[pct-l] Hoka shoes

[Ken Powers]

The concept of leaving the top laces undone is new to me.  Marcia
likes to hike without shoe laces except in the top 2 or 3 sets of
holes. She keeps the top laces tight to keep her feet from sliding
forward in the shoe. That also helps keep dirt and gravel out of the
shoes. She wears sock liners or goes without socks most of the time.

Lots of interesting ideas here!

Ken



On Sat, Jan 31, 2015 at 5:19 PM, Scott Williams <baidarker at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hey Sheppard, the idea of loose shoes was a revolutionary concept to me too
> at first.  Sounded like total crap, but when my shoes started being too
> small for me, (I went from a size 9.5 to a permanent size 12 over the
> miles) and I started hiking in larger sizes, I noticed that the only time I
> got close to blisters was when I had them all laced up tight.  At this
> point I don't even use the top several lace holes and have to tighten stuff
> up only when crossing swift streams so as not to have them blow right off
> my feet.  (Maybe Mango can chime in with how he ended up hiking into camp
> with only one shoe.)
>
> Some folks talk about sliding forward and having their toes jam the front
> of their shoes when walking down hill in loose shoes That could be a
> reasonable concern for some, but for whatever reason, it doesn't happen to
> me or most of the best hikers I know.  Maybe it's a different technique in
> our walking.  I'm really not sure.  What I do know is that most of the
> fastest and strongest hikers I know hike in very loose shoes.  Over my thru
> hikes, the only blister I've ever gotten was the first day on the CDT when
> Sam Hughes' (may his Angelic soul rest in peace) old truck broke down and
> we had to carry a lot more water than we had been expecting to make over 20
> miles when we had prepped for 12.  I got a compression blister right under
> the ball of my foot.  It wasn't painful and went away quickly, but it was
> not caused by simply having too much weight too early on in the hike and
> having gone too far.
>
> Give it a try.  My feet have never felt so good as walking in big ol floppy
> clown shoes.
>
> Shroomer
> On Jan 31, 2015 3:34 PM, "Yoshihiro Murakami" <completewalker at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> I had written on the blister formation several times. Briefly speaking,
>> the blisters are formed by the friction between skin and socks. The
>> friction between socks and footwear does not related to this problem. Too
>> loose footwear may influence stability and efficiency in walking. But too
>> tight footwear causes the friction between skin and socks, then it causes
>> blister.
>>
>> The kind of footwear does not related to this problem. It is not the cause
>> of blister. I always wears light weight boots ( I am sorry. my boots are
>> around 2 kg ) with thin soft insole. The technique of preventing of blister
>> is same with shoes.
>>
>>
>> ----This is my old memo---
>>
>> The cause of blister is shear force to exfoliate the dermis and the
>> epidermis by the friction. In other words, it is necessary to reduce the
>> friction between skin and socks to prevent blisters. There are several
>> strategies. You should know  the coefficient of friction will increase when
>> the moisture of skin accumulated.
>>
>>    - The smart wool socks reduce the humidity of the surface of skin.
>>    - The socks should be changed regularly.
>>    - The tight socks reduce the friction of skin and socks.
>>    - Use loose footwear. Then the friction occurs between socks and
>>    footwear.
>>    - Cover the skin with the film of the small coefficient of friction.
>>    - Use the insoles which has ventilation effect.
>>
>> I made many ventilation holes in new insoles. It is not a new idea, but
>> they are new insoles. They works well .
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