QUESTION:
Dear Hiking Lady,
I’m taking a trip to Alaska next month and would like to find some hiking boots/hiking shoes that will work for my upination style of walking. Would you recommend some brands/models?
Thanks!
-Audrey
ANSWER:
Thank you for reading HikingLady.com. You have a great question!
As you probably already know, supination is when your feet strike down on the outward side. This can lead to ankle sprains, callousing, foot pain, back pain, you name it! Not fun stuff to deal with.
I’d recommend that you look for a good combination of boots AND enhanced insoles.
A sturdy boot for hiking and light backpacking that I love are the Asolo Styngers (see my review of the Asolo Styngers). They are constructed of stiff materials, which helps prevent supination. If you want hiking boots for less intense hiking, then the New Balance 1569 are known to be excellent for supinators.
I’d also recommend that you try a pair of enhanced insoles. You may already have a pair that you like, so use those. Otherwise check out this article (The Best Insoles for Hikers).
Hope all of this helps! Thanks for reading the website and be sure to sign up for the free email newsletter and enter the monthly free gear giveaways
Happy trails!
Hiking Lady
Do you have a question for the Hiking Lady?
Thank you Mr Foley for your comments about aggresively filing down the medial side of the outer cap footbed. I agree that shoe manufacturers are hell bent on forcing outward during the natural gait process within all their shoe models. But that just causes more strain and pain for 5% of the market. The serious supinators or over pronators, if that describes it better. Firm ankle support with some good overall resistive flexing. And rubber based footbed non-vibram is good for my feet. But try and hunt that shoe or boot down. And no rigid steel or thermo plastic safety green patch footbed please. My protruded metataursal heads bark back painfully with that stuff.
I don’t want to prevent my supination. It is my natural gait. Pronation (rolling inwards) has caused me great pain over the years since the manufacturers have been hell bent on forcing people to roll inwards whether they want to or not. The outer tread and heel has worn first on all of my footwear since I could walk. Now, I need insoles as well as filing down the outer tread (on new shoes & boots) to avoid the pain. So, can you advise me of walking boots that will accommodate my supination. Thank you.