Guide: How To Lace Hiking Boots For Wide Feet
If you have wide feet, you need shoes with a wide toebox. However, this isn't always possible because most shoes are made for narrow feet.
The good news is that with some lacing techniques, you can make your shoes feel better by releasing some tension in the toebox.
Hiking Boot Lacing Technique for When the Toebox Feels Too Tight
This lacing technique is useful when the toebox area feels too tight. Essentially, it’s caused by loops 2-4 (starting counting from the bottom) being too tight and having too much pressure on that area. This lacing technique skips several loops around the pain area while keeping the ankle part of your boot locked in to keep your feet from slipping forward.
- Do the first loop normally
- Skip 1-3 loops after that, depending on how painful the toebox area is, and how many loops your shoe comes with
- After that, do a surgeon’s knot to keep the loosely-laced area locked in place (It's basically a regular overhand knot, just with one extra turn)
- Tie the rest of the loops normally and finish with a regular overhand knot.
With this lacing technique, your toebox should feel loose and the ankle tight (the surgeon's knot in the middle allows for them both to happen at the same time).
Hiking Boot Lacing Technique For When Your Toes Hurt
If your toes hurt, most likely they're being pushed against the toebox, especially when you're walking downhill. This lacing technique adds 2 surgeon's knots around the ankle to essentially hold the ankle firmly in place and keep your feet from sliding forward.
- Lace your shoes normally until you reach the ankle area (in the picture above, the first 3 loops are tied normally)
- Do a surgeon’s knot (which is a regular overhand knot just with one extra turn)
- Do another surgeon's knot straight after that.
- Finish off by tying the rest of the shoe normally.
With this lacing technique, your ankle should feel more "locked in" than usual, which should keep your feet from sliding forward.
Getting Well-fitting Hiking Boots Is Equally Important
Tieing your boots with proper lacing techniques only fixes a part of the problem. However, the most important thing that you should do if you have wide feet is to look for hiking boots that fit your feet perfectly, which most commonly means that they’re specifically offered in wide sizes.
There should be some room left around your toes, the top part of your foot shouldn’t feel too tight, the ankle should feel comfortable, and the boot should have a lot of padding. You can also try experimenting with hiking shoes and trail runners to see if you can find something that fits you better.
Sizing Up Your Hiking Boots May Also Work For You
Another trick that you can do is to buy hiking boots that are half a size or one size bigger and compensate for that with two pairs of hiking socks and proper lacing techniques. Getting it right might be a bit tricky since you have wide feet, so I recommend always trying on the boots in a store and walking around for at least several minutes.
Two pairs of socks also help with reducing blisters. In a two-sock system, you wear a thinner liner sock underneath, and a thicker sock on the outside. Any friction happens between the two sock layers, rather than your own feet, which drastically reduces the chances of you forming blisters.
You Should Also Get A Pair Of Good Merino Wool Socks To Prevent Blisters
Even with a proper lacing technique for wide feet, you can still get blisters if you aren’t wearing good hiking socks, so you’ll have to deal with taping your feet mid-hike. They’re usually somewhat expensive, ranging between 20-40$, but from my own experience, they’re worth it. When I switched to the Silverlight merino wool socks, I pretty much stopped forming any blisters on my feet, and I was used to dealing with blisters all the time.
Good hiking socks work so well because they aren’t made from cotton, they have a much better fit, and they’re usually padded more intensively around the blister-prone areas. Good hiking socks are usually made from a blend of merino wool and synthetics, which helps the sock dry much quicker, be more durable, be more breathable, reduce friction with the skin, and be better at odor resistance.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best hiking shoes for wide feet?
Some of the best hiking shoes for wide feet are the Merrell Moab 3 Vent, which I own personally, and they’re the most comfortable hiking shoes that I’ve owned. Although it isn’t advertised as a wide hiking shoe, they do offer wide variants for nearly all sizes. The Merrell Moab 2 is also offered as a hiking boot if you’d prefer more ankle support.
Another really popular option is the Keen Targhee, which also offers models for wide feet, and is sold as a low-height hiking shoe or mid-height hiking boot. Similar to Merrell, Keen shoes also offer plenty of protection and padding, and they aren’t too expensive.
Generally, though, you have to look for hiking shoes that are offered in wide sizes, and plenty of hiking footwear manufacturers offer this option.
Which hiking boot brands are the best for wide feet?
Not all hiking footwear manufacturers offer models for wide feet, but a lot of them do. The most popular wide-feet hiking footwear brands are Keen, Merrell, and Salomon. Others that are also worth checking out are Columbia, La Sportiva, Oboz, Altra, and REI Co-Op.
What’s better for wide feet – hiking boots or hiking shoes?
It doesn’t really matter whether you go with hiking boots, hiking shoes, or trail runners if you have wide feet. It’s more of a matter of preference, as long as you can find a model that’s offered in wide sizes.
Hiking boots offer more ankle protection, but they also weigh much more. Trail runners, on the other hand, are the lightest and most breathable option. Hiking shoes offer a good middle ground – providing a good amount of comfort and protection, while not weighing too much and being somewhat breathable.
Personally, I prefer to hike with trail runners because they’re the most lightweight and breathable option. But sometimes, if I’m walking shorter distances or the terrain is a bit more rugged, I also use hiking shoes or hiking boots, depending on the season.
Are there any differences between lacing hiking shoes and boots for wide feet?
The lacing technique for wide feet is very similar between hiking shoes and boots. Its main goal is to achieve a looser toebox while keeping the ankle part of the shoe/boot tight enough to keep your feet from moving around within the shoe/boot.
The main difference is in the number of loops - hiking boots usually have 1-3x more loops. So when lacing hiking boots, follow along the same technique, and if they have more loops on top of the ankle, just tie them off regularly.