Hiking boots have an essential role to play while you go on wearing them for the hiking venture. They keep the feet protected against the rough terrains and provide support to your ankles and heels. They also protect you from getting injured or slipping off the trails while you climb up-hills or downhills.
How To Tell If Hiking Boots Are Too Big? For the hiking boots to provide the ultimate comfort and durability, they should be of the right size to fit in easily. When you buy the new hiking boots, you’ll feel tight or pain due to their stiffness after a while of wearing them. Sometimes the problem goes away when you wear them for more extended periods or specific days and train your feet.
Other times it doesn’t seem easy, and your feet continue to feel pain or suffer from blisters because the boots feel tight. You may also get heel pain because the boots feel too loose, and you can wiggle your toe inside the shoe. The toe box of the hiking boots may have injured the front fingernails, and now you are all stressed.
Are you wondering if you’ve bought the wrong size and scrolled the articles to find the perfect size? If you’re not feeling comfortable in your boots, then you may have got the wrong size.
The wrong-sized hiking boots are a big NO for hiking ventures because you can adhere to severe injuries. It is why you should know your proper size, and if you think you’ve bought the wrong one, then we are here to help through our guide.
How To Tell If Hiking Boots Are Too Big?
If your feet seem to wiggle inside the hiking boots and there is a lot of space between your toe and the hiking boot’s sole, then you have got the boot bigger than your feet size.
Keep in mind that the hiking boot size is just a bit bigger, or one size bigger than your feet is recommended because, during hiking, the feet swell and occupy much space.
If the hiking boots are too big, you’ll have to drag them along and endure the extra weight of the boots while hiking. It becomes daunting because instead of getting the comfort from the shoes, you’ll be carrying them with the extra backpack weight. Also, there is a chance that your feet get tripped or twisted while climbing an inclined surface, and you get a sprain.
Also, foot blisters and ankle injuries become common when the hiking boots are not the right size, so you must try to find the right size before going on the trails.
Key Points To Know If the Boots Are Big
The key points will highlight the points that will let you know how to tell if hiking boots are too big for your feet. If you are suffering from:
- Boots that don’t stick with the feet although you have laced them tightly
- The heel pains or twisting of the feet seldom
- Drifting the hiking boots along with you on the trails
- Pain in the fingers because they slide to the front toe box while you go downhill
If all the points seem to apply to you, you have the more enormous hiking boots. Don’t worry. We have tips to help you if you have just discovered it while on the hiking track.
Things To Do If You Have Bigger Boots
- If you have not hit the trail yet, immediately replace the hiking boots with the correct size.
- Putting on extra socks will reduce the chances of your feet getting a pleasing space and will fit the shoe better.
- Add pads or clothes on the front side of the shoes so that your feet don’t slide while hiking downhills.
- Tightening the laces more will make a grip around the feet and feel right in place.
Tips To Avoid Getting the Bigger Boots
Proper Feet Size
Before buying the hiking shoes, make sure to measure your feet correctly. You can do it at home or seek some professional help from the specialists in the shoe stores. If you decide to measure it at home, then two methods can help. You can take paper and with the help of a marker, draw the lines at the front thumb, finger, and back heel. You will get the exact number or size of the feet.
The second method is to take an inch of tape and measure the toe from the thumb to the heel in cm to get the appropriate measurement. Then, compare the standard model feet size mentioned on the brand’s list to get the right size.
Try The Boots
Don’t directly go on hiking with the new boots; instead, practice by wearing them on for short walks or around the corner of the home. New hiking boots are naturally stiffer and may feel tighter when brought in fresh and new. Try them on and go for a stair climb or wear them casually around the home to check if they feel big or small in size.
You can also wear them and go on short walks or jogs around the city so that you can have a better understanding of the boot dynamics. You’ll also be able to tell if the hiking boots are too big.
Finger Testing/ Padding Testing
The finger method is another simple method to check if the boots are big or tight/small. Insert a finger in the back of the shoe and see if you can quickly enter the finger. One finger gap is ideal for any footwear because the feet swell on the hiking terrains.
If you can enter the two or more fingers inside the hiking boots while the front side is not touched, you have the bigger size and need to downsize quickly. Also, check the insoles and if you have to add any extra paddings.
The paddings are there to help feet stick and adjust with the boots. So, if your feet are not adjusting with the hiking boots and seem to wiggle, immediately replace the boots.
Don’t Buy Online
Many shoe manufacturers have standard boot models with sizes mentioned on the websites. If you are trying the boots for the first time and have no idea if they will fit you, then don’t buy them online. Instead, make an appointment and visit your nearest store to get professional help so you can have the best-fitted size.
Final Thoughts
Hiking boots are heavy investments that you make. They provide you with comfort and sufficient support needed to walk freely on the terrains; therefore, they should be of the right size so that your feet don’t wiggle or feel too tight.
But, how to tell if hiking boots are too big?. We have mentioned the techniques so you can know if you got the bigger ones. The most important tips would be that you should not buy online and seek professional help so that you don’t have to worry about the wrong-sized boots.