How to Choose Hiking Gear

Written By Ariel Mitnick

The Short Answer

Go to REI and talk to an employee. Seriously! Their pros are super helpful, and told me most of what you’ll read here.

The Longer Answer

Boots

There are multiple types of “hiking” shoes: trail runners, hiking boots, and mountaineering boots. Trail runners are lightweight and can be nice for easier hikes, but in general, I recommend getting true hiking boots as they’ll protect your ankles against sprains. I can’t tell you how many times I would have rolled my ankle if it weren’t for my boots.

  • Test them out on a steep slope, walking both uphill and downhill.

  • Your heel should be able to lift within the shoe a NY slice of pizza’s width, but not a Chicago slice of pizza’s width.

  • When you walk downhill, your toes should NOT touch the front of the boot. As an extremely narrow-footed person, I was really skeptical that finding this would be possible for me, but my Lowas do in fact do the trick! Don’t compromise on this one, because hiking involves going downhill a lot.

  • You can tie hiking boots in a lot of different ways, some of which will offer more ankle support if you are getting a little too much heel slip or forward slide. The one I remember most clearly is wrapping the laces once around the ankle of the boot at the end. There are others, and it’s worth looking these up if you are struggling with boot fit!

Finding a great pear of hiking boots was really hard for me since I have extremely narrow feet and won’t buy leather goods - I bought and returned 13 pairs before I found The One. The exact model I have seems to have been updated, but I got approximately these 100% vegan Lowas, and they’ve really served me well.

Socks

Get Darn Toughs. When I looked into socks, I expected the internet to be divided. But in the miracle of the century, there is an overwhelming consensus that Darn Toughs are simply the best socks, and to back it up they have an unconditional lifetime guarantee. They’re wool, but even Ian who normally can’t tolerate wool finds his very comfortable. They are virtually un-stinkable; you can wear them for days (hiking!!) on end before they even develop a faint odor. Darn Toughs come in multiple weights for different weather. If you get EXTREMELY lucky, you can get them very slightly on sale, but I’ve never seen more than $3 off per pair, and sales are randomly timed at various retailers; it’s probably worth it to just buy them outright.

Backpacks

  • Backpacks come in different sizes that are suitable for different types of trips. You may need more than one backpack.

    • 15L: Day hike

    • 40L: Overnight camping, or a multi-day trek if you are not carrying food, a tent, and a sleeping bag

    • 60L: Multi-day trek, if you’re carrying food, tent, and sleeping bag

      • Bonus points if it comes with a day pack that folds away into nothing

  • Any hiking backpack you buy should have:

    • A sleeve for a reservoir

    • A waist belt and a chest clip for ergonomic support

  • Follow REI’s backpack fitting guide

    • I haven’t had perfect luck here - women’s larger hips and smaller waist make it hard for the waist belt to stay put. Ian’s backpacks seem to fit better.

  • In general, we are Osprey fans, but there are a lot of great brands out there for backpacks.

Reservoirs

A water reservoir will slide into your backpack’s sleeve and is the most ergonomic way to carry water. Your back will thank you!!

  • I recommend getting a 3L reservoir - you don’t have to fill it all the way for shorter hikes, and sometimes you will want all 3L. We have these from CamelBak and we LOVE them. We got them in 2016 and they are still in great shape.

Down or Synthetic Puffer

While you won’t need this one for a summer hike, a puffer jacket often comes in handy when hiking. I recommend a waist-length jacket that packs down very small. Uniqlo offers the best value for dollar (Ian has this for men), but if you want the nicest one, you can go with a real hiking brand.

Ariel Mitnick