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1995 Shoe Poll
The subscribers of Walklist contributed to a poll in November, 1995 about what kinds of shoes they wear walking and why.The poll questions:
1. What kind of shoes (brand and style) do you wear walking?
2. What do you look for in a walking shoe?
96 responses were tallied. For each brand, any specific styles are listed afterwards.
I have grouped responses by brand name so you can read the specific comments made.
Results
The links take you to the specific comments made by the walkers
- 16 SAS. 2 SAS Freetime, 1 SAS Hill Country walkers, 1 SAS Time Out
- 11 New Balance, 1 New Balance 650, 1 New Balance 580, 1 New Balance 590, 2 New Balance 800, 1 New Balance Postal Walkers. New Balance Homepage
- 10 Nike. 1 Nike Air Boulder high top hiking boots, 2 Nike Air Walkers, 2 Nike Air Pegagus, 1 Nike Air Mada Plus, 1 Nike canvas/nylon crosstrainer, 2 Nike Run/Walk, 1 Nike Air
- 10 Rockport. 1 Rockport dress shoes, 4 Rockport Pro-Walkers, 1 Rockport hikers
- 10 Reebok. 1 Reebok "Walk Reebok"s, 1 Reebok DMX walking shoe, 1 Reebok aerobic shoes, 1 Reebok mid-tops, 1 Reebok crosstrainers, 1 Reebok Fitness Walker or Ultra Fitness Walker, 1 Reebok hexalites leather walkers, 1 Reebok hiking hightops, 1 Reebok running shoe. Reebok Homepage
- 6 Avia, 1 Avia Ariels
- 5 Vasque boots. 1 Vasque Lightweight hiking boots, 1 Vasque Skywalk II, 3 Vasque Clarion Hightop Hiking Boots
- 4 Asics. 1 Asics 123 gel. 1 Asics GEL-MORO.
- 3 Merrell. 1 Merrell air cushion high tops, 1 Merrell Day Hikers, 1 Merrell All Terrain walking sandals. Merrell Homepage.
- 2 Etonic, 1Etonic Trans Walkers
- 2 Saucony, 1 Saucony jogging shoes. Saucony Homepage
- 2 Ryka "Fitness Walking 580". Ryka Homepage
- 2 Birkenstocks. Also visit: Birkenstocks Homepage
- 1 Danner boots
- 1 Guess heavy walking shoe
- 1 Propet boots
- 1 Hushpuppies
- 1 Teva sandals
- 1 Vittorio Ricci soft black leather shoe boots
- 1 Adidas Walking Boots.
- 1 Clarks Naturveldt
- 1 Easy Spirit Mach 1
- 1 running shoes
- 1 Leather work boots
- 1 Low cut hiking boot
- 1 Waterproof duck boots
What do they look for?
- Comfort is number one by a wide margin.
- Good toe room is highly important.
- Sturdiness and support
- Durability
- Price
- Availability of wide or narrow sizes.
- Appearance is distant but still a factor. Several mentioned liking shoes they could use both for walking and for working/shopping.
- Those with lots of technical reasons to like the shoes preferred New Balance, Ryka, and Asics.
What else?
- Judging by the spelling errors (and I didn't catch all of them to correct), Asics and Reebok need a simpler name! Merrell is also tough to spell right (good thing I had a pair in the closet to check the spelling!)
- Many walkers had multiple shoes they used for different purposes - sidewalks vs. trails, warm vs. cold, dry vs. wet.
Read the specific comments
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