[at-l] New Balance 805's for a thru-hike?

[papa_bear_nyc@yahoo.com (Papa Bear)]

I have a different take.

I am a marathoner and have strong feet.  I did 170 miles in April on NB 905s
(805s with more Arch support).  The problem wasn't my ankles, but the wet,
muddy, rocky road was too much for the NBs.  Also the toe support going down
was bad (you may be luckier with fit).

I just did another 184 miles in EMS Mirage IIs.  This was up through
Connecticut, Massachusetts and Southern Vermont.  These fit well and have
Gortex.  We'll the trail was less rocky but MUCH wetter and at one point 8
incheds pof snow.  No way I would have been happy in running shoes.  I was
very happy with relatively waterproof boots (till the water went over the
tops art Sages Ravine and I was scared to jump the rocks in the pouring rain
so I just tromped through.).  I was warm and dry (almost dry) the whole way.
They are still light so I was happy.

It's not the support, it's the terrain!

YMMV

Pb

----- Original Message -----
From: <jtwilkins@comcast.net>
To: "at-l" <AT-L@mailman.backcountry.net>
Sent: Friday, May 24, 2002 11:06 AM
Subject: Re: [at-l] New Balance 805's for a thru-hike?


> Well their is the things you have to look at with shoes.
> 1- Support with the pack weight you will be talking on the trip
>  I though my ankles were pretty good until I had to take a header down a
> hill so I wouldnt twist my ankle.
> 2- Risk... Even with good ankles your risk will be higher with no support.
> Maybe a few more pounds on the feet will save your trip from being delayed
> when healing that foot.
> 3- Restock. You cant just depend on town stores but if you have someone
> helping you with packages you can easily have your shoes mail ordered and
> shiped to your drops.
> 4- Cost.. I think with 805s you will be going through them pretty quickly
> and your costs will be more expensive then boots over the corse of the
hike.
> Its a shame the quality of NB shoes has greatly went down the past 4
years.
> (their still the best shoe in the store though)
>
> But heck if you can pull it off you can save a lot of weight... maybe gain
> or loose some comfort. You can always try and switch to boots with in a
week
> if the going gets tough. Just be aware of the problems and risk involved.
> JTW
>
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