Boots for narrow feet

[jdemott]

This is a two part question: what to buy and where to buy?

My feet are somewhat narrow, so they tend to slide around a bit in a standard width (men's D width) boot. At present, I am making do with standard width, two pairs of heavy socks, and very tight laces, but it isn't really a satisfactory solution. Does anyone have any suggestions for boots that are available in narrow widths or, at least, tend to be on the narrow side? I'm looking for a boot over the ankles (not a low cut), with Gore-tex waterproofing, for general purpose hiking.

The second part of the question is where to buy (in the Portland area) hiking boots from a knowledgeable salesperson with a good range of sizes and styles. My last experience in the REI shoe department was not good. The clerk seemed somewhat astonished that someone would even want narrow boots and seemed to think that her job description began and ended with carrying boxes from the back room.

[retired jerry]

Maybe the Danner boot store near the airport. That's where they make the boots.

[arundodonax]

These guys have the Innov8 390 GTX's:

http://www.biketiresdirect.com/visit-store

Innov8's generally run narrower than most. I've got a pair and like them. Gortex, and very light.

[sassysadie]

JOhn

You are unique - the reason there are few boots is because there are few people who have narrow feet and getting more rare. I spent more time looking for EEEE boots.

NOt sure what type of boot you are lookign for. Alot of time boots with gortek liners end up being more narrow.

Might want to check out the Merrill Store- Some of their boots run narrow ( regular) - Can also go on line. DO not expect fitting experts

White boots might be an option - they are probabb;y a little more knowledgeable.

Some of the magnum boots ran a little narrow

Not experienced with Danner

You are using the double sock routine - that can help but instead of double sock - might want to get an insert that will take up some space.

[jdemott]

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions so far. I plan to check them all out. I wonder if there actually are fewer folks with narrow feet or if the shoe companies have just found that it is easier and cheaper to manufacture and ship lots of shoes in medium width ( and tell the folks with narrow feet to tighten their laces and the folks with wide feet to buy a size larger). The same thing seems to be true in clothing sizes. REI used to have tall sizes for many garments, like jackets, shirts and parkas, but now tall sizes have just about disappeared. I don't think people have gotten any shorter--I think there are just a lot of tall folks like me buying a larger size parka to get the sleeves and torso long enough.

[skimanjohn]

I too have a narrow "european" foot.My heel is very narrow.I have found much success with the Scarpa and LaSportiva boots,made in Italy but even some of their boots are now made else where.Good luck and i too use a custom insole for many reasons includeing a better fit and comfort.

[sassysadie]

jdemot

You do have one option if your feet are not long - A woman's medium is about the width of a man's narrow. It might open you up to some other options. It is one of the options I used fairly frequetly.

Yes - There are very few shoes in general for men that are narrow. Less than 5% of men have narrow feet. In most cases - this means it is not worth making shoes and creating an inventory that may or may not sell- loose money.
Second - people with narrow bony feet can have lots of other foot problems - since there is little meat on the feet and poor bone structure. So a custom insert can help address the volume issues and provide better support.
I had this guy with size 15 AAAA narrow feet - shoes looked like ski's. We did it with a pair of semicustom shoes.

For a std store - You are a problem children. The provider has few options and lack training. Try going to a store with Pedorthic Service

I forgot to mention New Balance - they may also carry some narrows.

Last - You can have a pair of custom shoes made. Over the long haul - usually better

[raven]

I believe the Mountain Shop on Broadway used to specialize in fitting shoes, using a specific fitting system. Don't know if they still do.

[adidas]

I have really narrow feet too, and whether its hiking boots or ski boots, my feet just slide out of the shoe,
or float around, a real pain...
you can either, get them hand made (like a friend did) http://www.hikingbootshandcrafted.com/
or you can be just like the rest of the world and look really hard hahaha
I found mine here http://www.twenga.com/
they cost 200USD though.. but theyre worth it..
How much are you willing to spend? if you want to get perfectly fitting boots, get them hand crafted..
anyways hope you find them!

[johncroc]

I registered just so I could make this comment, but now that I'm a registered user I might end up staying...Nice Board!

A few users have commented along the lines of "only 5% of people have narrow feet." I have narrow feet and I am SO tired of hearing that.

The truth is that the shoe industry has created a statistical feedback loop. The statistics ("5%") are derived from shoe sales data. Because there are so few trained shoe salespeople these days (quite different from how it was when I grew up), it is much easier to put an untrained, minimum wage employee on the sales floor and stock only wide "D-width" shoes. People with wide feet cannot even get narrow shoes onto their feet, but people with narrow feet can slide right into wide shoes. So if the store employs untrained salespeople and stocks only D-width shoes they can sell them cheaply to a larger audience. With this model, sales of narrow shoes goes down and the industry responds by making fewer and fewer A and B width shoes because their statistics tell them that fewer people are buying narrow shoes.

The idea that there is some sort of micro- (or macro) evolution going on, causing babies to be born with wider and wider feet is patently ridiculous. Changes in the basic characteristics of a species are driven by survival issues and occur over millennia. I've never heard of anyone dying (being taken out of the gene pool) because of narrow feet and Europeans have been on this continent for less than five hundred years.

Shoe industry! We need shoes that fit our feet. I, for one, wouldn't mind paying extra for mass produced shoes in narrow widths. I'm sure I'm not alone.