shoes for people with wide feet
I have short, wide feet – about 111mm wide in the forefoot, and EU size 39 – basically duck paddles. Finding shoes that fit has been a lifelong challenge, and I figured I should write down some of my research in case there are others out there (dozens?) like me.
Chacos
I wear Chaco sandals about 98% of my life, both at work and non-work environments. (I am lucky to work in an industry that does not care about footwear.)
While they do come in wide sizes, the normal width is fine too.
For outdoor adventuring, I use them for everything except literal snow or truly technical rock climbing. From river adventures to hiking the Half Dome cables, they are simply the most versatile, most comfortable footwear that I’ve found. It boils down to:
- Much lighter than any hiking boot
- Avoids the wet sock / slow-drying shoe problem completely
- No chafing buckles compared to other sport sandals like Tevas
Work boots
There are some occasions where Chacos aren’t appropriate. For something less dressy, but still reads as “high-functioning adult”, I have a pair of Redback Great Barrier work boots (model UNPU).
These aren’t marketed as being particularly wide in the forefoot, but in a happy stroke of luck, they happen to accommodate my duck paddles. It’s a bonus that the footbed is ultra comfortable too, making these boots quite tolerable to wear for extended hours.
If you want 15 minutes of oddball entertainment, check out this guy who cuts a pair in half.
On my pair, one of the insteps took a particularly long time to break in, but it all seems good now.
Beware that these boots are made in Australia, and thus use Australian sizing, so just pay attention when you’re buying a pair.
Wingtips
When I need something dressier than workboots, I have a few pairs of these Cole Haan ZERØGRAND Wingtip Oxfords in different colors.
The cloth upper knit is sufficiently stretchy so as to accommodate my very wide foot. The rest of the shoe feels very sneaker-like (aka comfortable).
You won’t fool anyone into thinking they are formal dress shoes, but for my purposes: paired with a suit at a wedding, customer-facing business trips, they are sufficient.
They have many models including some leather ones, but I have only ever tried the knit uppers.
Running shoes
I can’t say I love running, but it’s definitely sucked less ever since finding shoes that worked for me and my flat-n-wide duck paddles.
Even with my feet, running shoes have always been manageable, since I don’t run very long distances or durations, and can tolerate a fairly sloppy fit. For many years, I just sized up and lived with it.
But then I found the excellent fellrnr wiki, specifically:
The image of mutant feet on that page is one of my favorite images on the entire internet.
Anyway, I consider fellrnr to be the canonical running resource, and you should read what he has to say about the science of running shoes and what to look for in running shoes.
For me, I was looking for a shoe with the following properties:
- Wide toe box (obviously)
- Lots of cushioning, to compensate for my poor running mechanics
- Zero drop, to replicate some of the biomechanics around barefoot running
- Mostly for hard surfaces, with the occasional trail
Specifically to my feet…
- I don’t pronate or supinate
- I have almost no arch
- I only run between 100 – 200 miles per year, which is hardly at all
All that said, I’ve been pretty happy with the Altra Olympus, going through several pairs of them over the years.
In 2021, I tried a pair of Altra Escalantes and while they’re not as padded as the Olympus, they still felt pretty good.
fellrnr has reviewed almost every model, it seems. You should check out his reviews. Beware that Altra updates their models (1.0, 1.5, 2.0, etc.) fairly often (and not always for the better); fellrnr calls out which version he’s reviewed. You’ll want to double-check that against the latest online reviews for that specific model in case it changed in a way that you’re not compatible with.
Biking/cycling shoes
Primarily a gravel / MTB rider, the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever worn has been a pair of the Lake MX 241 with the wide last. Sizing up slightly from a 39 (as measured) to a 40 added even more comfort, and unlike climbing shoes, you don’t need an ultra tight fit for maximum performance.
These are a 2-bolt shoe (aka SPD), but since I’m not really a roadie, I don’t feel limited by the cleat selection.
The aesthetics may be polarizing, but frankly, if you have very wide feet, you care most about how shoes feel, not how they look.
UPDATE 2022 - this model has been going on super clearance on the Lake website, and I’m a little afraid they’re going to discontinue them.
Failures
5.10 Freerider Pro
These flat pedal mountain bike shoes are consistently rated very highly, and a few reviews and online forums indicate they may be suitable for people with wide feet.
Nope.
I bought a pair and the toe boxes are not wide in any meaningful sense.
Ski Boots
“Ski boots shouldn’t hurt” they say, as you grimly think “Fuck you” whilst limping awkwardly to avoid putting pressure on the agonizing hot spots taking over your feet.
But paradoxically, ski boots - the piece of foot gear that even normal people tend to associate with pain - are likely to end up as one of the better fits in your quiver.
Why? Because getting a custom fit from an expert bootfitter is a normal part of the buying procss, unlike with say, a pair of running shoes.
Between that and the fact that the type of ski boot you want is going to be heavily dictated by the type of skiing you want to do, along with how hard you rip, means that my experience won’t necessarily be generalizable to you.
(I am assuming you are here because you want to buy boots for your wide-ass duck paddle feet, rather than subjecting them to more torturous rentals. If you intend to continue renting, I can’t help you.)
That said, my situation was:
- Wanted a quiver of 1, a single boot for both downhill and uphill.
- I spend more time going downhill than up though, so biased towards performance rather than lightweight.
- Definitely not a shredder, so didn’t want/need a super stiff boot.
- I have a typical “Asian foot”
- Wide (111mm) in the forefoot
- Low arch
- Narrow heel
What I wanted was a wide boot, which is not necessarily the same thing as a “high volume” boot. A high volume boot is typically made for people with high arches, and what I found from talking with a variety of boot fitters is that there’s a limit to how wide they can stretch a boot like that, because past a certain point, the boot’s instep will lose structural integrity. Not good.
stolen from skis.com
All I can say is to find a reputable bootfitter, go there, and pay handsomely for their advice. Try on a lot of boots. It’s a journey, but for this price range, you get what you pay for.
As for me, as a resident of the SF Bay Area, I tried quite hard to find a “local” outfitter (ie, in Tahoe) who could help. My experiences were:
- UPDATE 2022
- The work that Muskie did in SLC improved my boot, but I still had pain.
- This year, I tried out BestFit boots in Truckee, and they were indeed helpful.
- One key insight was that I was wearing too thick a sock. I was told to look for the thinnest, zero-cushion socks I could find. When paired with a performance boot, a sock provides warmth via wicking away sweat, not via insulation. So that would be the first thing to try.
- I did end up getting additional work done on the boots - what’s called a 6th-toe punch (or just punch). Pretty inexpensive - $30 per boot - and already more comfortable.
- 2021
- I tried Olympic Bootworks in Squaw Valley, but I went mid-season, when they were low on inventory, and didn’t have anything to offer me. I then went to a different place to buy boots, brought them back to Olympic Bootworks, and they were reluctant to want to modify them for reasons I can’t fully remember, which I found reasonable-but-disappointing at the time.
- The people at The BackCountry in Truckee were not really helpful at all.
- I heard good things about BestFit Boots in Truckee, but I never tried them.
- The Surefoot store in the Village at Squaw Creek was actually pretty helpful. They have a fancy 3D foot measuring tool, and used that to give some good recommendations. Unfortunately, they were also low on inventory at mid-season and they didn’t have any copies of boots that would fit in stock. Otherwise I think I would have gone with them.
In the end, I took a gamble on just buying the Nordica Striders from evo.com even though it’s spec’ed with “only” a 100mm width.
Blister has a nice review of them.
I got them just before a ski trip to SLC, and by chance, found a guy named Muskie at the Sports Den who made them work for me. They also had the fancy 3D foot scanning thingie. Muskie was in fact as awesome as his name indicates.
Good luck.