Thanks so much for your feedback Kristin! I’m really happy to hear you found hiking shoes that fit your needs better. I share your sentiments. Take care and happy hiking!

If you’ve never seriously twisted your ankle before then you are probably good to use the trail runners. But if you have, the sprain will have damaged your ability to place your foot correctly on the ground, which will be made even worse with a heavier-than-normal pack; your risk of an ankle sprain will be pretty high. It’s not about "ankle strength" per se…it’s more complicated than that and actually has to do with a sense called proprioception (joint position sense). A higher cut shoe acts a lot like a knee sleeve: if you twist your ankle badly enough, it’s going to sprain and the shoe/boot isn’t going to prevent that. But by having increased sensory input all over the ankle, it helps the body add to the incoming information it uses to figure out where your foot is in space and how it hits the ground. Once you sprain your ankle you lose a great deal of that ability, and that seems to be the big reason why someone who gets a bad ankle sprain may continue getting sprains. Without good proprioception, every time your foot plants on the ground it’s a bit of a guess EXACTLY how it lands. And you can see how hiking – and all those uneven surfaces we so love to walk over – could spell disaster if you don’t have good control over how your foot strikes the ground. As for the higher cut shoe/boot, the extra fabric and tight laces of the higher cut can actually prevent what might otherwise be a slight "tweak" from turning into a full blown sprain (If you look at the best ankle braces on the market they look a lot like boot uppers). A tiny portion of how that works is actual support from the shoe, but the rest comes from the improved proprioceptive feedback, which translates into improved control over your foot placement

If you’ve never seriously twisted your ankle before then you are probably good to use the trail runners. But if you have, the sprain will have damaged your ability to place your foot correctly on the ground, which will be made even worse with a heavier-than-normal pack; your risk of an ankle sprain will be pretty high. It’s not about "ankle strength" per se…it’s more complicated than that and actually has to do with a sense called proprioception (joint position sense). A higher cut shoe acts a lot like a knee sleeve: if you twist your ankle badly enough, it’s going to sprain and the shoe/boot isn’t going to prevent that. But by having increased sensory input all over the ankle, it helps the body add to the incoming information it uses to figure out where your foot is in space and how it hits the ground. Once you sprain your ankle you lose a great deal of that ability, and that seems to be the big reason why someone who gets a bad ankle sprain may continue getting sprains. Without good proprioception, every time your foot plants on the ground it’s a bit of a guess EXACTLY how it lands. And you can see how hiking – and all those uneven surfaces we so love to walk over – could spell disaster if you don’t have good control over how your foot strikes the ground. As for the higher cut shoe/boot, the extra fabric and tight laces of the higher cut can actually prevent what might otherwise be a slight "tweak" from turning into a full blown sprain (If you look at the best ankle braces on the market they look a lot like boot uppers). A tiny portion of how that works is actual support from the shoe, but the rest comes from the improved proprioceptive feedback, which translates into improved control over your foot placement

Well no wonder you would go with normal shoes. The trails were nice and smooth, basically softer, dirty side walk 🙂

I’ve just returned from Sardegna, where I destroyed my Merrell shoes (which for me are not cheap shoes I can just rebuy whenever). Normal trails like that are pretty much made for them, but when I went on one full of rocks, not only I could feel most rocks through the sole, but the sharp ones eventually made few big holes through the soles. Not to mention the bruises from loose rocks climbing up, scratches when you have to go through some vegetation and getting wet from mud. And that’s just from ~5 hours walk.

I wear trail runners as my everyday shoe, since I tend to walk a lot, but during winter stay at the cottage in the mountains or off trail, mud, very rocky terrain, I wish I had boots.

For those saying gore wears out.

My 15yr old Danners(Mountain Lights) havent leaked a drop since the day I purchased them and neither have my Lights that Ive owned for about 5yrs.

I simply keep the leather in good shape with Obenaufs LP.

Same as I treat my Scarpa M3s, etc.

….as far as the boot vs trailrunner debate.

Ive got 35+ yrs in and if I see you on trail mid Feb here in the NE in trail runners I am going in the opposite direction you are.

I feel trailrunners are good for dayhikes and maintained trails but anything beyond that you are asking for an exciting situation.

Im a strong believer in the different tools for different jobs logic.

I think people have lost their mind with the light is right approach and forcefeeding that logic down people’s throats.

At what cost?

Notto mention all ypu are doing is replacing gear sooner due to less durability of the lighter weight construction so your losing money as well.

I took a run into the whole UL alroach years back.

Bought a BA Copper Spur. Kicked a guyline one night while emptying the bladder and the seam on the fly a bit over 1ft long.

Got the tent repaired, sold it, and backto my Hillebergs.

Im not a fan of subjective hazards personally amd try to make my best attempt at minimizing my exppsure to them.

My lightest low tops are Garmont Dragontail MNTs and they are for approaches.

I do a lot of off trail stuff.

Many trips 2 weeks +solo in the winter.

I need to depemd onwhat I have on my feet, body, and on my back.

I cant just bail of shit goes sideways.

In the coditions I travel inthere is noway in hell you will catch mein trail runners.