Hiking Boots vs Work Shoes
With the exception of trainers, there is nothing more comfortable than hiking boots. Contemporary hiking boots are built very much along the line of trainers and embody many of the qualities encapsulated in the trainers design. Hikers used to wear traditional boots, but these are starting to be replaced by lightweight, low cut hiking boots. They may not offer the ankle support of the earlier models, but they make walking vastly more comfortable. When you have to cover a lot of ground, comfort is the single most important thing.
Can you imagine walking 20 miles in a pair of work shoes? It is bad enough going out to fetch your lunch, let alone going for a long walk. Shoes simply aren’t designer for comfort; they are designer primarily to look smart. Some are beautiful examples, but the fact remains that they tend to cut your heels to shreds and force your feet into a mould. This fact isn’t helped by so many people trying to squeeze into smaller sizes as small is more in vogue. You also don’t get the kind of cushioning that you do with a hiking boot. This means that your feet are vastly more likely to blister on the soles.
Some hiking boots aren’t as comfortable as the lighter weighted versions. Full-length hiking boots are built with stability and ankle support in mind. The last thing you want is to lose your footing and injure yourself on some rough area of terrain. Consequently, there is a price to pay for this stability in terms of overall comfort. Like shoes, hiking boots are designer for a reason and you can choose which is most important to you. Is that reason support and stability or overall comfort? You could also choose a compromise between these two extremes.
Many hiking boots are unisex. This can make it difficult for women to buy a shoe that is right for their feet. Walking over a distance of ground with your feet slipping about can cause a great deal of damage to your feet. They certainly aren’t comfortable. However, more recently, manufacturers are starting to designer hiking boots that are designer with the female in mind. An example of this Brasher boots. These shoes are comfortable and provide support, but the weight of the boots tends to be heavy, which is an inconvenience for most people to carry around.
There is a definite trend towards the lighter, less supportive boot. This clearly indicates that consumers are favourite comfort over any other factors in the hiking boot market. This is also evidenced in the market for work shoes as Hush Puppies and other similar brands start to claim an increasing share of the market.
No matter if you choose shoes or hiking boots you still have a degree of autonomy in terms of whether you seek comfort or style. A lot of the reason why manufacturers still favour stylish, uncomfortable shoes is because vanity often wins the day at work. The consumer market for hiking boots and shoes are very different animals. Hikers don’t tend to be nearly as obsessed with appearance and do what they do for the love of it. People still care more about what people think than their own level of personal comfort in the market for shoes.
Very few companies will permit their staff to wear hiking boots to work. You will, however, find that some have a more liberal interpretation of what is acceptable, particularly on dress-down days. If the business tends to have customers inspecting it on a regular basis you can expect formal shoes to be a requirement every day.