Passport to Texas

A family hike at Garner State Park is more fun when your feet don’t hurt from ill-fitting shoes.

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This is Passport to Texas

Your feet take you on outdoor adventures. And the greatest kindness you can show them is to wear shoes that fit properly.

Sean Bibby is the community outreach coordinator for Whole Earth Provision Company in Austin. Before that he was one of their shoe guys. He shares tips on getting the right fit for your adventurous feet.

[Sean] All size tens are going to fit differently from brand to brand, for example. You can feel the difference when you’re walking five miles in them. And that is a big deal. So, you want to pick something that fits right at first and that consistently supports your foot in the arch, the heel the width of the toe box, the height of the toe box…the ankle support.
[Cecilia] And so how should a well-fitted shoe feel on one’s foot?
[Sean] Combined with the right socks—that’s a huge part of this—you don’t want to have any slipping around. You don’t want you heels sliding up and down too much. You don’t want your toes moving forward when you’re going downhill. Hiking downhill is often what gets people in trouble in a new pair of shoes. And so you want your foot to be generally locked in with not too much movement. You want to make sure you find a brand that works with the volume of your foot. Um, you want to be able to take your shoes off after four hours of wearing them the first day and not have any big hot spots.

Time spent outdoors is more fun when your feet don’t hurt.

That’s our show. We receive support in part from RAM Trucks…built to serve.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti