[pct-l] Superfeet and Ponchos

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

I tried superfeet and couldn't figure out what all the fuss was  
about. They appear to be nothing more than a piece of hard plastic  
and some very thin foam. And they charge how much for it? I thought I  
could do as well or better to protect my feet from rocks by just  
cutting a section of plastic out of a milk jug and sticking that in  
my shoe.

I've gone more minimal since my hike, making my own shoes that have  
no molded foot-bed, no inches of EVA foam, no raised heel or arch  
support, no tapered shape at the toebox to blister my outer toes and  
deform my feet. I can hike just fine in simple footwear.

Diane

On Feb 17, 2011, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:

> I should have mentioned in my post that many folks love superfeet,  
> and swear
> by them.  It was late when I finally got to email.  For me however,  
> after
> years of hard training and lots of pack trips and no PF, it was  
> clear that
> putting them in my shoes caused an injury, as they were the only thing
> different in my routine.  The stretching is very important, and calf
> machines that allow you to really strengthen the foot.  Once they  
> had flared
> up however, I think the distances and the mileage on trail would  
> not let
> them really heal properly.  It was still worth hiking the trail  
> anyway.  The
> real surprise has been the almost instant relief I got from taking  
> out all
> the pads and arch support from my shoe two weeks ago.  We'll see if it
> lasts, but I sure hope so.  I'm running and hiking on flat shoes  
> and it
> feels great.
>
> Shroomer