What are their advantages? When should you choose them over high-cut shoes? Here's everything you need to know about low-cut shoes.
While hiking tends to be associated with high-cut shoes, low-cut shoes have their place and are even better suited to certain types of outing. Light and airy, they are generally less rigid than their high-cut counterparts and offer less ankle support, but they are perfectly suited to hiking on easy terrain — and even in the mountains in some cases.
If you opt for low-cut shoes, it's important to choose good-quality footwear: not too flexible, with a solid sole that grips and grabs properly. They should be breathable but thick enough to protect your feet from stones and minor rockfall. Don't forget that while they're cheaper to buy, they are also less durable and less waterproof than high-cut shoes.
In this post, we shine a light on low-cut shoes — their advantages and the situations in which you might favour them over high-cut models.
Brief definition
Much lighter than their high-cut counterparts, they keep feet cooler and give experienced hikers a more dynamic and agile stride. They are also particularly well suited to walkers who suffer from knee problems, as they place greater demand on the ankle and calf. Obviously, if one of your ankles is already weakened — due to a previous sprain, for example — they are best avoided. Otherwise, on suitable terrain, low-cut shoes will help you strengthen the muscles in your ankles and calves, whose shock-absorbing work will be amplified. The increased use of your ankles and calves takes pressure off your knees, especially on descents. For greater confidence in your movements, we strongly recommend pairing low-cut shoes with hiking poles, which provide extra balance, stability and security. They also allow better weight distribution, which is important for relieving your ankles, lower back and the entire lower body.
Why wear low-cut shoes?
Of course, low-cut hiking shoes are not recommended for every type of outing. If you're heading out on steep, rugged mountain terrain or venturing out in bad weather — rain or snow — forget low-cut shoes immediately. But if you're planning a hike through the countryside, forest or flatlands in fine weather, or heading off on a sunny trip, low-cut shoes will be perfectly suited — and even more comfortable and enjoyable.
- To save energy: low-cut shoes are much lighter than high-cut ones, and in hiking, weight is never a negligible factor. Every step you take in low-cut shoes is a little more energy saved.
- For a smoother foot roll: unless you opt for trail or fast-hiking shoes, low-cut hiking shoes are generally more supple and flexible than high-cut models. Your foot enjoys greater freedom of movement and the roll-through is much smoother.
- Cooler feet: the materials used in low-cut shoes are thinner and lighter than those in high-cut models. Low-cut shoes are also more open and breathable, so they keep your feet much cooler.
- Faster-drying feet: being more open and lower-cut, moisture and sweat escape more easily than in high-cut shoes, and they dry out faster too.
- To strengthen your ankles: while high-cut shoes provide good ankle support to prevent injury, they don't allow you to exercise and build up the ankle muscles. Isn't it better to stimulate muscular strengthening to reduce the risk of injury? If you have no particular joint issues, walking in low-cut shoes will help you strengthen and stretch your ankles. To begin with, you can use hiking poles to make walking safer and compensate for any unsteady movements.
- To prevent blisters: high-cut shoes take longer to break in and are generally much stiffer. If they're not breathable enough, your feet end up soaking in their own sweat. All of which adds up to blisters for some people.
- To wiggle your toes in the grass: it might raise a smile, but how good does it feel to plunge your feet into cool grass after a long walk? Low-cut shoes are quicker to lace up and take off, so you're far more likely to slip them off to remove a stray stone or simply let your feet breathe during a break.
