problems with hiking boots

it seems in the last few years my feet have grown and its much harder to find a pear of hiking boots. I have returned 2 boots in the last week to REI because of comfort. I ended up keeping the Keen Targhees. ( not my first choice for backpacking). They seem to be comfortable but a little loose feeling around the ankles. Im starting to get frustrated because all of a sudden I cant find a hiking boot that is comfortable like I used to be able to. any ideas

I can sympathize. My feet changed a lot over the years, I use to wear 10, now I wear 11.5 (!), and brands I use to love are now impossible for me. I now wear Keens, but Merrells and some Vasques will fit feet that work ok in Keens. Best to go to a store and get help, get your feet measured, try on a number of types. But that seems like what you are doing already. It's also possible that wearing a different thickness of sock could help, or perhaps getting some sort of after-market insoles. Good luck.

REI is getting pissed off at me for returning the shoes. I went with a trail runner. It feels like a tennis shoe with a little more support. Northface 109 gtx. They feel really good and the reviews say they are good for both trail running and light backpacking. we will see. I went through this in Nov for a backpacking trip at big bend. Bought some columbia brand shoes( i know cheaping hiking shoes) that were confortable walking around in but bad after 6 miles on the trail. My feet were in hell.

I recently switched from a full hiking boots to trail runners. So far I'd have to say I don't think I will be going back to boots. I feel much lighter an agile on my feet. I got the Saucony Xodus.

http://www.saucony.com/en/xodus-6.0/1897...ing&start=1

I've run the gamut from logging boots, to heavy Danner "backpacking boots" to light trail runners. I wore trail runners until I bruised my heel badly on a long trip in the Sierra that had lots of lost elevation with a pack that was too heavy, as my wife was sick and I took lots of her pack. I went back to light boots and have ended up with the Targhees, also. Since they don't have a second top eyelet, or really any way to lock your heels down with the laces, I found a Superfeet insole helped by: A. took up some room. B. they have a pronounced heel cup that locks your heel in place. C. the extra protection on the heel and arch support is a good thing. D. the Keen insoles are...well... junk.
Fit is a very subjective thing. I put a lot of miles in lately. and figure my feet are pretty toughened up, especially after a few hundred miles of mico-spike use. Yesterday, I went to several stores and tried on 15 different pairs of trail runners trying to lighten up a little. Didn't pull the trigger. The Targhees are it for me.

I'd stay away from anything GTX unless you're always hiking in the rain/snow. And most of the time, even then.

Other than that, what others have already said and it seems like you're doing - try on different shoes and see what fits. If you have wide feet, New Balance makes most of their styles in 2E and 4E, which is nice. I'm a fan of their Leadville trail runners. Also a fan of La Sportiva trail runners.

One more pair of Montrail Hardrock trail runners, and I'll have to go through this, too!

Tell the bozos at REI that hiking in the store (which I presume you do) is a lot different from hiking on the trail! You could take a pack to the store and hike around for an hour or two--but that's still not a perfect test!

I have ended up getting my shoes from intenet sellers like Zappos and Shoes.com, which pay free shipping both ways, and let you return until you are satisfied. Only caveat is that you have to try them indoors and keep them clean--which eliminates the trail test. And it helps to know what you're getting, also hard when shopping online.

My Wife has problem finding boots that are wide enough now she just purchases men's boots but before that we purchased shoe stretchers and would spend a few days stretching them seemed to work well on shoes that would otherwise be unbearable for her to wear.

I feel your pain. I had ankle surgery 6 years ago and trying to find any boots that fit is a pain. Two weeks I bought a pair of North Face Hedgehog Fastpack mid cuts. Still breaking them in but I like the fit and feel, this was the only shoe that felt good around my ankle.

Hello!

I am new here and wanted to find a community where I could share a bit of research and help people. I am having a really tough time finding D width women's hiking boots. I called a lot of companies searching for this specific criteria, so here's what I found with some examples, and hopefully it will be useful to other people!

Companies that have women's D width hiking boots:

New Balance:
http://www.newbalance.com/pd/new-balance-1400v1/WW1400.html#color=Grey&size=7&width=D


Merrell
https://www.merrell.com/US/en/moab-2-mid...ing&start=1

Merrell
https://www.merrell.com/US/en/siren-spor...ing&start=1

Vasque
http://www.vasque.com/USD/product/womens-footwear/st-elias-gtx-bungee-silver-07161

Vasque
http://www.vasque.com/USD/product/womens-footwear/eriksson-gtx-coffee-yellow-07187

LLBean
https://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/119031?p...page.recsmiddle


LL Bean
https://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/23173?pa...page.recsmiddle

*Lowa
https://www.lowaboots.com/womens/hiking/renegade-gtx%C2%AE-mid-ws?color=Taupe/Sepia&shoe_width=Wide
*C width, but apparently a lot of wide-footed people love the Lowa Renegade!

Columbia
https://www.zappos.com/p/columbia-newton...22/color/730580
Says it's a D, but it's Zappos, so who knows! Worth a shot.


Keen
This is the only Keen boot in a D. It is a light hiking and work boot.
https://www.keenfootwear.com/p/W-DETROIT...womens_footwear

Again, I hope this is helpful to someone! I was so desperate to find information like this on the web and couldn't find it ANYWHERE, so here it is for the next person!

I get a bit frustrated when women complain they can't find wide (D) width shoes. Men's standard width shoe is a 'D' so any off the shelf Men's shoe is a Women's wide shoe. Maybe this won't work for work place dress apparel, but hiking shoes typically sell the same model in Men's and Women's the only difference being color scheme and width. If you are hiking fit should trump color scheme.

No luck for me--I have an extremely narrow heel and my heel comes right out of a men's boot at every step!

One of the many reasons I ditched boots in favor of trail runners.

Women's 7.5 is men's 6, which doesn't normally exist. Boys shoes are not the same. Some of us do need wide women's shoes.

switched away from boots to beefy tennis shoes or trailrunners with neoprene socks for snow. bring strap on spikes and spent all day descending in blizzard icey grand canyon and was so impressed I'll never go back to boots for trails. way more comfort, less ankle support which doesn't affect me. way less weight on your feet (much worse than weight on your back). better breath-ability.

Only time I need boots now is for hunting where there is no trails.

I know this is an old post, but likely an ongoing problem for hikers.

The Keen Targhee's are my choice for backpacking, but if you don't like them, you don't like them. They do have a slightly loose-around-the-ankle feel, but I suspect most ankle-height boots provide only very minimal ankle support. I mean, many people have ankle injuries while wearing heavy hiking boots.

I've tried sneakers once, on an experimental ultralight trip, and they were fine, except crossing a lava flow with loose, fist-sized rocks was a little tedious.

My suggestion is to consider trying a larger size than you think you need. I won't go into my plantar fasciitis rant, as it's probably still on some ancient post, but as a result of having it, I began wearing boots (and shoes)1-1/2 to 2 sizes larger than previously. Sounds weird, and feels a little weird at first, but I won't be going back. Since shoes aren't shaped like feet (though the Keens are better than most), wearing a larger size puts the wide part of your foot in the wide part of the shoe.

Also, try removing the insoles, or try flat insoles. You don't really need arch support unless you have a problem with your arches, and "cushioning" isn't really required either. YMMV of course, but I'm speaking from personal experience and from advice from my podiatrist. There's some good info at his web site: nwfootankle.com. I had a little discomfort at first when I stopped using the Superfeet insoles, but not for long. Keep in mind that the expensive all-leather hiking boots (like I used to wear - Scarpa, Zamberlain, etc.) generally had a flat, thin leather insole. I say "had" because they may have changed. It's been a long time since I've bought any.

Lowa Renegade GTX Mid have been my favorite and most comfy boot after trying many different boots over the years. I've now owned 3 pairs of them. It could just work well for my feet but they are comfy right out of the box for backpacking. I recently got some Hoka One One Tor Tech Mid boots though and they are by far the most comfy boots I've ever worn but yet to backpack with them.

Hiking in the trails is much different from walking in the store, so you could find the boots a little loose around your ankle.

My recommendation is to switch from hiking boots to trailrunners, it might work for you.