Boot help!
Hi guys, bit of a two parter question regarding boots. I have Grisport Hunter Pro boots (I didn't read the reviews before I bought, more fool me!). They're a few years old and have been used on and off and are nice and soft to the touch. However every time I use them, I get big blisters on my heels.
Over New Years, I tramped the Leslie-Karamea, coming out the western end of the Wangapeka. After one day, I had a blister that had ripped open. By the end of the tramp with that blister well taped and padded, it had become the size and depth of a ten cent piece (the old ones) and took a month to fully heal. I also lost three toenails and got another half dozen blisters in various places. This weekend, both heels blistered within an hour of easy tramping up the Nina and we abandoned our plan to make it up to the tops. Flats, hills, rivers, it all gives me blisters in the exact same spot.
I don't think my heels are oddly shaped (happy to post a pic for criticism) so I'm trying to work out if there is a way to fix my boots so I don't get blisters on my heels and can do decent length trips in comfort.
Alternatively, if there is no way to fix these, I am looking at the Lastrite boots but not sure which I want. Do people recommend the Tramper or the Hunter? And how do these fit for people with slight wider toes/bunions?
23 comments
Soak the boots then bend them in half overnight (vice is best or you can trap them in the bent position under something heavy like a sofa or a trampoline).
Immediately take them for a long walk afterwards.
Every pair of hiking boots I've ever bought butchered my heels until I did that to them, and I usually have to repeat the process if I go a few months without wearing them. The only time it hasn't worked was for my latest pair, so I tried these Engo Patch things
http://www.bigfootpodiatry.co.nz/Bigfoot-Store/ENGO-Blister-Care/ENGO-Heel-Pack
which worked a treat.
"If I'm doing a LONG tramp (hundreds of kilometres), about two weeks prior to commencing, I remove all of my toenails.
Yep. Just use a pair of pliers and a scalpel, and cut/rip all 10 toenails out. (Yes, you will initially bleed like a stuck pig). "
That sounds agonising just reading it!
Good lord Kreig, I'm not THAT keen. I want to enjoy my trips, not resent them from two weeks out! I prefer leather as it is easier to break in. As you said, I walk straight through rivers etc as the water helps a bit, but definitely not enough. Unfortunately these boots have a 'waterproof' liner which seems to make breaking them in harder.
Craigo, when you trap them in half, do you crush the heels down or just focus on bending the soles in half?
@Mosley Bend the soles in half. Makes the boot a bit more flexible and takes pressure off that vulnerable bit of heel skin.
Ok, so I don't meet to try and smash the heel cup down to soften it a bit? Will give the vice trick a crack next weekend and see if it helps.
@Kreig: OMG, I'd rather wear sandals! Which I did solid for 11 years of tramping (apart from alpine boots).
All these ideas to soften up boots - really hot water, bending them in a vice... Why not just buy softer, lighter and cheaper boots in the first place. Sure there's a place for more rigid boots for transalpine / snow / crampon work, but most of the time cheaper / lighter / softer is the way to go.
Now days, boots that are designed to have a stiffer sole are probably going to have some kind of plastic / composite shank that will break bending it that hard. Really hot water will wreck the glue that holds the boots together and make the leather hard and brittle once it dries out I would think.
Problems with this particular pair of boots seem mostly related to size - too small?, so the only solution is to bin them and get something that does fit.
Some people are prone to blisters some not. Im one of the lucky ones and every time I get blisters the cause is very obvious.
Maybe a trip to a podiatrist may show a repairable foot problem
When you've already dropped several hundy on boots you need to pull out the stops to get some use out of them. My very first pair of hiking boots (Asolo, $350) heel-blistered me (as did the next, and the next, and the next). I tried everything I could find to get them in shape, and in the end came up with the wetting and bending idea myself as a last measure before ditching them. It worked a treat, and has done with all but one pair afterwards (Lowa Camino, which required Engo patches). If the technique breaks anything inside them it certainly hasn't stopped me from happily hiking each pair down to a worn out tread afterwards.
@kreig I really did not need to read that, ick! Couldn't you just simply trim all your toenails?
@Honora Appreciated that link.
@Craigo Like that link also.
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| Forum | Gear talk |
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| Started by | Mosley59 |
| On | 12 February 2017 |
| Replies | 22 |
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