simplehiker

North Face has designed a new shoe lacing system they entitled Boa. As opposed to traditional laces with knots the shoe tightens to fit via a knob on the heel of the shoe. The concept seems very gimmicky and putting them on “trail runners” seems to be tempting Murphy’s Law for a shoe that is intended to take a lot of dirt, water and abuse. Heck the shoes even feature Gore-Tex!
So you ask, “simplehiker why in the heck are you even bothering us with this b.s.?” Well something in this simple video by Gizmodo caught my eye.

In the last part of the clip the Boa system seems to make the shoes a better fit. Maybe I am crazy but the embedded laces and the pulling system seem to encase the foot better then traditional laces. All together this made me think of how sucky the shoes we use really are. I mean back in the day people used to get custom made shoes from a cobbler. Here we are spending $300 bucks on a sleeping bag and finding the perfect spork for our mess kit and were all wearing crappy made to fit all generic shoes and boots.

This just reenforces the opinions of some hiker buddies who love hiking in Chaco sandals with there highly designed footbeds. The sandals can be worn with or with out socks and can even fit orthopedic inserts for a truly hacked custom fit.

As for the North Face Boa shoes don’t bother, with a few minutes googling I found plenty of reviews of very undersized poor fitting and a known problem of the Gore-Tex separating and becoming useless. They MSRP at $130 and are all ready selling for $89.

Feet On: The North Face Endurus XCR Boa Shoes Dial In Your Fit via Gizmodo
North Face Endurus @ The North Face
Choacos!

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