What to look for... Fit A well-fitted walking shoe should feel snug around the whole foot and shouldn’t need too much breaking-in. Lace them firmly from the toes and check that your foot is held securely in place. Padding on the tongue and ankle cuff will make them feel great from the box but may mask a bad fit. It’s worth noting that different brands are made around different lasts (foot shapes), so some makes are likely to be wider, narrower or more volumous than others. No matter what features a shoe has, if it doesn’t fit, it is not the shoe for you.
Uppers Fabric uppers are light and breathable but need reinforcement for support. This is typically provided by leather, suede or nubuck panels. Some shoes feature waterproof membranes that obviously keep water out, great if you don’t like wet feet, but these also reduce breathability. Some walkers prefer their shoes without the membrane and just get used to walking with wet feet. It’s worth remembering that as shoes are cut quite low, the odds are that water will sneak in over the top anyway, and then the waterproof membrane will just trap it inside.
Midsole This is effectively a frame within the sole unit. Ideally it will be stiff enough laterally (side to side) to provide a firm and stable platform for walking on; yet not so stiff that it won’t flex a little front to back, as the lightweight upper and low-cut ankle cuff are unlikely to offer enough support to cope with anything too rigid.
Outsole
june 2012 Country Walking 69
Photo: Tom Bailey
The depth and pattern of the tread and the materials used in the sole will determine how well a shoe grips on different terrain. Traction on dry and rocky ground is probably the most important thing. But in the UK, you’ll still almost certainly need to cross wet and soft ground from time to time, so some grip here will be useful too. A tread depth of around 3-4mm is about perfect.