To let my son wear trainers for his Silver Duke of Edinburgh expedition?

[Sparrow7]

I just mentioned to a friend who's son is also doing the expedition this weekend that my son will be wearing strong comfortable trainers and she was shocked and appalled! As a family we do a lot of walking and we all wear trainers as I have always hated walking boots. On the bronze trip all the kids with walking boots ended up with horrendous blisters and tired feet, whereas my son's feet were fine. The weather is going to be dry but I am now second guessing my decision as it does say walking boots are essential on the kit list (as it did on the bronze one).

I’ve led DOE expeditions and would absolutely not take a child away wearing Nikes. They are totally unsuitable for trail terrain and offer no ankle protection. His expedition is completely different to a 30 min walk to/from school.

You are being very unreasonable to a) undermine the qualified leaders/organisers b) put your son in this position.

Keen boots are wide. Meindl do a comfort fit, which is very wide but you will need a mortgage for these.

" I also lost a big toenail on a hiking expedition,"

Did you lose it in the Brecon Beacons? I think I may have found it when I was up there last year. Drop me your address and I'll post it back to you.

If her prefers trainers get a suitable pair of trail trainers, a poster above has given some excellent suggestions.

Very much depends on the trainers and the terrain. Some walking trainers would have been fine for my bronze (Peak District) provided it stayed dry, but downright dangerous for my silver (Wales, scrambling, paths alongside sheer drops). The difference isn’t really comfort, it’s more having a decent grip and ankle support. If he walked 10k in them are you sure they won’t fall apart?

And yes even if the terrain is fine you need to check with the leader as he might simply not be able to patricipate. And walking boots these days are excellent.

Keen boots are excellent and don’t need wearing in. I’ve got the women’s version of these…

www.keenfootwear.co.uk/products/mens-targhee-iii-mid-waterproof-black-olive-golden-brown

Trail shoes don’t support the ankles. Nor are they waterproof.

Depending in where he is going walking and when… he is going to get cold and have cold, wet feet for most of the walk 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Yep.

Also showing a total lack of understanding of what hillwalking involves…..

As other have said, walking boots have changed dramatically over the last few years. Mine are leather - but so so light. They are amazing. I like to have boots for ankle support, but know others are not so bothered. As long as the footwear is designed for the purpose of long distance walking and are water proof.

Please don't send him in fashion trainers, they are rubbish for this. Really recommend talking to the expedition leader, who knows the terrain, and can tell you what they are prepared to accept so he is not turned away at the start.

I've taken kids on long hikes in inappropriate footwear - despite requesting they wear suitable shoes/boots - and they do not enjoy the experience. Wet shoes can rub badly, and even dry without proper support their feet tire quicker. You will just put your DS off hiking if he comes back with tired, sore an blistered feet!

Don't go out and hike in zero drop shoes unless you want to trash your achilles or calf muscles! You need to wear them in gradually if you're not used to wearing them.

I'm sorry OP, but I think your DC will struggle to do DofE Silver in Air Max!
You do know it's a minimum of 7 hours walking for 3 days? Some of the terrain will be slippy, rough, wet.
You need to buy either decent well fitted boots or an appropriate walking shoe but do check with the assessors that they will accept a walking shoe first. Air Max is neither.

Keen have a wide toe box and are comfortable out of the box - but he needs to try them on and general advice is to go up a size. Also if they are not comfortable when he puts them on, they will not get more comfortable so bear that in mind.

At our school you would be turned away at bronze let alone silver for not having walking boots on. They were very very clear on it.

My son wore Merrell Speedstrikes. They're waterproof fabric boots and very lightweight & comfortable without wearing in.

A fair point. My 9 day NZ tramp was in La Sportiva Mutants, I bought the Altras on the recommendation of several TA through hikers and adjusted to them straight away but I accept others may not.

Go to a proper outdoors shop - so not decathlon or sports direct - and get him to try boots on, and spend time walking around in each pair.

What suits one person's feet does not suit another persons. Recommendations for footwear are absolutely useless.

Her son wore trainers last time, the others wore boots that gave blisters.

Read it properly!

My daughter did her bronze d of e a few weeks ago.
I bought her some Merrells and she did a few leisurely walks in them but didn’t imo do enough to break them in. This did worry me.
They ended up doing 36k in 3 days (she did practice expedition back to back before the full expedition and they got lost on the first day so ended up walking for nearly 2 hours more than they should.)
I bought her the right socks and she took blister plasters. She said how very comfortable they were from the off.
When she got home she had a few small blisters just starting to form and she really got away with it.

Your reasoning sounds very wonky to me.

'As a child I didn't have my own pair of properly fitting and worn-in walking boots, and suffered immensely ... so I am making sure my child is in exactly the same position as me, and doesn't have their own pair of comfy and seasoned walking boots either.' Wtf?!

It's too late to get a pair for DS for this trip, but you could reconsider your logic and get the whole family kitted out for longer/more challenging hikes in the future. Go on, give ankle support and sole grip and weatherproofing a second chance :)

My son did the DofE - For bronze he went in his trainers and so did many of his friends. For his silver, I got him some boots, but a lot of others wore trainers still.

I live in an area that gets hundreds of doe walkers every year. They walk exactly the same routes I do with my dog and I wear trainers when it’s dry, wellies when it’s wet. He’ll be fine in what suits him and his feet.

I have wide feet and like Merrell as well. So light and comfortable too.

My son also has hugely wide feet. He always needs to try loads on, but his current pair are the Merrell Moab boots. You can also get them in hiking shoe format. They’re light and v comfortable.
10k is all very well but silver is longer than that per day, for several days. He might be ok but I do think you should try the new generation of walking boots / shoes. It’s a long time since 1980s boot technology- loads more comfy options now, that barely need any wearing in if the fit is good. Also try getting extra cushioned merino wool socks - makes a big difference to sore feet.

Properly fitted walking boots are incredibly comfortable. They also give good ankle support.
Is this the practice or the real one?

Can you get a pair of crossover boots. Somewhere between trail running trainers and walking boots. Waterproof, light, but with ankle supports and strong tread. Check Decathlon. They don’t cost a fortune, but won’t last like classic walking boots.