Best Insoles For Camping/Hiking – Reviews and Guide 2020

Benefits of Using Insoles for Hiking

The right type of insole can have multiple benefits for hiking. For instance, if you have a higher arch, buying pad for arch support would be beneficial for you.

• Insoles for hiking boots will also provide some form of additional support. This can come as reinforced heel support, or as high-quality shock absorption.
• Hiking shoe insoles also help to alleviate pain caused by various foot conditions. You get pad for plantar fasciitis, Achilles heel strain, and even overpronation. This means you get to maintain a better posture and relief from everyday hiking aches.

You can benefit from these pads if you’re indulged in any sports. Some insoles are designed to improve traction and prevent slipping and falling.

Types Of Insoles

To help you make the right decision, here are a few different types of pads. Keep in mind the terms can be used interchangeably by sellers.

• Shoe Inserts: These only cover a targeted part of your foot, such as your heel or toes. These are great for improving shock absorption and heel problems in your shoes.
• Heel Cups: They are singular cups designed to keep your heel free from pain. They usually have shock-absorbing properties as well as a lot of cushioning. These are also great backpacking insoles.
• Metatarsal Pads: These go in the front of your shoe and typically used to ease Morton’s neuroma. Women who wear heels might also be interested in these.
• Orthotic Insoles: Orthotics have a lot of medical benefits and you usually need a doctor’s prescription for them.
• Full-Length Insoles: These cover the entirety of the foot and are a great general purpose insole.

Insoles Volume

The volume of the insole determines how much space it takes up in your shoes. There’s also certain arch support that is usually associated with them.

• High volume insoles are for larger boots such as hiking shoes or boots. They are also preferred by people who have high arches.
• Medium volume insoles are for moderately-sized shoes, such as sports shoes and casual shoes. People with various arch heights can benefit from these.
• Low volume insoles are the best for people with low arches, and also for cycling and skating shoes.

Common Footwear Fit Problems

Pads can help you fix a lot of common footwear fitting problems. Here are a few ways in which they can help.

• Heal Is Slipping: If you have a short insole, you may feel your heel “lifting” inside the shoe. This is a common fit problem and can easily be fixed by getting an insole with a higher volume.
• Elongated Foot: People with elongated feet will benefit from a supportive insole that has a lot of arch support and can align their feet properly.
• Flat Feet: If you have low arches, then an insole with a low arch will make things easier for you. What you want, however, is a more supportive heel that will lift a lot of pressure off from your arch muscles.

What To Look For When Buying An Insole

Comfort Vs. Sport/Support Insoles: Comfort hiking insoles are designed to improve the internal conditions of your footwear. They are typically directed towards reducing pain, preventing rashes, and absorbing odor.

Supportive pads, on the other hand, are designed to target a certain area. They are more or less for when you get a wrong or uneven fit. An example of a wrong fit is when the entire foot is too big for you. An uneven fit would be when either the front or back of the shoe fits, but the other part doesn’t.

Materials: Materials are important as they decide how well the shoe will stand against the elements. It also impacts how comfortable the insole feels, and how flexible it is. EVA foam pads, for instance, are great for providing cushioning and shock absorption. But they’re quite inflexible.

Gel pads, on the other hand, are great choices for their flexibility. They offer a lot of weight and pressure distribution too. But they may feel less premium and may not provide a lot of cushioning.

Proper Fit: The insole should fit you properly. The first step to finding the right insole is to identify the problem you have with your shoe. If you need fitting at the front of the shoe, look for metatarsal support.

Firm Support: Some people prefer firmer support, especially if the fit is too bad. Others, however, like a bit of flexibility and prefer a cushier supportive insole.

Heel Cups: Heel cups are the parts of pads that hold your heel. You should look for heel cups that provide cushioning and shock absorption. People with supination or overpronation may want a heel cup made for those things.

Replaceable Cover: Many pads come with a replaceable cover. This is because insoles absorb a lot of sweat and odor, and the fabric may become musty or dirty because of it. However, if you use some strong absorbent socks, you won’t be needing replaceable covers much.

Durability: This is a very broad term, and you should look for a number of things in order to make sure you get a durable product. The first thing to look for is the type of material used. The gel is a lot more durable than EVA foam, and polymers and plastics are even more durable. Also, check how well the insole can handle odor and sweat. Being “carbon-activated” is usually enough to indicate that the insole will perform well against odor.

Blister-Free: You can get some specialized metatarsal pads to help prevent blisters. These can come in a variety of styles, but the most common is the one that wraps around the sides of your toes. This helps prevent blisters occur from rubbing against the rough interior of your shoe. Women who wear high-heels will benefit a lot from these, as well as any hiking boots that have higher heels.

Foot Irregularities: Finally, if you have any foot irregularities, get an insole that fixes that. There are pads that focus on correcting supination and overpronation. If you have a “knuckle” that sticks out too much, get an insole that covers that area.

How To Fit Insoles – What Size Do I Need?

Pick out a good pair of well-fitting shoes. Take a tape measure that is flexible and use it to measure the length of your insole. To do this, simply place marks of the tape on the toe part of the inside of your shoe. Then “walk” the tape measure all the way to the back of the shoe, at the heel. Mark this point.

This is the length of your insole. Insole width can be measured from the widest part of your foot/shoe to the other side. Insole width usually isn’t a concern since most people have the same width of the foot. But you may need it in extreme cases.

If you don’t have a good fitting shoe, you can perform the same measuring technique on your barefoot. But it may be hard to do this on your own. So have a friend do it.

Conclusion

When you have an uncomfortable fit on your hiking shoes, pads are the way to go. And while they perform a ton of functions, you can usually find the right type for yourself with ease.

In general, you want a lot of arch and heel support in your pads. Arch support stimulates the arch muscles and makes walking much less painful. While heel support will relieve plantar fasciitis and help people with flat feet.

But only you can decide which insole is the correct one for you. So hit those hiking trails with your new pads and notice the difference.

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