Whether you’re looking for a new pair of boots or simply looking to make sure your old pair still fit correctly, here’s a list of 6 easy steps to ensuring well-fitting LOWA military boots.
Preparation
The most common mistake people make when looking for a new pair or trying on an old pair of boots is to forget about their socks. Obviously people aren’t forgetting socks in their entirety but not thinking about sock thickness can lead to a boot with slightly too much or too little wiggle room. If you intend to use your boots across different seasons and in different conditions, bear this in mind when you are trying your boots on. A lot of stores will have a pair of thick socks to help people make sure that their boots fit but if that isn’t what you’ll be wearing make sure they fit without them too!
Length Of The Boot
It seems obvious but making sure that your boots fit in length has a little more to it than a regular pair of shoes. With the boot completely unlaced push your foot to the front of the boot and then stand flat on the ground. If your boot is the right length you should be able to fit your index finger between your Achilles tendon and the rear of the boot comfortably. You want to be able to slide your finger in without it being a tight fit but you also don’t want a large gap.
Lacing & Tightness
If your boots passed the length test you need to see how they feel once they’re laced up. Sit down and make sure your heel is now firmly at the back of the boot. Alternatively, kneel down on one knee first, then begin to lace from the bottom of the boot upwards, keeping the laces tight but without restricting movement too much. Ideally you want to feel a slight pressure but without preventing movement, the best way to see if your boots fit after this step is to look at the how the laces fit across the boot, if your boot is too small you’ll see the laces straining as they’re forced outwards, too large and you’ll have pulled the eyelets too close with the tension.
Overall Fit
The next step is to stand and test how they feel to actually move in. When you stand up, make sure that the length still feels like a good fit and that the tightness of the laces doesn’t cause any discomfort around the top of the foot. Take a few tentative steps and try to move your weight from foot to foot and to the sides and front of each foot just to feel how well the boots support you. This is the best test of the width of the boots as they should be comfortably supporting your feet across the entire range of movements.
Final Checks
Having moved around in them for a short while you should have a good grasp as to how your boots are fitting on your feet. Using your hand, give the boots a quick once over in any areas that seem to be a bit loose or tight, check the give in the area and make sure it isn’t anything that will cause any problems. You want to feel as if your boot fits your foot evenly but any slight variances shouldn’t cause a big problem. You also want to use your hand to check the area between the ball of your foot and your toes. This is called the flex point and if you can feel that the boot is too large or small here, either through excess creasing of the leather or a pinch across the foot, your boots might be too large or too narrow respectively.
Wear Them In
The most important step once you’re sure that your boots fit is to get comfortable in them. Wear them around the house to get used to them and expect a little discomfort from a new pair of boots. You want to try a full range of movements in them to get used to the weight and comparative pressure that you’ll feel from the added support of your boots and this is the perfect way to do it. If you can wander around the house in them for a couple of hours without any discomfort then that’s a great sign that your boots are well-fitted.
For more information on how to get the best fit from your LOWA Military Boots, please visit our fitting page.
