Thanks in advance for any input you have. After many recommendations for this boot, I recently bought a couple different sized 390's to find the perfect fit. I originally posted about jamming my toes in my trail runners so was looking for comfort and some space in these boots. The 12.5 probably felt the best, 13 is better I guess for thicker socks and swelling, 14's feel kind of clumsy but provide about an inch of toe room from big toe to boots. Here's my question. I ordered the 14 because I don't want to experience my toes hitting the front as I have in the past but because of the flex(lack of hard structure like a regular workboot type) in the 390's I can still touch the front with all of the sizes. Do you have a problem hitting the front when coming down from a mountain or wherever? I think I'm just going to give the 13's a go because of the overall feel but figured I'd ask. Thanks again for the help. Eric

Boot fitting is so personal, I'm not sure my experience will help you.

My feet swell over the course of the day, so I have to get at least a half size or more. If I go too far though, I end up with the ball of my foot not flexing the boot/shoe in the right place.

Anyway, to answer your question, I haven't had a problem with jamming my toes in the front of this boot.

A good footbed like Sole or Superfeet should help. As your foot is weighted it tends to change shape, flattening out and elongating. An insole with a good heel cup and instep support tends to keep this elongation to a minimum and should help keep your toes from hitting the front of the boot provided the boot is properly sized.

Eric,
Just to clarify - The ends of your toes are hitting the end of the shoe? It is Not your toe/nail hitting the underside of the Top of the shoe.

If the former, then even with proper footbeds/support it is a size issue. If the latter, footbeds may help, but it you've chronically rolled your foot over to the extent that the big toe is "bent" then Shoe surgery may be required.

Eric, you didn't mention what your measured foot size is...this is where you want to start, and go a half or maybe a full size larger depending on your socks. Your toes may slightly touch when descending but not jam. For me that's normal. I make use of superfeet insoles and fancy lacing techniques to prevent my foot from sliding around excessively. Check out the Montrail lacing techniques at backpacker.com/gear/footwear/lacing
Happy trails!

Thank you so much!! I really appreciate your input. I'm very new to backpacking. My only experience coming down a steep mountain was with regular running sneakers and I jammed my toes terribly the whole way down. So I'm trying to avoid that with the new boots. I love the feel of the 390's but as opposed to my regular workboots which are stiff leather boots there seems to be alot of sliding around potential in these. My problem is on the downward slope. When I'm walking regularly I'm not touching the front. I have a half a thumb nail to the front. I really just have to get out and try them. Was trying to avoid spending $150 dollars on boots that I'd end up not using. I may order the insoles too anyway. Hopefully they'll work out. If not, I'll have to buy another boot probably the same size just maybe a slightly wider toe box. Thank you again, Eric

Going large can be counterproductive because you want to be able to get the shoe/boot nice & tight to stop your foot moving forward. Sometimes for a long descent I'll purposely tighten my shoes for this reason.

Fit is all about preference, but an *inch* of room sounds like an awful lot. I found when I switched from leather boots to inov8's i was comfortable with a tigther/smaller fit than the boot.

Edited by adrianb on 04/03/2008 22:47:30 MDT.