[pct-l] boots? - evidence based knowledge...

[Jeffrey Olson]

HOw I love to hear from Yoshiro. However, evidence be damned!!! At least
in terms of research on what works best for long distance hiking. If you
don't know beforehand, you'll soon discover what works for you.

WHAT WORKS FOR YOU...

This takes 100s of miles, be they spent in seven, 10, 14, 35 or 80 day
trips, a year or two or five or 20 of hiking. I love the reality that
dozens of hikers start at Campo ignorant of what will come. Faiththings
will work out is far more powerful than any objective knowledge one may
carry into a long hike.

That said, scientific knowledge is a nice frame to take into account.
However, it's no more than a frame. It can help understand experience,
but can't tell us what to do. And without the miles under the boots so
to speak, evidence-based knowledge is little better than my friend Waldo
who knows everything...

Regardless, check out Yoshiro's photographs. The one taken from Forester
Pass looking south has been my desktop image for a long time. I still
get lost in it...

Jeffrey Olson
Rapid City, SD


On 1/14/2013 12:54 AM, Yoshihiro Murakami wrote:
> Dear Tuula
>
> I was stimulated by this mailing list and searched scientific papers.
> I found many important findings, and I wrote them in my hiking
> handbook ( it will be published in April, sorry it was all written in
> Japanese ).　If you want to try shoes, you need to train calf muscles
> and Achilles' tendon.
>
> I will cite simplified several conclusions of  itemized section in my book.
>
> // clear points
>
> Boots reduce the shock of the Achilles' tendon around 10 %. ---Rowson
> S., McNally C.,& Duma S.M. 2010  Can footwear affect Achilles tendon
> loading? {\it Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine}, 20, 344-349.}
>
> Boots reduce the burden of the ankle, but increase the burdens of the
> knee joint. ---
> B\"{o}hm, H.,& H\"{o}sl, M. 2010  Effect of boot shaft stiffness on
> stability joint energy and muscular co-contraction during walking on
> uneven surface.
> {\it Journal of Biomechanics, 43, 2,472} 2467-}
>
> Thick, soft shoes are the most unstable, and thin, firm shoes are the
> most stable. ---Robbins, S., Waked, E., Gouw, G.J. ,& McClaran, J.
> 1994   Athletic footwear affects balance in men.{\it British Journal
> of Sports Medicine}, 28, 117-122.}
>
> // not clear, but the answer may be positive
>
> Do the boots support an ankle?  In this respect, there is no strong
> evidence, but the answer may be positive based on the meta analyzes of
> 14 reliable studies . As Dan Jacobs posted, aircast was proved to have
> supportive function. ----Handoll, H.H., Rowe, B.H., Quinn, K.M., de
> Bie, R.  2001  Interventions for preventing ankle ligament
> injuries(Reviews). { Cochrane Database Systematic Review},
> 2001;(3):CD000018.
>
> // not clear, it may be no difference
>
> Which are safe,  boots or  shoes? --- Anderson, L.S. Jr, Rebholz,
> C.M., White, L.F., Mitchell, P., Curcio, E.P. 3rd, Feldman, J.A., \&
> Kahn, J.H. 2009  The impact of footwear and packweight on injury and
> illness among long-distance hikers.
> {\it Wilderness Environtal Medicine}, 20, 250-256.} They studied AT
> and PCT hikers and found no difference.
>
> no difference, refined prospective randomized study --- Hamonko, M.T.,
> McIntosh, S.E., Schimelpfenig, T., \&  Leemon, D. \ \ 2011 \ \
> Injuries related to hiking with a pack during National Outdoor
> Leadership School courses: a risk factor analysis. {\it Wilderness
> Environmental Medicine}, 22, 2-6.
>
> Those results are negative to Jardine, R.  2009  {Trail life. Ray
> Jardine's lightweight backpacking}. AZ: AdventureLore Press}
>
> // not clear, no study
>
> Does Gortex needed for footwear? ---no study.
>
> // clear point
>
> Boots are generally heavier than shoes.
>
> I had already posted the effect of weight of footwear.
>
> If you are an average man and  the weight of your footwear is within
> 2kg, you need not to be nervous about the weight.
>
> If your walking speed exceed 7km/h, the lighter footwear is better.
>
>