How a boot fitting works
Every one of our shops fits walking boots free, and this is what happens in the forty minutes you spend with a fitter.
We have fitted walking boots since the first shop opened in Dorchester in 1973. All 128 of our shops still do it, and 1,100 colleagues are trained as fitters. A fitting costs nothing and you don't have to buy anything. Allow about 40 minutes if you want to try three or four pairs, and a bit longer on a Saturday in spring.
Before you come in
Come in the afternoon if you can. Feet swell through the day and on a long walk, so a boot that feels right at ten in the morning can pinch by four.
Bring the socks you walk in, and any insoles or orthotics you wear. If you are replacing a pair, bring the old boots too. The fitter will look at where the soles have worn and where the heel lining has gone, which shows how you walk and where the old pair let you down.
What the fitter asks
The first few minutes are questions. Where do you walk, how far and how often? Lanes and chalk downland in summer suit a lighter, more flexible boot. Rough, rocky ground in the Lakes or the Highlands calls for a stiffer sole, which stops your feet tiring on stones and scree. The fitter will also ask about anything that has hurt before: blisters, black toenails after long descents, a bunion, a high instep or a heel that slips.
Measuring both feet
You stand on a measuring gauge in your walking socks, and the fitter measures the length and width of both feet. Most people have one foot a little bigger than the other, and we fit the bigger one. Many people take half a size more in walking boots than in everyday shoes, partly because walking socks are thicker.
The measurement is a starting point. Each maker builds its boots around its own last (the foot-shaped form a boot is made on), so a size 8 in one brand can fit like an 8.5 in another, and some makes are narrower or roomier through the front of the foot.
Trying them on
- With the boot unlaced, slide your foot forward until your toes touch the end. You should be able to slip one finger down behind your heel.
- Knock your heel back into the heel cup and lace from the toe up: snug across the front of the foot, firmer through the hooks at the ankle.
- Stand up and wiggle your toes. You want room to move them, and no pressure on the joints at the base of the big toe and the little toe.
- Walk round the shop for ten minutes, then use the fitting slope. Walking down it, your toes should not touch the front of the boot. Walking up, your heel may lift a few millimetres in a stiff new boot, and no more than that.
- Try at least two or three makes, even if the first pair feels fine. Comparing pairs on the same foot is the quickest way to find the one that fits best.
Small fixes
If your heel lifts, the fitter can show you a heel lock: an extra loop of lace at the top hooks that holds your heel back on the way downhill. If the laces press on a high instep, missing out one crossing over the sore spot takes the pressure off. A shaped insole supports the arch and takes up spare room in a boot that is slightly roomy. Swapping to a thinner or thicker sock changes the fit more than most people expect.
Wearing them in
Wear new boots round the house, on carpet, for a few evenings. If anything rubs or pinches, bring them back. You have 60 days to return anything unused, and our returns page explains what counts as unused for boots. Once they feel right indoors, do a few short walks before a long day. Leather boots take longer to soften than fabric ones, so give them more time.
Looking after them
Brush off the mud after a walk and let boots dry at room temperature, away from radiators and fires, which crack leather and weaken the glue in the sole. Treat leather with wax and fabric boots with a spray proofer. When the tread wears down, we send boots to a specialist workshop in Northamptonshire for resoling, and the repairs page has the prices.
Plenty of people join the Club at a boot fitting. Membership is free, and members get free repairs on Hale and Swift kit, so ask your fitter about it while you lace up. Our walking boots are online if you want to look before you come in.
