Are duck boots good for hiking

Are duck boots good for hiking? Are you considering hiking in your duck boots? I highly recommend reading this article before you do. I will take a look at the traditional duck boots like Sperry and LL beans and this article will also cover some less common duck boots.

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• Waterproof

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• Lack of breathability
• Lack of traction
• Too spacious inside
• Lack of ankle support

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Can you hike in duck boots?

In this section a duck boot will refer to a traditional duck boot.

Let’s start with the real quick answer: No, duck boots are not good for hiking. You can hike in duck boots (you can hike in any boot for that matter), but it won’t be a great experience. Only on short and easy hikes duck boots could be a decent option. With short hikes I mean maximum 3-5 miles and even 5 miles might be too long for some feet.

All that being said, some things are very personal and I know a handful of people that like duck boots for hiking. However, it’s important to note that none of them have used them on long distance/difficult hiking trips.

Now you might wonder, why is this the case? Duck boots are comfortable, convenient, easy to put on, waterproof and even lighter than traditional hiking boots, shouldn’t it be perfect as a hiking boot? Well there are a couple of things that duck boots lack in order to be decent hiking shoes:

Duck boots lack breathability

The lack of breathability is a real problem for hiking. Shoes that are not breathable will cause your feet to start sweating. Sweat will result in wet feet/socks, this will not only be uncomfortable to walk in, there is also a big chance that this will cause blisters.

Yes, even in very cold weather sweaty feet will be a problem. It doesn’t matter that it’s extremely cold outside, it can still get really hot within your shoe and without breathability, this will result in sweat.

Some people get sweaty feet a lot faster than others, but if you are going on long and intense hikes, this will be a problem for almost everybody.

Duck boots lack traction

I know a lot of you would say something like: “what? duck boots have great traction”. And that might be true, on easy terrain in bad conditions (read a slippery sidewalk covered by snow).

However, once you go into the mountains and you are walking on some steep rocky area you will soon feel the difference between the traction of a hiking shoe and a duck boot. Hiking boots are especially designed to thrive on these types of terrain, whereas duck boots simply are not.

Duck boots are too spacious inside

In most cases you might not even feel it, but duck boots are often too spacious inside. This is not a problem for shorter walks, but once you start to do more serious hikes (let’s say more than 5 miles) you might encounter some problems.

When your feet has space to move around in a shoe (even if it’s only a little) this will cause friction. Friction will once again result in blisters and simply an uncomfortable experience.

Duck boots lack ankle support

Ankle support is often overused as a sales argument. However, it’s still an important factor nevertheless. Duck boots really lack ankle support, which means that your ankle won’t be well protected and the chance of injury is higher than with traditional hiking boots.

 

Are Sperry duck boots good for hiking

An example of a traditional Sperry duck boot

Since so many people have asked me about hiking in Sperry duck boots, I wanted to cover this section separately. However, since Sperry duck boots are much like a traditional duck boot, the verdict is very similar. Sperry duck boots are not good for hiking unless for short and easy hikes.

One thing that Sperry has going for it is that it’s a very established and trustworthy company. This means that you can be pretty sure that these boots will be comfortable and waterproof. So if you are going to hike in a traditional duck boot, it might as well be in a Sperry duck boot.

That being said, it’s easier to get an LL Bean boot repaired than a duck boot. Also, a Bean boot tends to be even higher quality than a Sperry duck boot, so this might also be a consideration.

 

Are ll Bean duck boots good for hiking

An example of a traditional LL Bean Duck boots (on the right)

When people don’t ask me about hiking in Sperry boots, they are asking questions about hiking in Bean boots.

Now the verdict is almost the same. Bean boots don’t provide enough ankle support, traction and aren’t breathable enough to be considered a really good option for hiking. However, if you are only planning on doing short and easy hikes with them it might be an acceptable option.

The Bean duck boot is better known as the “Authentic Duck Boot”. The benefits of Bean boots over Sperry boots is that they are generally higher in quality and they do offer a repair service.

To be clear, they are still not suitable as real hiking shoes, but if they are all you have lying around and you are only going for a short hike it’s not the worst option in the world.

 

Best duck boots for hiking

Now that I have covered the traditional hiking boots like Sperry duck boots and LL Bean Duck boots, let’s take a look at some less common duck boots. These boots will be a better option for hiking, but one thing still remains: duck boots are not optimized for hiking. There are simply better alternatives (which I will cover in the next section).

The North Face Women’s Shellista II Mid Boot

The shellista II Mid Boots are still not optimized for hiking, but they will prove a better alternative to a traditional duck boot.

They are warm, waterproof and durable. When it comes to ankle support and traction they are somewhere in between a traditional duck boot and a real hiking boot.

In very snowy conditions this might be solid option, but keep in mind that they are also really heavy.

The lowest price can usually be found on amazon: The North Face Women’s Shellista II Mid Boot

 

Best duck boot alternative for hiking

So it’s pretty clear that duck boots are simply not made for serious hiking trips. Now you might be interested in some valid hiking alternatives to duck boots. I’m going to make the assumption that you are looking for boots that are optimized for colder temperatures. If this isn’t the case, you should take a look at this article: best cheap hiking shoes. It covers the best hiking shoes that will not cost you a fortune.

 

Columbia Bugaboot Plus IV Omni-heat

These shoes would be my number one overall recommendation for snow hiking boots. Why? Well, for starters, they have no big downsides and they have everything you need in a hiking shoe. On top of that, they are very lightweight for this type of shoe. Note that these shoes are optimized for extreme cold, up to -25F/-32C. Depending on what you are looking for they might be too warm.

I was unable to find any hiking snow shoe that had better traction than the Bugaboot plus IV in extreme low temperatures.

If you are looking for an alternative to duck boots that are optimized for hiking in very cold and harsh conditions, these are the shoes to get!

For a full review of these boots, take a look at this article: best snow hiking boots.

If you want to check the latest price of this product you can check it on amazon: Columbia Bugaboot Plus IV Omni-heat

 

Salomon X Ultra Winter CS 2

The Bugaboots are amazing snow hiking boots, but they are meant to be used in very cold conditions. If that isn’t really what you are looking for, the Salomon X Ultra is a good alternative.

These are very good hiking shoes, still meant to be used in cold conditions. However, they are not made for extreme temperatures. If you are not hiking in temperatures lower than 10F/-12C don’t bother with the Bugaboots, get these shoes instead.

I also covered these boots in the best snow hiking boots article.

For the latest price/more information: Salomon X Ultra Winter CS 2

 

Conclusion

So are duck boots good for hiking? The answer is a simple no. They lack ankle support, traction, are often too spacious and are not breathable.

If you are just going on a single short and simple hike, I would say they are an acceptable option (3-5 miles max). However, for moderate/hard hikes you should take a look at some of the alternatives covered in this article.

Do you have any experience with hiking in duck boots? How did it go? Do you agree with the conclusion of this article or do you have a different opinion? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!

FYI, I recently wrote about a similar question: Are Timberlands good for hiking? Which actually had a more positive response.