This video explains how hikers and backpackers can use different lacing techniques to get a better fit from their hiking boots. Check out our selection of backpacking and hiking footwear at Enwild: www.enwild.com/footwear.html?...
For years and years I have suffered terrible pain with the toes on my left foot after just a few miles on the trail. I've tried different boots, shoes, socks, inserts, etc to no avail. It made me apprehensive about my favorite outdoor activity and always put a damper on our outings. Your lacing tricks solved in 5 minutes what I have struggled with for years. I can't thank you enough!
You cover every "poor ft" issue and couple it with a solution. Thank you! So well presented. I hiked some steep inclines and declines, yesterday and will have black toes, no doubt. I've just put my arch supports into my hiking boots and, armed with your double over hang knot, I will have some tools for our upcoming week of hikes in the Sierras.
I do a medieval martial arts game in large combat boots, and I used to stub my toes on the front of my boots until I watched this exact video and used the techniques you demonstrated. I have not stubbed my toe in two years now. You have saved my effing life. Thank you very much.
omg i can't wait to try this based on your comment. I love long hikes in the white mts but i DREAD descending because my toe tips end up absolutely wrecked with pain at the end of the hike. I really am hoping this lacing technique stops this from happening!!
You rock. You're the first person to explain high arch and low arch boot lacing properly. My Scarpa Manta's will now come out of the cupboard and get re-laced for high arch. Thank you, you're an angel.
This is very good advice. I've been wearing mountaineering boots and combat boots for over 37 years and can verify that these tips are sound. One idea I'd add: Switch out your boot laces for 550 (para) cord and wax them with bees e wax to avoid slippage. The laces will outlast your boots and will be handy extra cordage in a pinch.
68 years old, just bought some combat hiking boots for spring fall cycling. Never once in my entire life did it ever occur to me there are different ways to lace a boot for comfort I really learned something today especially since today is my first day out biking with my new boots
I almost launched into my usual old man derogatory attack , but then when she showed us the double locking technique i became an instant lover of this video . Great tip . thanks.
Thank you for this video. I've been a backpacker for 40+ years and though I'd come up with some similar lacing methods, mainly for sparing the toes on the downhill, what you show is spot-on, simple, and truly works. Excellent!
your video has really helped me! no one teaches stuff like this. I've started hiking recently and my boots kept untying all the time. who knew there was a better way to tie them! thank you thank you thank you, you literally changed my life in terms of hiking.
This worked great for me with my high instep. I was on the verge of returning a pair of wide hiking shoes and your alternative lacing made my wide hiking shoes keepers. I will use this technique on all of my shoes with laces. Thank you!!
Thank you for producing an excellent and instructional video on lacing hiking boots. In the past, I have not locked my laces, skipped eyelets, or used any of the techniques you've demonstrated here. My walks, both in the city and the country, streets or trails will be more comfortable, so thanks again, Internet person!
Just watched this and looks like some good ideas. I been doing the square knot at the end for many years. On taller boots I go around the top one time. It stays tied and is very easy to untie. Good video,thanks! 🛶
You have stopped me from throwing away an expensive new pair of boots. I belong to a rambling group in the UK and a lot of members have found your video very helpful. Many thanks for producing it.
HELLO! i know this is an old video but I found it while trying to solve my issues with my toes being WRECKED by the end of my hikes. This tip was amazing, I made it up and down Mt Washington NH with zero toe injury! couldn't believe it. THANKYOU!
This is a thank you: I've been using this lacing technique for years now thanks to this video- really a game changer. I have foolishly wide feet and so have to buy boots that are too long and this makes the whole thing work. Cheers!
This was a great video explaining the different lacing techniques. So thankful! Clear and easy to understand - having that ankle stability is a game changer! So grateful!
This was a fantastic video! I've had problems with finding the right fit for my boots when hiking and I am very much looking forward to trying your lacing techniques.
I thought I would never find a pair of hikers that would be wide enough for me, little did I know that the keens I had already doubted after spending 200$ were PERFECT. All I had to do was skip a few crosses at the toes and tension it to a comfortable position and tie up my ankles with your method! Worked perfectly. Thank you dearly.
Thank you for a well thought out lacing approach for different comfort scenarios. It's something I think about a lot because I am the one tying the shoes for my kids' different comfort levels.
This is the best video I've found on boot lacing. What this lady terms as the double overhand knot, I was taught is called a *surgeon's knot*. The other over-under at the top I know as the *heel lock*. Both work well. She also describes a method of keeping the lacing somewhat loose on top of the foot.
This is probably the best video on boot-lacing tips I've seen. For those who'd like to experiment with the trend shown here, I would suggest a tip that I was once told was common knowledge among outdoors folks 80 or more years ago, which I learned from an old timer about 50 years ago and still use. For this trick, when putting the double-overhand knot at the shoe's flex point (right at the ankle where the foot flexes), make that a complete square knot instead. Whether that square knot is based on the double-overhand knot or a single, it won't ever work its way loose, while the simple double-overhand knot can work loose over time and usually will, no matter what other lacing tricks you combine with it. This trick is especially handy on tall, bulky, felt-lined winter boots where the lacing tends to "puff out" at the boot's flex point, leaving you with a very sloppy fit at the ankle (and for people who hate such boots, it turns out that this almost always the reason for it). Working on making that flex point fit snugly every time you put the boots on, finished with a square knot, will break-in the boot so that as time goes on it flexes like a hinge at that location, and also gets easier and easier to establish that fit with this lacing trick. Done properly, it will cure anyone's hatred of bulky, insulated boots! There's also a neat trick for making a tight square knot without the need for basing it on double-overhand knots, but this post is longer than some people will have the patience for already.
Just watched. Good advice and info never seems to get old. I now have to wear heel inserts cause I blew out my arches a few years ago. This will help alot.
This was so helpful!! I have bunions and could never find a way to lace my boots so that I had enough room around that part of my foot *and* get the top portion laced snugly enough. The combination of techniques you demonstrate here seems to work really well. Thanks!
Thank you so much for this video! It was a great help for me as I am doing the DofE award and have never really Done much professional / excessive walking so wasn't too sure if my boots were going to give me blisters and they were a bit too big. Using these techniques worked really well and I feel a lot more comfortable in my boots now and am looking forward to it! Great video
Excellent! I have recently goten back into hiking and on my last hike my toes crammed into the toe of my boots every time I went downhill. Can't wait to try this! THANKS!
Wow. I never thought I could learn how to tie shoes online. But I def had no idea this can be done! I will def be trying it to see it if feels better on long days.
I have used a lacing system I first learned when lacing up the inner and outer of leather ski boots (back in the 60s) , but this has set my mind free, I will not forget this, having seen it once. A great contibution to the cause of happy feet. Don't forget to wear 2 pairs of socks, thin next to skin, and then heavy on top.
THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS! I have struggled with boots forever because I have as high arch, 9.5EEE size foot. My toes take a beating on the mountains (especially going downhill) and it doesn't matter how many times I tighten up the laces. Using BOTH options shown in this clip may just solve my problems. How come I never saw this before? Best post on AT yet IMO. God bless you for this. Can't way to experiment!
NO ONE has ever told me what that extra hole was for in the top of the shoe, probably because they didn't know themselves. But now I do and I'll pass this along....THANKS!
And remember our feet , left to right are different..length, width, arch position and height. Socks and foot beds can help also....great post..and on the nail
Great video. With all the tech. improvements to back country boots now days, many people don't think about lacing techniques. I have a WIDE flat foot. The both of the lacing ideas presented here helped me quite a bit. Thanks
Just bought a new pair of boots and seen this. Awesome! Many, many thanks - something I’ve learnt today. I’ll certainly try the techniques before I go on holiday.
Useful and informative. I will share a tip or two myself. Before I start lacing I kick my heel into the ground to set the heel into the back of the boot before I start lacing. I expect to adjust my lacing after the first mile or so, laces will gradually stretch and loosen. Good socks and sock liners can be a real blister saver. I brush my hands over my socks to check for any debris stuck to them before I put my boots on (and shake out my boots to check for debris and critters) I do not keep suffering if my boot is too tight or loose, i stop to readjust. I try to keep water and dirt out of my boots. A little bit of grit and wet socks can cause a lot of suffering. Consider gaiters, especially if using walking shoes or trainers. I buy inexpensive walking boots and shoes which can be transformed by replacing with good quality but inexpensive insoles.
Cool video, didn't expect the great content. At 51 I learned a lot about something I've been using a long time, I guess I just never thought out of the box from what I was taught as a kid! Great job! Thanks!
The around the ankle lacing technique really helped, thanks! I have high volume feet and need to leave the laces over the instep a little looser than back at the ankle so this really helps!!
Just tried this on quickly and it feel so much more secure I am very confident it will help while out walking and I will not suffer another black toenail thank you.
Excellent video madam! People fail to appreciate how important it is and what a difference it makes to be able to adjust your footwear to fit comfortably. Some great sensible ideas there. Much appreciated presentation. Thank you. John
Excellent techniques. I have been using the double overhand knot (also known as the nurses knot, I heard) for a while now and it works great. Thanks. Good job.
Excellent company. I bought some trekking poles recently and they arrived super fast with three day shipping for only like 3 bucks! Also thanks for making these educational videos.
Backpacking boot designers should start playing around more with the idea of heel lacing. I have a pair of La Sportiva boulder x approach shoes that have this built in. It gets rid of the heel slippage. Super cool design
Ryan Cameron Asolo has a similar design that locks the lower portion of the shoe. You can have the lower portion tight and the top loose, or the other way around. Best boots I have ever purchased. My first pair lasted me about 11 years with thousands of miles on them.
