Walking Boots – What Does Ankle Support Really Mean?

My old feet and ankles (and knees, come to think of it…) are a bit worn out. Normal day to day stuff is OK but if I have to walk a couple of miles over rough ground my ankles get quite sore. Next week we’re off to Wales for a few days and the walk down to the sea, then across the stones to the sand really gets me, to the point where I’m almost considering not going. It’s Nash beach, from Monknash if you know it. The fantastic deserted beach is worth the walk though.

I’m looking at getting a pair of walking boots. I’m never going to do any proper walking, the Pennine Way is safe from me, so I’ll probably go to Millets with £100 burning a hole in my pocket.

Do high boots (as opposed to mids) actually make it easier on the ankles over rough ground? And should I be looking at leather rather than the woven fabric ones? Are Hi-Tec and Peter Storm any good or should Merrell, Berghaus and Brasher be what I’m trying on?

I can see it but I don’t know if anybody else can.

Everything I’ve read in the past 30 years suggests that you get as much ankle support from a good heel cup as you do from a high boot. Folk like Chris Townsend have been doing huge through-hikes with little more than approach shoes. Higher boots are useful for keeping your socks dry though 🙂    Other than proper Winter I use a mid boot, something from Salomon due to my foot shape.

Definitely. A well fitted boot will give you more support than a shoe.
Keep weight in mind though. After 20km a boot will really weigh you down.

I have both for different walking. Anything mountain I’ll choose a boot and anything hills or lower will be shoe/runner

What do you normally walk in? I don’t really think most boots are contributing much too ankle suport

My problem is flexible joints (especially ankles), so a boot with ankle coverage adds stability more than protection for me. I roll my ankles too easily without a boot on rough ground, regular (ish) running has helped me strengthen the joints though but that doesn’t sound feasible here. And yes as soon as I can get to the shop I’ll be buying a new pair to replace my 10 year old Scarpa Terra GTX boots, not cheap as a one off, but they’ve lasted well and taken abuse.

Well fitted boots of whatever style with decent footbed. Possibly some balance exercises to build the muscles up a bit.

I use these, they are light,comfortable and waterproof.

I wore high leg Haix police boots daily for 4 years. They were incredibly comfortable and supportive compared to shoes or even mid height hiking boots. I switched jobs and found that my ankles were weaker due to years of over support. Also lost all my ankle hair! I’d still swear by high leg boots for occasional use in boggy or heathery ground. Just so much better than mids for fit and support.

My normal shoes are Merrell Accentor, which don’t help me much, or my Scruffs work boot which feel much better but weigh a ton.

I think ankle support in boots is a load of old cobblers. You can still stumble and fold your ankle in anything other than fully rigid plastic mountaineering boots.

I just walk in trail shoes.

Ankle support -> weak ankles -> sprained ankles -> more ankle support…. and repeat.

as Scotroutes wrote they are good for keeping you socks dry and thus preventing blisters.

Wearing barefoot style shoes with zero drop, thin soles and no support has enabled my wife to strengthen her feet and ankles such that she can now happily hop across incredibly rough terrain despite being nearly crippled with sprained ankles ( arthroscopy took away the pain but not the weakness) in the past. Thankfully barefoot style walking boots are now available so that our socks stay dry, I swapped out forshorter laces so that ankle flexion is not affected by lacing them all the way up.

I very rarely wear boots these days – I figured if I can run hills in hill running trainers, I can walk the same hills in the same trainers.

What I think is important is how tall the sole is – when I used to wear inov8 shoes, they had quite tall soles which I found made then unstable and prone to going over on sideslopes. Now I always wear walshes which are much thinner-soled so feel far more stable and ankle-friendly.

TL:DR, pay attention to the height of the sole, not just the height of the boot.

We have just faffed with boots for eldest – he was getting all sorts of foot and ankle pain. Transpires he isn’t wide footed as the Clarks school shoes fitter told us for years – he has iffy arches.

A superfeet insole has worked well – he has even commented that he put them in work trainers this week and instantly more comfy.

As with everything in the body, it is all connected and referred pain from other issues needs to be considered.

Might be a bit individual to answer.

In your position I’s stay clear of heavy leather boots because in my experience they take a bit of getting use to and can add to fatigue.

A good fitting pair of trainers is probably better than a bad pair of boots.

I wear a mix. These days mostly light boots as I never wear crampons so they will do me for year round hiking even in snow (with gaiters). Mine are Berghaus something or others. Done everything from days in bogs through to multi day treks over volcanic rock.

Not sure the ankle support helps much? IT does help keep your feet dry and stones clear though.
I’ve got a good pair of adidas fell shoes that I’ve done summer walks in (dry ground). Climbed plenty of lakeland fells in them, bit of scrambling and days in oman when I thought boots would be too hot.

You’ve not got much to lose by going for a pair of mids. They aren’t much more than trainers. Fit is key though if you want support.

Hmmm. Lots of advice there that makes a lot of sense. Given that my low Merrell trainer types proved very unsupportive through a jungle walk in Costa Rica last year I’ll probably go for a high lightweight boot and choose the one in the nicest colour.

 Merrell trainer types

One of our lads loves the fit of Merrell’s – he has had MQM and Flex(?). We ordered a replacement pair through lock down of the ‘Slam’ model – and they were awful fit and shape, with the thinnest midsole going. Literally a week of paper rounds (about 4km) had him begging for new shoes…

A superfeet insole has worked well – he has even commented that he put them in work trainers this week and instantly more comfy.

Staggeringly expensive for what they are!

What scotroutes and kenneth say, never really convinced that boots = support.

Got a 5 day trek in the cairngoems in 3 weeks and I’ll be wearing super comfy trail running shoes.

For me, ankle support simply means letting less water in the top on a boggy surface.

If a boot is restrictive enough to stop me inverting my ankle then I’m certainly not going to want to walk in it.

Trail runners for the win in 3 seasons, with either gravel or water gaiters. Gore tex trail runners, possibly with waterproof socks, for the 4th season!

Hate restrictive boots…

(If I had an ankle problem then I’d tape it properly with non stretch tape then still wear the above)

Aye, I only really wear boots and proper gaiters in the Galloways, my local hills, as they’re generally boggy bastards.

Generally the problem people bave with ankles isn’t so much ‘weak muscles’ I think, but a combination of tendons / ligaments stretched by repeated strains and poor proprioception, so your brain doesn’t know what angle your foot is at relative to your leg and doesn’t react fast enough to changes in terrain and kerbang, you’re turned your ankle again.

If you tape a weak ankle correctly, you’re actually creating a mechanism to help your body recreate its proprioceptive response by responding to the tug of the tape on your skin and using that sensation to keep it at a stable angle. My personal theory is that high-ankled boots do a little of that and so feel more reassuring, but short of splinting the ankle joint in place as per some ski boots and, to an extent, plastic mountaineering boots, they cannot physically prevent your ankle from turning.

I’ve worn a lot of boots and shoes over the years and my general experience is that a supportive heel cup and overall good fit is key. Heels which are narrower than uppers are nightmarish and unstable, ditto rounded ones, as used by Oboz. Also the closer your foot sits to the ground, the more stable the boot or shoe. Soles which flare outwards like a pyramid so the base is wider than the heel cup tend to be super stable.

Really stiff soles can be problematic on rough ground too as they tend to cantilever on irregularities unless you place your feet carefully.

Personally I prefer shoes for anything short of full-on winter use with crampons / step kicking etc and for some scrambles where edging’s a good call. If your ankles feel unstable, get yourself a wobble board and use it regularly and learn to tape your ankles. If you like the feel of higher-ankled boots, wear ’em, but my take is that ‘ankle support’ from them is a bit of a myth, though they may give some proprioceptive help and psychological support.

Brilliant explanation there, BadlyWiredDog. I think a lot of my problem comes from having some spinal nerve damage (which was operated on last October) and I don’t think that particular issue has gone away. I remember the puzzled look on the doctors faces when the knee tap didn’t result in the requisite jerk. And, yes that’s probably why I’ve turned my ankles in the past, causing more lasting damage. Wobble board, you say? You’re talking to the bloke who couldn’t stop falling off the instructor’s biggest paddle board on completely flat water.

So, I’ve got a bit to think about. But I’ll probably just buy the best looking ones.

My problem is flexible joints (especially ankles), so a boot with ankle coverage adds stability more than protection for me. I roll my ankles too easily without a boot on rough ground,

Ha, are you me?!

I have a pair of trusty Meindl leather boots which are a must for rough ground when I’m tired – they don’t completely stop my ankles going over but it’s much better than with trail shoes, and provides enough protection to stop me really hurting myself.

Have you tried lace up ankle supports? Like thisbthen you can keep wearing a lighter shoe

https://www.physioroom.com/product/Ultimate_Performance_Football_Ankle_Brace_Support_with_Steel_Springs_for_Maximum_Support_and_Protection/3121/39414.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_7S2wKbb8AIVAZiyCh3ggg9oEAQYASABEgJIrPD_BwE

I roll my ankles too easily without a boot on rough ground,

I roll my ankles all the time but it never causes more than about 30 seconds of discomfort and then they recover. It’s never caused me any problem walking or running in the hills.

@bigjohn – best thing you can do for your ankles, especially if they’re painful, is lose weight.

I had a significant number of my ligaments replaced in both my ankles a decade or so ago. I get real pain in them (they never really don’t hurt). But the biggest single factor that makes it OK or OMGTHATHURTS is my weight.

I’m 6’2″ and about 14st at the moment. That’s too much. 12.5st is absolute bliss.

I’ve always worn walking shoes – the free movement of the ankle has always what I’ve valued over the “support” of a boot. However, last year I bought some Altberg Tethera’s as I wanted to try a boot in the snowy rocks where I’ve moved to (snowdonia).

After a few big days out in them I actually think they make my ankle pain worse – I think they benefit from the free movement. (I’m going to do the same hikes a few times in shoes to test it out).

I also don’t buy “support” – bits of leather won’t stop you falling over. However – they do help with proprioception – the feel of the leather on my ankle/lower leg helps my brain know whether I’m overextending my foot or at risk of twisting my ankle – and allows me to make earlier corrective actions.

They also protect against rock scrapes.

However – going to try out the shoes again to check on the pain levels. It could be that my ankles are just so buggered that boots are a no-no.

I also find walking on a sandy beach agony. (And flip flops can f*cking DIE). But I make myself go – because the day you let it beat you is the day you may as well stick yourself in a wheelchair (or take some heroin to the edge of a cliff).

Lose weight. 100% the best thing for ankle and joint pain. Next thing being better muscles – so ride more 🙂

Generally the problem people bave with ankles isn’t so much ‘weak muscles’ I think, but a combination of tendons / ligaments stretched by repeated strains and poor proprioception, so your brain doesn’t know what angle your foot is at relative to your leg and doesn’t react fast enough to changes in terrain and kerbang, you’re turned your ankle again.

Bang on for me – played a lot of sport as a lad and sprained my ankles loads because like the OP, I have quite loose joints generally (and so now my knees are **** too). Proprioception is non-existent in my ankles until they’re past the point of no return and I can be right over on one and on the ground before I know what’s happening

Low (and wide) heels on shoes is what’s good for me. Boots are “fine” but I don’t think they’d stop me re-spraining unless they were so tight that they really hurt

As a very duff ankles person, (had one screwed together and the other one will need to be done at some point) I don’t like ankle support in boots, it’s not particularly helpful and I find it tends to transfer the issue up to my knees so I end up with 2 duff joints.

I’ve taken to using mid height, light weight, low drop boots of recent but before that I’d been on approach shoes for everything. I use Hoka One One but that’s because they work for me, they’re a bit weird so I’d not necessarily recommend them but for me they’re great.

I do see the appeal of lighter trail running-type shoes (the kind of thing I’d wear for mountain marathons back in the day) and I agree the angle support thing is often overstated. That said for regular hill walking stuff I do like the extra protection of boots – less water over the top, fewer stones getting in there, bit more protection for your feet and ankles from rocks etc. I use Salomon Quest 4Ds and they’re light enough for me.

Having read all the advice, and applied it to my situation (a lower tibia spiral fracture resulting in ligament damage and a thrombosis meaning that any ankle strapping is out) I went and tried in several pairs yesterday and bought some boots which feel very stable. In taking away the apprehension, they do the job.

I very rarely wear boots these days – I figured if I can run hills in hill running trainers, I can walk the same hills in the same trainers.

True of many items. The people I see walking in the hills carrying large bags then pulling everything out but the kitchen sink when they stop, seen it loads of times. Carrying anything makes me miserable so just the absolute minimum for me.

I went and tried in several pairs yesterday and bought some boots which feel very stable. In taking away the apprehension, they do the job.

Good, probably the best advice on this thread.

Weight loss will help but you can’t do that in an afternoon