[pct-l] Seeking Advice on PCT footwear

[m_factor@hotmail.com (Mara Factor)]

One more thing to add to the footwear discussion...

You cannot just figure the amount of weight in your backpack when deciding 
which piece of footwear is appropriate.  You have to add your body weight to 
the equation.

A lightweight person with a light pack will likely do much better with trail 
shoes than a heavy person with a heavy pack.  And then you have everything 
in between.  Unfortunately, for us longer footed folks, most shoe 
manufacturers extend the footbed for larger sized shoes without adding 
anything addition for support.  In general, someone who takes a large shoe 
will be putting more weight on their feet and require more support than most 
people who take a shorter shoe.  The exception to this is (heavier) boots 
that have rigid shanks.  Longer boots will tend to have longer shanks and 
therefore more support.

Yes, there are always exceptions to all of these rules.  I'm just 
generalizing.  I've seen big (heavy) guys doing fine with trail shoes and 
light skinny guys with heavy boots (and no problems).

I'm a 6'1" female and take a women's 13 5A shoe.  I have a friend who is my 
size and take a women's 9.  I always wonder why she doesn't fall over.  :-)

BTW, another sock recommendation would be Bridgedale.  I used just two pair 
for about 1600 miles on the AT and still use them for hiking.

Mara

P.S.  Anyone have any ideas for preventing what I call heat blisters?  The 
only painful blisters I got on the AT were between my toes during the height 
of the heat wave in '99.  Temps were above 100 almost every day for a while. 
  Obviously, neither the boots nor the socks were the direct cause and my 
feet rarely felt "hot" while I was actually hiking.  I did air my feet out 
periodically through the day, too.  Ideas?   --  Thx, MF


>From: Valerie <latte94@foothill.net>
>To: Rick Hubbard <rick@rickhubbard.org>
>CC: pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
>Subject: Re: [pct-l] Seeking Advice on PCT footwear
>Date: Sat, 03 Mar 2001 11:04:17 -0800
>
>Rick,
>Just keep this in mind when searching for proper footwear:
>
>How heavy is your pack weight going to be on average?
>
>See you cannot go with cross training (trail running shoes) if your pack 
>weight
>is going to be over 30 to 35 pounds. Trail shoes don't support above this
>weight. You'll have arch problems, and you'll wear them out faster. (Though 
>you
>will still probably being going through 3 to 4 pairs of shoes)
>
>But if your weight is under 30 to 35 pounds a good shoe would be any 
>comfortable
>cross trainer that has ample support to carry the weight that you expect to 
>be
>carrying. Ideally you want to look for a non-gortex, extremely breathable 
>shoe
>or boot for the hotter and drier stretches such as southern CA and Northern 
>CA.
>
>For the High Sierra (Northern Oregon and Washington) a more rugged, gortex 
>foot
>wear might be a better option due to the heavy snow pack and wet 
>conditions.
>"With a more rugged boot you are able to drive your heals into the snow on
>decent and your able to get better footing in snow cups." A lighter weight 
>trail
>shoe is more opt to slip and slide and create more problems in snow 
>conditions.
>
>Ideally, what you really what is extreme breath ability in drier areas and
>support and traction in the wetter and snowy areas. For warmth on your feet 
>look
>into sock liners, (helps prevent blisters) and a thick rugged hiker sock 
>(wool,
>polyester, etc.) Be sure to try on footwear with these kinds of socks for
>maximum comfort when sizing. Be picky! There is a thousand boots and 
>companies
>"FIND WHAT FITS AND WHAT IS COMFORTABLE!"
>
>Boot and Cross Training shoe companies to look into:
>Lowa, Tecnica, Vasque, Timberland, Raichie
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