How to choose footwear for a hike

Hold a head in a cold, and legs(foots) in heat - everyone know this saying since the childhood, but hardly who listens to her until will get in a hike in an adverse environment of a cold and the raised(increased) humidity. After the first hike, probably, all tourists think of necessity of purchase of the convenient, strong footwear, capable to bear(take out) all conditions of travel, to provide light(mild) movement on any district and to frame a comfortable temperature regimen for legs(foots).
The models presented(introduced) by us are simply specimens (not the best or the inferior), for each concrete type of a hike, and moreover, for each concrete hike the boot with the features is required. Each firm (except for narrowly specialized type KOFLACH) makes all spectrum of tourist footwear at which are present as boots for simple, and for extreme hiking conditions. Therefore we would not like to allocate what or model as the most successful - all is defined(determined) by conditions of a hike!

What boots happen

For today it is possible to allocate following kinds tourist a boot: plastic boots with inner inserts for high-mountainous ascentions, boots for complex(difficult) mountain hikes, boots for trekkinga, trekking krossovki, rocky shoes. But before to describe characteristic features of each of kinds, we shall tell some words about materials of which make modern tourist footwear. The first with what we shall begin the story about boots, will be the story about materials of which the sole is made. The special attention here should be given soles of firm VIBRAM, being the basic supplier of superfine(high-grade) soles for all firms sewing tourist footwear. The matter is that all soles of the given firm are calculated on extreme hiking conditions and whenever possible provide the maximal coupling a boot with a surface, thus the wearing most out places of a sole are strengthened. A technology of production of soles and material from which they are made, are a secret of firm. It is necessary to tell, that soles VIBRAM put basically on the boots intended for high-mountainous ascentions, on footwear for complex(difficult) hikes and some models of rocky shoes. On trekking models of footwear producers put, as a rule, soles of own manufacturing from various polymeric materials. In this case it is not necessary to speak about bad quality or insufficient durability of materials in comparison with soles VIBRAM - in this case from a sole it is not required to simply big wear resistance, and firms make production on the advanced technologies.

Besides the basic sole, in each modern boot is available also the intermediate sole serving for a softening of impacts on a foot at jumps, and on climbing boots also for the best alcoholization on a boot of additional means of transportation (a cat, snowshoes, skis). For the purposes of amortization the diversified materials - poliuretanovaja foam, nylon are used, etc. For giving additional rigidity at alcoholization of auxiliary means of transportation use steel sheets 1 - 2 millimetric thickness covered what or material.

For external furnish are activly used ordinary and vyvorotnaja a skin, nubuk (a boiled skin with very small pile), CORDURA. To explain, why a skin and nubuk have found wide application in external furnish a boot, probably, it is not necessary, and here to tell some words about material under name CORDURA costs(stands). This material possesses high durability, is badly stretched(badly dragged out), not "dubeet" on a frost. It would be desirable to note, that enough often it is possible to see on a label a boot an inscription, that they are made of suede, and so, we wish you to disappoint - any model tourist or city the boot is not done(made) of suede - very thin and dear(expensive) material.

Tourist boots besides furnish should have still and a lining which would provide comfortable temperature. A basic material used for these purposes, the invention of firm 3М is Thinsulate. Excellent(different) teploizoljatsionnye properts of this light(mild) material are provided due to a combination in its(his) contents thin (2-5 microns) polyester and poliolefinovyh fibers that approaches structure(frame) Thinsulate to structure(frame) of natural down. The firm makes the big spectrum of different variants of execution(performance) of this material for the different purposes. So, Thinsulate B - the compression material possessing raised(increased) fastness to strong squeezing which just also is applied in models of winter and sports footwear; Thinsulate Flex - a material stretched(dragged out) in all directions which goes on tailoring, gloves, etc.; Thinsulate Lite Loft - the lightest(most mild) and compressed material which goes on tailoring of sleeping bags.

Variant of light(mild) warming of a boot the locating between an external and inner covering of a boot of a grid which will frame teploizolirujushchuju an interlayer can be. But such variant approaches(suits) only for events of weak frosts, instead of strong frosts.

The good footwear protecting a leg(foot) is necessary not only in hikes with the lowered temperature and consequently in linings a boot the materials are applied, allowing to allocate(remove) a moisture from a leg(foot), i.e. enabling legs(foots) to breathe. In our country the given type of materials has received the name membranous (in the West they have the name breathable - "breathing"). The given materials have come to the tourist equipment from astronautics. The first material with a membrane was GORE-TEX (gorteks), used in survival suits of the American astronauts, there were also other materials with a membrane (ComfortTex, SimpaTex) or special breathing impregnation (South-Korean firm HI-PORA). What is the membrane and what for she is necessary? The membrane is a thin porous tissue from hydrophobic polymer politetraftoretilena, had between an external and inner covering of a boot. She contains about two billions microscopical pores on square centimeter. The size of one pore is many times less than size of a drop of water that does(makes) a membrane impervious for a rain, on the other hand, the size of a pore more than the size of molecules of water that allows a moisture to leave in the form of a steam outside. In it(this) there are pluss and minuses: throughout capacity of a membrane is limited, and as try, but even in clothes from a membranous material all the same you will sweat. Besides on a frost of vaporization, not having time to leave outside, can freeze, the membrane becomes covered by an ice and ceases to breathe. For this reason all firms let out(release) also models without a membranous lining - specially for hikes in which conservation of heat is a priority.

Application of membranous materials in boots does not solve one more problem often arising not only in a hike, namely problems of a unpleasant odor from footwear and legs(foots). The matter is that the bacteria framing this smell, and "aromatic" molecules through pores of a membrane do not evaporate - they too greater(big) for these pores. And more one question interesting probably of all - « That breathes - a skin or a membranous material is better? ». They actually breathe approximately equally, unique advantage of membranous materials the weight is smaller in comparison with a skin. Therefore the pair a boot executed from synthetic materials with a membranous lining, will be lighter similar, executed of a skin.

High-mountainous boots

The first in our brief story will be the boots intended for high-mountainous hikes. These boots consist of two parts. The external part of a boot is made of impact-resistant plastic and intended for protection of a leg(foot) against external damages and rigid bracing of a foot (it is essential at overcoming slippery surfaces or draining off on skis). This plastic coating for convenience of circulation is parted on the original armour clamped among themselves by means of metal rivets. Laces an external coating it will be organized by means of the small rollers costing(standing) inside ushek. But such rollers are present only at the latest models, in models is more senior or more cheaply rollers are not present, but ushki are made the greater size. Such fittings provide light(mild) shnurovku a boot even on a frost and in gloves. On a sole such a boot are specially made a step for alcoholization of additional means of transportation - for cats, skis, snowshoes. It is necessary to notice, that besides a step also the form of "armour" defines(determines) prioritetnost alcoholizations of this or that external device - in one boots to go more conveniently, and in others it is more convenient to be drained off on skis. On all boots of this class soles VIBRAM are put.

The external boot provides only mechanical convenience to a leg(foot), and the inner boot is intended for maintenance of temperature comfort. Except for maintenance teploizolirujushchih properts the inner boot carries also much others useful in a hike to the tourist of duties. For example, to not drag all design fallen asleep by a snow in tent, an external part of a boot leave at an input(entrance), and in inner move on tent. The inner boot, as a rule, happens in different variants of execution(performance). So, if right at the beginning of an ascention it is necessary to overcome rocky sites, to not carry additional rocky shoes, inner boots make in the form of high rocky shoes. And for conditions of low temperatures specially sew the warmed variants inner a boot, covered in addition teplootrazhajushchimi silvery layers.

The warmed mountain boots

Following kind of tourist footwear are the boots intended for complex(difficult) mountain hikes. These warmed boots have much in common with the above described type: they also rigidly fix a leg(foot), on them sole VIBRAM strengthened by a steel plate in an intermediate sole is put, shnurovka often also is realized by means of roller system. On these boots as there is a step for alcoholization of cats and snowshoes, on some models there are the thorns built in in a sole which are put forward if necessary.

But nevertheless this kind a boot as though costs(stands) below what previous. Business all that the given boots basically have no an inner insert and consequently are calculated on hikes with more heats. One more simplification of the given kind the boot in comparison with the first kind is execution(performance) of its(his) top not from plastic, and nevertheless from soft materials - vyvorotnaja a skin, nubuk with additional amortizirujushchim a welt on perimeter of a boot at a level of the middle of kench that does(makes) worse protection against external mechanical influences. But as always there are no rules bar none and among models of the given kind there are specimens under the characteristics peer or even surpassing two-layer boots, but the given footwear already has highly specialized character here again will not be described.

Trekking boots

Following even more simplified kind of tourist footwear will be trekking models a boot. Here the wide scatter on execution(performance) of an inner lining and an external covering of a boot is already observed. The choice of model is besides defined(determined) by conditions in which will pass(take place) a hike as the firms making footwear, do(make) the most different models for the most different conditions. So for hikes with the raised(increased) humidity boots with the membranous linings, the tissues executed from a continuous chunk, for years(summer) hikes - with linings from a grid, for winter pedestrian or ski flat hikes - from a skin or nubuka with additional warming are sewed. As already it has been told above, on trekking footwear producers put the most different soles, but it is necessary to notice, that it is possible to find in this class of tourist footwear as boots with vibramovskoj a sole, and with a sole of own manufacture. To tell about trekking krossovki after the story about trekking boots easily enough. The matter is that the given footwear is simply facilitated variant trekking years(summer) a boot and is intended for years(summer) pedestrian hikes on a cross-country locality or hikes on small low mountains.

The author: Sergey Chuksin