KayakMacGyver
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2018
- Messages
- 353
Posted over in Fireside, but thought I may get some useful input here as well.
I bought my first pair of mountain boots back in April from a really great boot company out of Bozeman. Living in Florida, I don't have a luxury to try mountain boots on before I buy so I did everything I could to ensure a good fit (professionally measured, talked to the company to verify sizing was true, etc). The boots fit great walking around the house and fit as comfortably as I expected they should upon arrival. However, wearing the boots throughout Turkey season I learned of a couple hot spots developing on my heels. The hot spots tend to develop when walking up any incline or when I'm toting some weight and leaning forward slightly (how I would expect hot spots to instigate, I suppose).
Over the summer I've experimented with different lacing techniques and have had some success with my left foot being less susceptible to heel blisters, but the right foot gets it real bad no matter what lacing I try. Lacking any real incline, I integrate 5 miles twice a week on a 15% grade treadmill to "simulate" my planned September elk hunting environment the best I can. With the grade, my heel gets chewed to shreds.
Overall, the boots fit really well with just the right amount of room in the toe box, not too tight on the sides, etc. As I got to thinking about it, I've never really had a pair of boots that didn't tear up my heels to some extent when putting them to heavy use. Any incline or carry seems to instigate blisters...my swamp boots and snake boots are particularly notorious for this. In fact, part of my morning ritual during hunting season is the application of blister tape to my heels along with a liner sock.
I think I'm chalking this one up to my foot shape. I have a really "sharp" heel configuration and it's pretty clear to me why I have this issue. Does anyone else have this kind of problem? If so, have you found a remedy?
With all of the preparation I'm putting into my 8 day solo DIY backpack trip, my biggest fear is having torn up feet hold me back. This morning I bought some Armaskin anti-blister socks that I'm going to give a try. https://www.amazon.com/ArmaSkin-Extr...=Blister+Socks . If these don't work, I'll likely go back to my tried and true blister tape and just deal with the hassel of installing it on my heels every morning and throughout the day as needed. Unless someone else has a great recommendation? I'll be sure to post a first hand review of the new liners I just bought.
I bought my first pair of mountain boots back in April from a really great boot company out of Bozeman. Living in Florida, I don't have a luxury to try mountain boots on before I buy so I did everything I could to ensure a good fit (professionally measured, talked to the company to verify sizing was true, etc). The boots fit great walking around the house and fit as comfortably as I expected they should upon arrival. However, wearing the boots throughout Turkey season I learned of a couple hot spots developing on my heels. The hot spots tend to develop when walking up any incline or when I'm toting some weight and leaning forward slightly (how I would expect hot spots to instigate, I suppose).
Over the summer I've experimented with different lacing techniques and have had some success with my left foot being less susceptible to heel blisters, but the right foot gets it real bad no matter what lacing I try. Lacking any real incline, I integrate 5 miles twice a week on a 15% grade treadmill to "simulate" my planned September elk hunting environment the best I can. With the grade, my heel gets chewed to shreds.
Overall, the boots fit really well with just the right amount of room in the toe box, not too tight on the sides, etc. As I got to thinking about it, I've never really had a pair of boots that didn't tear up my heels to some extent when putting them to heavy use. Any incline or carry seems to instigate blisters...my swamp boots and snake boots are particularly notorious for this. In fact, part of my morning ritual during hunting season is the application of blister tape to my heels along with a liner sock.
I think I'm chalking this one up to my foot shape. I have a really "sharp" heel configuration and it's pretty clear to me why I have this issue. Does anyone else have this kind of problem? If so, have you found a remedy?
With all of the preparation I'm putting into my 8 day solo DIY backpack trip, my biggest fear is having torn up feet hold me back. This morning I bought some Armaskin anti-blister socks that I'm going to give a try. https://www.amazon.com/ArmaSkin-Extr...=Blister+Socks . If these don't work, I'll likely go back to my tried and true blister tape and just deal with the hassel of installing it on my heels every morning and throughout the day as needed. Unless someone else has a great recommendation? I'll be sure to post a first hand review of the new liners I just bought.
