Does anyone have these? I just bought a pair, but I'm not quite sure about them. I know hikers are supposed to be stiff, but these seem *so* stiff. Do they loosen up as you wear them? I had a real hard time lacing them up tight enough so that they weren't slipping around when I walked.

Does anyone have these? I just bought a pair, but I'm not quite sure about them. I know hikers are supposed to be stiff, but these seem *so* stiff. Do they loosen up as you wear them? I had a real hard time lacing them up tight enough so that they weren't slipping around when I walked.

I LOVE my Garmont hikers. They are stiff, but no stiffer than a good strong hiking boot should be. If yours are slipping around, you might need a smaller size. I have pretty narrow feet and mine don't move too much, even when I don't try to lace them tight.

You do know that you should wear hiking boots very loose at first to avoid blistering, right? You want some movement until they've broken in. (I've heard people say these boots require no breaking in, but mine did have a few hot spots until I backpacked in them.)

They used to claim their vegan hikers were water resistant, and later they stopped making that claim. I have trouble trusting nylon fabric (Cordura is dupont's trade name for nylon fabric) uppers for holding out water, even with a think layer of air-permeable urethane or whatever sprayed on the inside surface of the nylon fabric. I forget garmont's trade name for their waterproofing film, but they are no longer mentioning any such film in their descripiton of their men's vegan hiker.

How on earth do you clean nylon fabric should it get full of mud?

"I had a real hard time lacing them up tight enough so that they weren't slipping around when I walked."

Put a small piece of light, soft urethane foam in the toe, to make the inside a little smaller, and hold your heal up agains the back. Use very soft foam to avoid abrading your toes. leave some space between the foam and your toes -- you just want to decrease the space between the toe of the shoe and your toes, not close it up entirely. You don't have to glue the foam in. It is alright if it slides back and forth a bit, between your toes and the toe of the shoe. You can put a thin layer of foam between the tongue and the top of your foot, alterntively, or in addition, to the toe foam. Again, the object -- keep your heal up against the heel of the shoe.

Better to get the shoe a bit too big, and take up slack with added foam, than to get the shoe a bit too small. There is little you can do to stretch it or soften it.

Thanks for the tips. Ya, if I got a size smaller they would be too small on me. I have pretty narrow feet, so maybe I'll have to do the foam thing or just wear some thicker socks!

My girlfriend has a pair and she loves them. She's put them to the test on some tough trails and they've done wll for her.

Personally, I'm wary of buying a pair because I don't like waterproof boots. I hate hot, sweaty feet--uncomfortable and increase the risk of blisters and frostbite. I wish there were a breathable vegan boot! But there's not and as far as I know, that garmont vegan is absolutely the only 100% vegan boot that's out there on the market. So I hike in tennis shoes, which really sucks.

FYI- VeganEssentials carries two different waterproofers for shoes. One is for leather-type material and the other is for any other material. It is a shame that they no longer waterproof their boots. They just ended that with the current vegan hikers. :(

" I wish there were a breathable vegan boot! But there's not and as far as I know"

Vegetarian Shoes makes a whole line of breathable boots, including hikers. They don't let liquid water in but they let air and water vapor out. Made of urethane filled with polyester fibers. No animal materials in any of their products. I would both like a pair of waterreistant and non-water-resistant, for wearing on rainy muddy days or dry days, respectively. However nylon fabric, Cordura, does not breathe very well at all. It does not let air and water vapor out very well. I find cotton canvas shoes to be much more comfortable. My feet don't get anywhere near as sweaty and itchy, as they do in nylon fabric. So for non-water-proof hikers I would like cotton canvas. For waterproof, I would like cotton with some kind of coating that breathes. They make waterproof coats out of waxed cotton canvas. They breathe. Why don't they make shoes out of waxed cotton canvas? Or some other material instead of wax (if you wash waxed cotton in water and detergent or soap, it loses the wax). Even worse if you dry clean it.