I’m desperately searching for recommendations for new hiking shoes or boots. I have a nightmare combination of foot features that has made it nearly impossible to find a shoe that is comfortable (or at minimum, doesn’t destroy me.
Here’s the recipe of pain I’m working with:
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Low/flat arches
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very sharp/pronounced cuniform
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Wide, flat forefoot with a very pronounced styloid process on my 5th metatarsal.
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Narrow heel with sharp points
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The combination of the previous two makes the top-down profile of my foot look like a rectangle attached to a narrow triangle. Yes, my foot has point and square corners. It sucks.
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Very pronounced tibialis anterior tendon
When buying shoes, this is how this all plays out:
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When I find a fit for the width and profile of my forefoot I end up with too much volume in the toe box and mid-sole, which makes my forefoot flop and slide around.
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If I find a shoe with a lower volume that fixes that problem, the laces often cut in to my pointed cunis or tibialis anterior tendon (the tendon being the bigger problem). I have literal scars on the front of my ankle from laces sawing their way into me.
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Along with that lace problem, the way a lot of shoes are constructed results in the force from the laces pulling on the upper, causing the upper to constrict at the last/sole right on the outside of my foot, either directly on or just forward of the styloid process - this tends to cut off blood flow and makes the outsides of my feet cold, numb, and achy.
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IF I manage to find a shoe that checks all of those boxes, the heel cup tends to be too wide or flat for my narrow, pointed heel. This means I often need to really tighten down on the laces to stop my heel from slipping up and down (my heels have literally eaten holes through plastic heel cups), or the shoe simply sliding/rolling around my heel as though I have extreme pronation or supination (one shoe actually resulted in an avulsion fracture at my cuboid and 5th metatarsal).
For the past 5 years or so I thought I had found the least worst option with Merrel Moab 2s and 3s. With some careful lacing, some Superfeet, and some breaking in of the leather upper I could finally hike without dying the entire time. They weren’t perfect but the absence of extreme pain made them a godsend…
until recently.
I don’t know what Merrel has done with their manufacturing but the quality and durability has completely tanked in the past year and a bit. I have had previous pairs of Moab’s that saw 2000km of hiking before needing to be replaced - I was super impressed. Yesterday I just blew through my 4TH PAIR in 10 months (both low and mid-versions). This last pair lasted me all of 1.5 months of daily wear at the office and 5 hikes (less than 100km total hiking). They’ve all blown apart at the same location - they’re ripping through the top eyelets (or the last eyelet at the ankle before changing to the metal lace hooks on the mid-rise). These eyelets are stupidly made of webbing. The laces are either sawing right through the webbing, or the stitching that holds the webbing in place has given out entirely.
I’m so frustrated with shoes right now that I’m close to quitting my job and starting a shoe company just so that I can have footwear that isn’t actively trying to destroy my body, or doesn’t spontaneously disintegrate mid-hike.
So, I am back to the drawing board and would greatly appreciate your recommendations.