Guide 3 min
Hiking shoes: how much does a pair weigh by type?
From 560 g a pair for trail shoes to 1600 g for the heaviest: 21 real pairs from the catalogue weighed by type, and what a high cut adds.
In the WildKit catalogue, a pair of hiking shoes weighs from 560 g to 1600 g. The lightest is a trail shoe, the heaviest a leather shoe: between the two, a 1040 g gap, on your feet at every step.
Shoes take no room in your pack: you wear them. But they count in your total weight, like everything else. It's the only item you never put down while you walk.
How much does a pair of hiking shoes weigh?
From 560 g to 1600 g depending on the type, across the 21 pairs in the catalogue. Trail shoes are the lightest, from 560 g to 610 g. Low hiking shoes go from 740 g to 900 g, high or mid cut ones from 870 g to 1500 g.
| Type | Pairs | Lightest pair | Heaviest pair |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trail | 2 | 560 g (Hoka Speedgoat 6) | 610 g (Salomon Speedcross 6) |
| Low | 5 | 740 g (Quechua MH100) | 900 g (Merrell Moab 3 GORE-TEX) |
| Sandal | 2 | 760 g (Quechua NH500) | 900 g (Keen Newport H2) |
| High or mid cut | 11 | 870 g (Salomon X Ultra 4 Mid) | 1500 g (Forclaz MT500 leather) |
The weight is for the pair, not for one shoe: the Quechua MH900 listing says so, 826 g a pair. Outside these families, the heaviest pair in the catalogue is the Meindl Bhutan MFS, at 1600 g.
High or low cut: how many grams apart?
On the same model, the mid version weighs 130 g to 160 g more than the low one. The catalogue has two pairs that show it:
| Model | Low | Mid | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Merrell Moab 3 GORE-TEX | 900 g | 1030 g | 130 g |
| Quechua MH100 | 740 g | 900 g | 160 g |
Between families, the gap is bigger than between two versions of one model. Among high cuts, there are 630 g between the lightest (870 g) and the heaviest (1500 g). A light mid weighs only 130 g more than the lightest low shoe.
What your pair weighs in your target
On a bivouac trip, the weight target is 8 kg. The lightest trail pair takes 7 % of it, the heaviest pair in the catalogue 20 %. On a day hike, the target drops to 3 kg, and the same heavy pair makes up 53 % of it.
| Pair | Weight | Share of 8 kg (bivouac) | Share of 3 kg (day hike) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hoka Speedgoat 6 | 560 g | 7 % | 19 % |
| Quechua MH100 | 740 g | 9 % | 25 % |
| Meindl Bhutan MFS | 1600 g | 20 % | 53 % |
The lightest isn't always possible. The configurator never picks a sandal as your main shoe, and it takes waterproof shoes as soon as it may rain. Neither trail pair is waterproof: the lightest waterproof pair in the catalogue weighs 740 g, 180 g more than the lightest trail shoe (the jacket and the rain cover follow the same logic: see windbreaker or rain jacket).
What to remember
- A pair of hiking shoes weighs from 560 g to 1600 g: a 1040 g gap across 21 pairs.
- On the same model, a mid cut adds 130 g to 160 g.
- In the rain, the lightest waterproof pair weighs 740 g, 180 g more than the trail shoe.
Your shoes count in your weight, not in your volume (see how much your pack should weigh and which pack volume to choose). Give your trip to the configurator: it picks the pair that handles the forecast and adds it to your total weight.
Written by Thanaël Fontaine. Published .