Wellies vs walking boots

[Siggy]

Wellies are fine until your twist your ankle as fall through a bit of rough boggy ground. Then you have a very painful walk home.

It’s why those who do things on rough ground wear really sturdy boots with good foot and ankle support, and more importantly grip and the ability to get the support and grip needed to go up, down and across steep and usually slippery slopes.

And if you are worried about feet getting we, use good winter standard gaiters. Or just accept you might have damp feet, and have a change of dry socks for later in the day. Far far better to have damp feet than twisted or broken ankles, or worse and you take a tumble.

Every year several people die in the Scottish wilds. Usually they lack proper boots and clothing. That quick ramble can easily turn into a life threatening event when you take a fall, the weather turns and before you know it, the car or argocat that is 200 yards away may as well be 1,000 miles away because you have twisted an ankle, are in a lot of pain and its now ****ing with rain, freezing and 40 mph plus winds. And you have no signal in your phone and the battery is dying because of the cold.

So in short wellies and rough ground in Scotland are a bloody silly idea unless you want to feature as a footnote on BBC Scotland local news.

Not sure I agree with this - the ankle protection afforded by hiking boots is a bit of a myth, received wisdom and certainly limited - just look at fell runners in their running shoes. What stops them twisting their ankles (most of the time!) is their fitness and proprioception. As a student I hiked in the Karakoum - I had scarpa boots and locals had flip flops - we both covered the same ground - just that my feet where a bit more sweaty.

In addition wellies are soft soled and mould to the surface so in some situations give good grip where ridged vibram soles slip.

Just to be contrary, I quite like hiking in the mountains in my alt berg defenders because it turns my foot in to a bit of a hoof and it works, but I am under no allusions as to the protection they give. I trail run a lot so am used to covering rough and rutted ground so I've survived a few tumbles. As a word of caution, I would be careful about wearing wellies just because the locals do - the locals cover the ground day in and day out so are conditioned to it.

 

[Nimrod1960]

Haix unissued army surplus, excellent value, great support, even use them on smart driven days.

 

[pete evans]

Not sure I agree with this - the ankle protection afforded by hiking boots is a bit of a myth, received wisdom and certainly limited - just look at fell runners in their running shoes. What stops them twisting their ankles (most of the time!) is their fitness and proprioception. As a student I hiked in the Karakoum - I had scarpa boots and locals had flip flops - we both covered the same ground - just that my feet where a bit more sweaty.

In addition wellies are soft soled and mould to the surface so in some situations give good grip where ridged vibram soles slip.

Just to be contrary, I quite like hiking in the mountains in my alt berg defenders because it turns my foot in to a bit of a hoof and it works, but I am under no allusions as to the protection they give. I trail run a lot so am used to covering rough and rutted ground so I've survived a few tumbles. As a word of caution, I would be careful about wearing wellies just because the locals do - the locals cover the ground day in and day out so are conditioned to it.

Good point
I’m fairly well versed in foot and ankle biomechanics and strength/proprioception/control is the key. I’ll need to try flip flops next

 

[Keith Edmunds]

Totally depends on the wellies and how they fit

Indeed, I seem to wear the inside of the heel out of all wellies (Hunter/Muckboots/Chameu) which then leaves expensive socks rubbing holes through in no time. Moved over to Brandecosse Brontolares 11" a couple of years ago and already they've outlasted 1 pair of expensive wellies, give them another year and they will work out cheaper than wellies.

 

[VSS]

Not sure I agree with this - the ankle protection afforded by hiking boots is a bit of a myth, received wisdom and certainly limited - just look at fell runners in their running shoes. What stops them twisting their ankles (most of the time!) is their fitness and proprioception. As a student I hiked in the Karakoum - I had scarpa boots and locals had flip flops - we both covered the same ground - just that my feet where a bit more sweaty.

In addition wellies are soft soled and mould to the surface so in some situations give good grip where ridged vibram soles slip.

Just to be contrary, I quite like hiking in the mountains in my alt berg defenders because it turns my foot in to a bit of a hoof and it works, but I am under no allusions as to the protection they give. I trail run a lot so am used to covering rough and rutted ground so I've survived a few tumbles. As a word of caution, I would be careful about wearing wellies just because the locals do - the locals cover the ground day in and day out so are conditioned to it.

Good post ^^^

 

[Heym SR20]

Not sure I agree with this - the ankle protection afforded by hiking boots is a bit of a myth, received wisdom and certainly limited - just look at fell runners in their running shoes. What stops them twisting their ankles (most of the time!) is their fitness and proprioception. As a student I hiked in the Karakoum - I had scarpa boots and locals had flip flops - we both covered the same ground - just that my feet where a bit more sweaty.

In addition wellies are soft soled and mould to the surface so in some situations give good grip where ridged vibram soles slip.

Just to be contrary, I quite like hiking in the mountains in my alt berg defenders because it turns my foot in to a bit of a hoof and it works, but I am under no allusions as to the protection they give. I trail run a lot so am used to covering rough and rutted ground so I've survived a few tumbles. As a word of caution, I would be careful about wearing wellies just because the locals do - the locals cover the ground day in and day out so are conditioned to it.

Agreed with what you say, but there is a very fundamental difference between trail running and going well off trail and then dealing with dragging or carrying deer of Scottish mountains. If you on the sort of ground as shown below you need decent boots, especially if you are not running up these sorts of hills every day.

 

[roaring_stag]

Wellies on Lowground…. Although Putting a Sharp shabby bit of restock site brash through your neoprene muck boot calves is fetching sore!

Note to self - don’t wear wellies on restock sites….

RS

 

[terrier1]

If I am doing alot of walking to find the deer eg stalking roe I use boots and gaiters if I am sitting a high seat and not walking far I opt for wellies better in the larder aswell.

 

[Cumbrian 1]

In ex soviet country the guides wear the same generic black or green wellies with their feet wrapped in rags and they can literally run up almost vertical slopes but I wouldn’t recommend it.

 

[wytonpjs]

On my eighth week of stalking up on Arran the light dawned - why did the FLS ranger and BASC coordinator who do it week after week wear wellies - because Arran is so wet and they simply work! Have worn them ever since with a pair of Swazi putties covering the top so when you inevitably drop thigh deep in a bog you don’t get a boot full! True, on old heather stems they are not as good as boots but I reckon it’s better than an 80% solution

Ironically, just after posting this I discover that they have split on the toe seam

 

[Bugsy]

Mate I shoot for wears they Crispi boots , as I can’t afford them I can only look and dream .

 

[Siggy]

Agreed with what you say, but there is a very fundamental difference between trail running and going well off trail and then dealing with dragging or carrying deer of Scottish mountains. If you on the sort of ground as shown below you need decent boots, especially if you are not running up these sorts of hills every day.

View attachment 294899View attachment 294900

Agreed, but (tongue in cheek) match you and raise you this guy in New Zealand who goes barefoot!! (Specifically talking about barefoot from 16:15) (and you are right because he literally is running up and down hills every day and is a pretty good ultra distance runner) I really like this guys videos so any excuse to share...

 

[dlz90]

I have used many expensive lace up boots over the years.

For me they are tedious soaking laces mud everywhere not handy to put on or take off.

They never lasted any length of time and cost me a fortune.

So I went back to the Wellington boot for everything they just suit me in every respect, easy to put on take off comfortable and totally waterproof.

My boot of choice Bekina steplite X nothing so far have been better.

D

 

[Eddie P]

Can I ask what people on here wear in thick brambles. My heavy ex army boots I use for beating through bramble have finally given up and my local shoe repair man says he can't resole them. I worry about puncturing wellies.

Get some more ex-army boots, my altbergs are the most comfortable boots I've ever worn, I have both brown ex-army and black steel toe caps.

 

[Tazz]

Was stalking in Scotland this weekend. Mixture of open hill, forestry blocks peat bog and clear fell. Couple of decent drags of hour or so too. I used my wellies and felt pretty well supported and feet warm and dry. I’m not sure at what point I would put heavy walking boots and gaiters on. I’ve tended to use walkers boots in the past but noticed that most of the lads that were guiding or doing a lot of recreational stalking were wearing wellies so followed suit. Wellies for me from now on

Staking in Wellies!!!! OMG what has happened to standards in the stalking community, next it will be not wearing a tie, it’s a slippery slope as I see it