choice.
Unlucky Russ. You managed to post at a time of the day Tricky is bored and willing to argue with anyone over anything just for the lolz.
Awake time?
Okay Coco. You need something light but strong and supportive, with a grippy sole, and waterproof up to your calf.
Whatyagot?
I'm not hiking the Appalachian Trail, I'm doing 15-20K trail walks / runs. They're basically running shoes with much stiffer soles. There's no reason they have to look the way they do.
My hiking boots are pretty nondescript. I am constantly outraged at things being unnecessarily ugly, but never observed that being a problem with hiking boots.
But mainly, my boots are very comfortable and very sturdy.
It’s a purchase that should be entirely led by how comfortable the boot is for your feet in particular. If someone breaks ranks to make a line with a very different aesthetic, what are the odds that the nice-looking one is the one that is best suited to the job of being a hiking boot? Are you gonna by the ones that look nice if they don’t fit as well as the others?
Let me see if I'm getting this right. You are moaning about how hiking boots look, and you don't need hiking boots?
Footwear for hiking. It matters not whether they're boots or shoes. They're all hideous.
The market will provide, Russ.
You could just get a nice pair of winklepickers, and suffer for your art. Avia used to do a nice range of actual practical footwear that looked like decent trainers, although we seem not to get them here any more.
But it seems like trainers would do what you actually need?
I already bought them. You don't want trainers for trail running if you value your feet.
I got these monstrosities. Immensely comfortable. Awful to look at.
At least they aren't hiking boots...
Who was talking about hiking boots?
Even by your standards this is a remarkable exercise in inventing a nonsensical argument.
Given how ugly most running shoes are, the issue here might just be that you have terrible taste in footwear.
We’ll get Loic Bade to give you a call and put you right.
I purchased a pair of trail shoes in Italy a coupe of summers ago, can’t post a picture as they are in Italy and I’m not, but they certainly look better than those, and any you see in the North America market.
In partially related news, Señorita Mus is helping at this event this weekend.
Strangely, I've been pitching on something not dissimilar today.
