Narrow Boots

This was posted to rec.backcountry by Matthew W. Blake
blake@win216.nas.nasa.gov

6-7-95 Addition

This addition was submitted by Stuart Hall

After thirty some odd years of employing various footbed manipulations in order to make my athletic shoes and hiking boots come close to fitting my B-width feet, I recently broke down and shelled out the bucks for a pair of Merrell Guides in a B-width. These boots are fantastic! Not only does the B-width fit my narrow foot wonderfully, but Merrell offers insoles in various thicknesses (thin, medium, thick) to further fine tune the fit. I have found that my boots fit perfectly using the medium insole while wearing a pair of liner socks and a pair of Thorlo Hiking socks. I would highly recommend this boot to anyone looking for a serious hiking boot to fit a narrow foot.


Here's a summary of what's available listed by company, ordered by what I thought were best options for narrow/low volume feet.

Fabiano

No local(SF bay area, California) store, got catalog, ordered 2 boots, Edwardo & Lisa. Kept Lisa model.

All are made by Scarpa for Fabiano.

Mtn. Master: MONSTER heavy boot, about 6lbs (sz 9), did not try.

Edwardo: Very heavy duty (about 5lbs, sz9), fit narrow but not too low volume, possibly workable if I wore the right orthotic.

Lisa: Discontinued model, same sole and leather as Edwardo but very narrow and low volume. Weight about 4.4 lbs, sz 9. I bought this one. You need to get 1/2 to 1 size larger as it is very short for it's labeled size. I can wear with or without a small heel orthotic.

Ria: Looks same as Lisa, but lighter weight (about 3.8lbs). Is supposed to be same very low volume. I did not try this on, only saw in catalog. I would guess it is still a bit stouter than the Vasque Sundowner.

A few lighter models. Several discontinued models available from hqts.


One Sport

No narrows, tried Moraine model. This was runner up to Fabiano. Seemed I could cinch down the lacing better than most boots, so I was able to get rid of lots of volume. Maybe this was because of soft leather. I was worried that leather was too soft, not able to protect/support my weight with pack for several years.


Vasque

Stiffest boot available in narrow is the Sundowner. It was a narrow, fairly low volume boot. Significantly lighter weight than I was looking for. Heel design is an issue to some.

Summit model (discontinued) is fairly narrow (not available in narrow), stiffer boot than Sundowner.


Scarpa

Trionic 105(?) available in narrow (supposedly), unable to get one locally (over 2 months dealer got in 3 pairs total, not my size) so I gave up. Available through Fabiano, listed in Fabiano catalog. I preferred the features/construction of the Fabianos in the catalog (Norwegian welt vs Blake sewn, among others). Worth a try, maybe second to Fabiano if I could have tried one on AND they were actually available in narrow.


Danner

Got catalog. Only 3 models in narrow, 2 are insulated hunting/uniform boots, the other is a very lightweight hiking boot. Did not try any. If you want a tall insulated boot, may be outstanding.


Merrell

Wilderness and Guide available in narrow. I tried Wilderness in narrow, it was still WAY to wide.


Others

Raichle: No narrows, regulars were very wide/large volume (tried a few models)

Asolo: No narrows, regulars were fairly wide/large volume(tried model 530?)

Timberland: No narrows, did not try any

EMS: No store locally, phone discussion revealed no narrows.

Alpina: Unable to contact