Written from firsthand experience with a deviated septum and checked against clinical sources. We make Ventriq Nasal Strips, so we are always upfront that a strip relieves symptoms rather than fixing the structural problem. Read our methodology or our editorial policy.
Our number one pick for hiking: the Ventriq Sport Nasal Strips. They keep the airway open on long climbs and thin air, and hold through a full day on the trail.
For hikers, the best nasal strips are ones with enough spring tension to hold the nasal valve open over many hours on the trail, with an adhesive that survives sweat, cold air and changing humidity from a valley floor to an exposed ridge. A strip will not turn a hard climb into an easy one and it will not raise your VO2 max, but it lowers the resistance your nose creates on every breath, which matters on a long day when you are breathing through the same passages for six or eight hours straight. If your nose tends to block up in cold dry air, at altitude, or you have a structural issue like a deviated septum, a strip compensates for some of that restriction before you even reach the trailhead.
I started using nasal strips for sleep after a Consultant Otolaryngologist at a private hospital in Dublin diagnosed me with a significantly deviated septum and recommended septorhinoplasty. I played rugby for over a decade and my nose took plenty of damage along the way, broken more than once in collisions. I put the surgery off to keep playing, and I built Ventriq to give myself a way to breathe properly in the meantime. I noticed the difference at night first, then on long days outdoors. Anyone who has spent a full day on the trail will know the exact moment I mean: the climb steepens, your nose cannot keep up, you switch to your mouth, and within an hour your throat is dry and your pace has dropped.
Why Nasal Breathing Matters in Hiking
Hiking sits at a different intensity to most of the sports I write about. For long stretches you are working at an easy, conversational pace, and your nose can comfortably handle all of the air you need. That is actually the best case for nasal breathing: it slows your breathing rate, warms and humidifies the air before it reaches your lungs, and keeps your nervous system in a calmer state than mouth breathing does. Over a full day out, that adds up to less fatigue and a drier throat by the time you reach the car park.
The nose also produces nitric oxide as air passes through it. Nitric oxide acts as a bronchodilator and a vasodilator, which means nasal breathing helps open your airways and relax your blood vessels, improving oxygen uptake at a tissue level. You lose that benefit the moment you are forced onto your mouth.
The trouble comes on the climbs. A steep switchback or a scramble over rock pushes your effort well past a conversational pace, and your nose has a physical limit on how much air it can move at once. For most hikers that limit is manageable, some mouth breathing on the hard sections, then back to your nose once the trail flattens. If you have a structural issue like a deviated septum, though, the limit arrives much sooner. A deviated septum reduces the cross sectional area of one nasal passage, and combined with the nasal cycle, where the tissue inside your nose alternates which side is more congested on a roughly four hour rotation, a long hike can mean spending half the day breathing through one narrowed side.
Altitude and cold dry air add another layer that is specific to hiking. Above a few thousand metres, or on a cold morning start, the lining of your nose can swell and dry out, narrowing the passage further right when you need it most.
How Nasal Strips Help Hikers
A nasal strip works on the outside of the nose. It spans the lower cartilage and uses a spring action to lift the lateral nasal wall outward, widening the internal diameter at the nasal valve, the narrowest point in your entire airway. For a hiker with a deviated septum, the strip helps most on the side where the deviation crowds the valve area. For a hiker with no structural issue, the main benefit is stopping dynamic valve collapse on the steeper sections, where the cartilage gets pulled inward under harder breathing.
In practice that shows up across a long day rather than in one dramatic moment. Holding nasal breathing for longer on the flats and rolling sections means less fluid loss through the mouth, a less dry throat by the afternoon, and a calmer effort on the climbs where you would otherwise be gasping. I use the Ventriq Sport Nasal Strips on long days out. They are stiffer than a standard sleep strip, built to stay put through sweat, and the adhesive holds through a full day without peeling at the edges, which matters when you are out from dawn to dusk in changing weather.
Our pick for hiking
Ventriq Sport Nasal Strips
Drug free strips built to stay put through sweat and hold the nasal valve open, so you keep breathing through your nose when the effort ramps up. From EUR 20, with buy more save more packs.
Shop Ventriq SportSleeping or recovering instead? See Ventriq Sleep, or read how to choose the right strip.
What to Look for in a Hiking Nasal Strip
A few things matter for hiking specifically:
- Adhesive strength: a strip has to survive sweat on the climbs, rain, and hours of contact with sunscreen or insect repellent without lifting.
- Spring tension: more tension gives more lift on the steep sections, where you need the airway open most.
- Fit and position: it needs to sit across the lower cartilage where the nasal valve is, not up on the bony bridge.
- Comfort over long wear: on a multi day trek you may be wearing a strip for eight or more hours at a stretch, so skin comfort matters more than it does for a short session.
I have tried strips that were fine for an hour in the gym but started curling at the edges after three hours of sweat on a hillside. The Ventriq Sport strip is built to hold through a full day.
Does It Actually Improve Performance?
I will be straight about this. There is very little research on nasal strips and hiking specifically, and the wider evidence on nasal strips and athletic performance is mixed. Some studies show small improvements in perceived effort and breathing efficiency. Others show no meaningful change in VO2 max or endurance output under laboratory conditions. A strip is a breathing aid, not an engine upgrade, and it will not turn a hard climb into an easy one.
What I can tell you from my own experience is that the subjective difference over a long day is real. Nasal breathing on the flats and gentle climbs feels less effortful and keeps your mouth and throat from drying out, and it is easier to hold a steady rhythm when you are not gasping. Whether that translates into covering more distance or finishing with more in the tank depends on the hiker and the terrain. If you want the deeper look at the evidence, I have covered it in Boost Your Workout: How Nasal Strips Enhance Athletic Performance.
Nasal Strips if You Have a Deviated Septum
If you have a deviated septum and you spend long days on the trail, nasal strips are probably more useful for you than for the average hiker. You are starting every hike with your airway already restricted, so anything that gives part of that width back matters over six or eight hours, not just in one hard moment. External strips work best when the restriction sits at the nasal valve rather than deep inside the nasal cavity, which is the most common pattern after a break or a knock to the nose. I have written more on this in Best Nasal Strips for a Deviated Septum.
If your breathing also wrecks your sleep the night before an early start, or slows your recovery after a big day out, How to Sleep Better with a Deviated Septum covers what has worked for me overnight.
My Recommendation
For hiking, get the Ventriq Sport Nasal Strips. They were built to stay on through sweat and changing weather over a full day out. If your main need is breathing and recovering better overnight before an early trailhead start, the Ventriq Sleep Nasal Strips are the right pick for bedtime, and plenty of hikers use both: sport strips on the trail, sleep strips at home. If you cross train, the same thinking applies to running and cycling, both of which share a lot with hiking on the aerobic side. Whichever strip you pick, How to Choose the Right Nasal Strip for Your Nose Shape will help you get the fit right for your face. If you also enjoy rock climbing, see nasal strips for rock climbing.
The Bottom Line
For hiking, the Ventriq Sport Nasal Strips are our number one choice. Easier nose breathing helps on sustained climbs and at altitude where your nose usually struggles. A strip relieves airway resistance and does not change your fitness, but it keeps your breathing comfortable mile after mile.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do nasal strips help with breathing at altitude?
They can help a little. At altitude the air is colder and drier, which tends to swell and dry out the lining of your nose and narrow your airway further. A strip widens the nasal valve mechanically, which offsets some of that narrowing, though it will not help with the reduced oxygen in the air itself, only with how easily you can move the air you do get.
Can a nasal strip help with a blocked nose from cold air on the trail?
Yes, to an extent. Cold dry air is a common trigger for nasal congestion, and a strip holds the nasal valve open mechanically regardless of how swollen the tissue inside is, so it can offset some of that morning blockage on a cold start.
Where exactly should I place a nasal strip?
Position it across the fleshiest part of your nose, over the lower cartilage rather than the bone. If you feel the spring tension lifting your nostrils when you breathe in, it is in the right place. Sit it too high and it does nothing.
Do nasal strips help on steep climbs?
They help you hold nasal breathing for longer before you are forced onto your mouth, which keeps your throat from drying out and your effort feeling steadier. On a very steep pitch your body will still push you toward mouth breathing regardless, since that is a normal response to hard effort.
Do I need a deviated septum for nasal strips to work?
No. Dynamic nasal valve collapse, where the side of the nose pulls inward under harder breathing, is common even in people with a straight septum, and a strip prevents that collapse either way.
Will a nasal strip stay on during a long day of sweat and rain on the trail?
A quality sport strip is designed to hold through sweat and wet conditions for a full day out. If conditions are very wet, wiping the skin clean and dry before you apply it will help it grip for longer.
