Boot lacing is fundamental to comfortable footwear. It doesn’t matter how expensive (or cheap) your boots are – if they are too tight you foot may get constricted, too loose and the foot may be able to move around to much – the worst possibly being having your toes hit the front of the foot box with each step. Head downhill like this long enough and you will be welcomed with black toes when you finally take the footwear off1.
Footwear may just fit you perfectly with simple lacing. Lucky you. For others, a wide foot or other variations of the boot manufacturers ‘ideal’ may mean a less than ideal fit. Boot lacing can get around this a bit.
For example – say you have wide feet, so like to leave the bottom of your boot loose, but still want to be able to tighten up the mid – ensuring your ankle is kept snug against the rear of the boot, and your toes away from the front. Boot lacing techniques such as the surgeon’s knot can let you set up differing levels of tightness – even if you don’t have boots that let you lock down the laces.
been there, done that – actually have a black toe as I write this ↩