With the current travel restrictions, many of us are venturing out in our own surroundings. Discovering places in our own country. I have always been a keen walker, but even more so now that I cannot travel. A good hiking boot is essential for walks in nature, so I thought I'd help you find the best vegan hiking boots for the new year. I have meticulously combed the market for vegan hiking boots that are currently available.
How to find the best vegan hiking boot?
Materials
Hiking boots are traditionally made of leather, or leather parts often under different names like nubuck and suede. Mainly the upper materials are leather, but it is also used for decoration. So, when choosing vegan hiking boots, you want to check for leather first. Manufacturers are transparent about this. Leather is expensive and they will certainly advertise this if it is used.
Another animal-made material to look for is wool. Wool is mainly used for decoration. It can be tricky to determine whether the wool is taken from an animal or is synthetic. If you are unsure, ask the retailer or manufacturer.
Most tricky to detect are animal parts that are used in adhesives (glue). Traditionally adhesives are made of boiled animal parts. Many manufacturers have since changed to synthetic adhesives, but certainly not all of them. The only way to find out for sure is to ask the manufacturer. If you choose vegan hiking boots that have a certified vegan label, your chances of buying boots that are actually vegan will increase significantly*.
*depending on the label, different criteria apply. Read our full article on vegan labels.
Cross-contamination
Hiking boots can also contain unintentional animal parts. There is a risk of cross-contamination when boots are manufactured in a plant where non-vegan boots are manufactured. If vegan hiking boots have a certified vegan label, then they should have cleaning procedures in place to prevent cross-contamination.
Currently on the market
I have contacted a total of 32 hiking boot manufacturers. Some very well-known global brands, some local manufacturers. The information in this article is based on data provided by the manufacturers and their websites**. Most of them were very responsive and interested to discuss the topic of vegan hiking boots. Even the ones that do not offer vegan boots now are seriously considering producing vegan hiking boots in the (near) future. I also listed the manufacturers who have no vegan options at the moment and those who did not respond to my inquiry.
For your convenience, I have split the results into different sections:
- All-vegan hiking boot manufacturers
- Hiking boot manufacturers with vegan options
- 'Almost vegan' hiking boots
- 'No vegan options' manufacturers
- 'No response' manufacturers
As you will see below, there are plenty of options to choose from and many more will be coming in the future.
**This list is by no means complete. I have chosen to show you a good selection of vegan hiking boots, but this is not a quality review. I have not tried the boots and the order in which they appear in this article is completely random. This is merely a guide to help you find the right vegan hiking boots. It is up to you to decide your preference. We are not responsible for any errors in the information provided to us by manufacturers.
