UKC

Hello all,

Looking for a pair of vegan women's hiking boots. They'll be used for hiking, no crampons etc. Being even more specific, wide fit would be preferable.

Any advice or experiences would be gratefully received,

S

In reply to Smythson:

Hi

Ethical consumer reviews here http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/buyersguides/clothing/walkingboots.aspx

Cheers Davey

In reply to Smythson:

I think my hiking boots are vegan; I certainly haven't seen them eat any meat or dairy.

In reply to Smythson:

http://www.vegetarian-shoes.co.uk/hiking___safety_boots/veggie_trekker_mk_5...
My partner and I have used various incarnations of this over the years. They're awesome, I use mine mainly for everyday work now and they're only just falling apart over years of work. I have a new pair (this seasons) in the van but the old ones just wont die! The new ones are a different material, I think my old ones used what these ones use (http://www.vegetarian-shoes.co.uk/hiking___safety_boots/snowdon_boot_black/... ). Both my partner and I have wide feet and they are pretty roomy I'd say.

For more serious hiking/scrambing etc I used the Scarpa Charmoz but apparently the new version is narrower. Typical!!

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

Those look super

In reply to Smythson:

For summer conditions, I use inov8 trail runners (roclites). Cannot be beat when it's hot out. Very good and fine for easy scrambling.

In reply to Smythson:

Altberg have started doing a vegan friendly hiking boot, the Dalesway Vegan boot. They do multiple width fittings to.

In reply to Smythson:

You could also try vivo barefoot - they do some vegan shoes and are generally wide-fitting...

https://www.vivobarefoot.com/uk/search?term=vegan#q=gender.Womens

In reply to Smythson:

I've certainly got some reading to do!

Thank you all for your help,

S

In reply to Smythson:

I prefer my boots to be made of steak. That way they are really tender after a day in the hills and taste great. Bit gritty though.

In reply to Smythson:

The Lowa Lyxa GTX Mid WS is a female-specific boot, great for hiking. It features a GORE-TEX lining and a replaceable rubber sole.

This is a good resource if you're looking for others: https://www.adaptnetwork.com/veganadventurist/vegan-hiking-boots-walking-sh...

In reply to Andypeak:

Do Altberg still do the made to measure option?

A mate of mine got some done about 15 years ago, and they kept the lasts around so he could get identical replacements whenever he needed to.

In reply to Smythson:

It's interesting to me that many vegans would prefer the head in the sand approach to clothing, opting for plastic instead of leather etc. Whichever option you you're directly harming animals. At least one option won't be floating around the ocean for the next thousand years.

In reply to dilatory:


I’d never thought about it before, but all that rubber and plastic doesn’t magically disappear from the soles of my shoes. I wonder what size particles it ends up as? I suppose the rubber biodegrades much faster than plastics. I’ve never heard of rubber from car tyres being a problem but I’m off to do some reading now...

In reply to wintertree:

I assume car and shoe rubber is hard enough not to come off in hugely noticeable chunks, but softer rubbers leave black marks. After F1 you see all the debris of rubber and my Vibram XS Grip leaves a streak if my foot slips...

In reply to davidbeynon:

They don't do made to measure specifically although they do offer a variety of widths and footbeds. They also do small variations on eyelet / fastening types if you ask for something specific.

S

In reply to michelledodimead:

Thank you!

S

In reply to dilatory:

Leather doesn't just go from cow to shoe, there's a tonne of pretty toxic chemicals required to process it. I've had this debate many times - ultimately you cannot exist and be impact free on the world. You can, however, try and minimise your footprint and footwear is just one part of that.

The company vegetarian shoes I linked to above also used to make a hemp fibre shoe. Hippy sounding but perhaps more up your street. That is unless you're just arguing to shoot people down and don't actually make any personal efforts to try and improve the world...

In reply to dilatory:

Leather is far from a clean material - the tanning process is very, very bad. India and Bangladesh both have extremely polluted areas, full of hexavalent chromium (a carcinogen). This could well dwarf Minamata in terms of health issues in years to come if alternatives are not sought

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:


Oh man, you were so close to a reasonable, balanced response. Ahh well. Must be hard to type from on your high horse...

In reply to MischaHY:

Not sure how my frustration with non-constructive criticism translates to self-aggrandisim.

Interesting that I'm on a high horse AND have my head in the sand. I must have a long neck!

In reply to Smythson:
The naivety of vegans and their ilk is beyond belief. Every single manufactured article you buy, leather or plastic or metal or whatever, comes from a massively complex worldwide industrial process that uses natural resources and pollutes the planet. It's not just the manufacture of the article, it's the collection and transportation of the raw materials, the processing, the transportation of the finished goods, the businesses that do all this, the manufacture of the transport equipment, the fuel to move the equipment, the companies who do all that.... the more you look into it the more mired you will become in manufacturing, money, wastage, reckless profit, from which there is no escape.

The only way they could feel feel genuinely guilt-free would be if they went out to the woods behind the log cabin, collected bark or vines or grasses and wove them into clothes or shoes without using any intermediate chemical in the process. As soon as they buy anything their piety is deluded, especially if they buy synthetic.

In reply to Rigid Raider:
UKC is certainly building up a lot of contributions to the “Bumper Book of Whataboutery” that I am going to publish next year.

Heavy dose of manspaining here as well!

In reply to Rigid Raider:

Great, more fruitless long winded criticism and absolutely no constructive contribution.

I haven't seen any piety in this thread, just some people that don't want to wear dead animal skins on their feet and a load of meat eaters butting in telling everyone how they're wrong and that if they don't live in a wood cabin they are as bad as everyone else.

I don't care if you're vegan or not, but I respect people that are trying to improve the world regardless of you agree with their methods. What I despise is people that spend their energy trying to drag everyone back into the quagmire of nihilism with them. Just pathetic.

I agree it's impossible to live on this planet without having an impact. Other than a handful of people throughout history everyone makes the world worse by existing. That said, however you believe we got here it's still a lot of fun being alive so I don't plan to stop that. I guess I have to take the least impact road then. Within reason. I'm crap at identifying mushrooms, but can manage to grown veg. I try to live a reduced plastic life but without become a monk it's feeling impossible to go plastic free. I also eat mostly plant based but do dabble in meats because they're flippin tasty and sometimes it's easier for everyone if I don't have a tantrum in a restaurant.

I used to live on a vegan diet and it was great. The shoes didn't last long and picking your soy brands was difficult due to shady supply chains and illegal deforestation of the amazon. Then I started to think of the small wildlife, birds, insects and sadly the bees that agriculture farming decimates and had an existential crisis.

I suppose the point is we're having an impact. My smart phone i type this on has undoubtedly got conflict minerals somewhere in its circuitry but I'd find it hard to conduct business (and be a dick on the Internet) without it. What we can do is reduce the footprint of that impact and opting for super long lasting materials we can't recycle doesn't seem hugely ethical in the long run.

Edit: you are right though, my post added nothing to the discussion (or rather the topic) and for that I apologise. Was actually genuinely curious what someone looking for vegan alternatives might say regarding plastic vs leather but it's such a hot topic that rarely does it remain civil.

In reply to dilatory:

Its also intellectually dishonest as plastic is an animal byproduct due to being made from oil.

In reply to dilatory:

Agree with almost everything you say! Except...


Livestock are fed vast amounts of soya, cereals, vegetables etc. It makes no sense to eat meat because you feel bad about agriculture as a huge amount of food that could be fed to humans is fed to animals (one study found that 36 per cent of the calories produced by the world’s crops are being used for animal feed). Also land that is used for livestock could be used for crops, some say around 80% of deforestation in the amazon is for pasture. This could be returned to nature and all the spare food given to the worlds starving.

Mushroom wise if you ever need help with foraging give me a shout as that's a big hobby of mine!