How do you lace hiking boots to prevent toe pain?

Most of us learn to tie our shoes in elementary school and don’t think about them again. If your hiking boots begin to rub against your feet in an uncomfortable way, you’ll be delighted to discover a few new lacing tactics that can help you enhance your comfort.

Knowing how to lace hiking boots entails more than you would imagine. When we’re out on the trail, it’s critical to look after our feet, and learning how to lace hiking boots in a number of ways may have a significant influence on their overall health. These suggestions are applicable to both men’s and women’s hiking boots.

Even though most of us know how to tie our laces, there are a variety of techniques to bind our boots to our feet that can increase overall comfort and mobility. It’s important to tie your laces properly so you can protect your toes from injury while hiking. Many boots come with extra-long laces, which can be utilised for re-threading or for some of the ways listed below. Each strategy has advantages and disadvantages and may be utilised in different situations.

Lacing Your Hiking Boots Properly

Your boots should already fit you well, and that using these systems as a long-term solution to foot discomfort or other issues is not recommended. If you encounter chafing or blisters, knowing how to stop them and how to avoid them is also beneficial. If your pain persists, you may need to consider purchasing new boots that fit properly.

We’ll go through three different techniques to re-lace your boots to ease foot pain in this article:

Window lacing: for relieving pressure points on the top of your foot.

Toe-relief lacing: A band-aid solution to get you back to the trailhead.

Surgeon’s knot: simple and versatile, it can prevent your heel from slipping.

It’s crucial to remember that the lacing procedures mentioned here aren’t a replacement for having your boots fitted properly when you buy them.

Window Lacing

Window lacing (also known as “box lacing”) can assist relieve pressure on the top of your foot if your well-tied boots begin to produce a pressure point:

1. Unlace the boot until the hooks right below the pressure point are exposed.
2. Re-lace the laces by moving straight up to the next hook and crossing them over.
3. Finish lacing the remainder of your boot as normal; if you want a tighter fit, tie a surgeon’s knot at the bottom and top edge of your window.

Toe-Relief Lacing

This interim technique might let you get back to the trailhead if your toes are in a lot of pain. This technique relieves pressure in the toe box:

1. Unlace your footwear completely.
2. Replacing the laces, but skipping the first set of hooks can free up the toe box and relieve strain on your digits.

It’s time to acquire a new pair of hiking boots if your toes are continually hurting. Boots with precisely the correct amount of wiggle space, I personally alternate between this and this.

Surgeon’s Knot

You probably have too much inner volume at the top of your foot if your heel is sliding excessively when hiking. Use two surgeon’s knots to cinch down your boot and keep it in place: Once in place, they’ll stay put and won’t move.

1. Snug the boot over the top of your foot by tightening any slack in the laces.
2. You’ll be tying a surgeon’s knot at each of the two pairs of lace hooks closest to the place where the top of your foot begins to stretch forward.
3. Wrap the laces twice around each other, then draw them tight; make careful to run the lace up to the next hook to “lock” in the tension of the knot.
4. Should be repeated with the next highest pair of lace hooks.
5. Finish lacing the rest of your boot in the same manner as before.

Boot Laces

You should be able to accomplish any of these lacing tactics with your present laces because most boots come with lengthy laces to allow for varied ways.

If your laces are worn out, make sure you get new ones that are the same shape (round, oval, or flat) and length as your old ones.

Ryan Anderson

Hey, I am the founder of Outside Origin! I love hiking in my spare time and have gone to various different hikes. You can check out our about us section to learn more about what our team and I do over at Outside Origin.