Outdoor Footwear Leaderboard
Every boot, shoe, sandal and approach shoe we’ve field-tested: ranked, scored and kept current.
| # | Footwear | Rating | Community Rating | Type | Released |
|---|
Why you can trust these rankings
- Hands-on testing. Every score reflects real miles in real conditions, not spec sheets.
- Independent. We buy our own gear. Brands have no say in what we publish or how we rank it.
- Consistent scoring. Every model is graded on the same criteria, so a 4.5 means the same for a sandal as for a backpacking boot.
- Always current. This table updates automatically the moment we publish or revise a review.
How we test
We purchase every pair ourselves, so retailers and brands can’t influence the outcome.
Real miles in real conditions: mud, rock, water, heat and cold.
The same rubric for every model, from comfort to grip to durability.
Only then does it earn, or lose, its spot on the leaderboard.
Each pair is scored on 12 criteria, weighted by what matters most for its category:
Our reviews are written and scored by experienced hikers, backpackers, and trail runners who log hundreds of trail miles a year. The full method is in How We Test and Review Our Gear.
The two ratings, explained
Every shoe on the leaderboard can carry two scores, and they answer different questions:
- Rating is our editorial score: the result of the field testing described above.
- Community Rating is the average score from readers who own or have hiked the shoe, with the number of votes in brackets.
Casting your own vote takes under a minute: click Vote next to any shoe, pick 1 to 5 stars, and confirm through the link we email you. Only confirmed votes count, one vote per shoe per person, and voting again later simply updates your earlier score. That is how we keep the community column honest.
Good to know when reading the table
- Click a shoe’s name to open our full hands-on review.
- A blank release year means we couldn’t verify the date from a reliable source, so we left it out rather than guess.
Find footwear for your needs
The number one overall isn’t automatically the number one for you. These guides narrow the field:
Tell us which model you want field-tested next. Reader requests shape a big part of our review calendar.