The Best Hiking Shoes For This Year

Your choice of shoe is a very important piece of your hiking apparel. The wrong shoe can make you slip on rocks and trails. Feet with blisters are no fun. And a twisted ankle can stop you from going any farther on your adventure.

Hiking shoe verses hiking boot? Which one do I pick? Well most people prefer the hiking shoe. Because the boot is heavier, hotter and they stay wet longer. Shoes that weigh less than two pounds won't wear you out after a long day of hiking. Hiking shoes keep your feet pretty cool and this prevents you from getting blisters.

Listed below are this years Men's and Women's highest rated and most popular choices. Low cut shoes are best for light and fast hikes on smooth trails. No break-in of the shoe is required. (one of the requirements to qualify as best hiking shoes)

High cut shoes will give you better ankle support and keeps grit from the trails out. (ankle support is a requirement to make the list of best hiking shoes)

A hard stiff rubber shoe or boot absorbs shock when jumping on a hard landing. It protects the bottom of your foot from bruising and these shoes last the longest.

The Wet Foot Test: Try this to determine if you need extra arch support in your shoes or boots. completely wet the bottom of your foot, then step onto a paper bag or piece of paper. If you can see an imprint of most of your arch, you could benefit from stabilizing insoles (only about half of the arch will be visible if you have normal feet.)

Some of the above were rated as the top choices of 2011 by THE OUTSIDE BUYER'S GUIDE MAGAZINE and THE BACKPACKER MAGAZINE. They were voted on by hikers and editors. Over 150 different kinds of shoes were tested to come up with the above choices.

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