[pct-l] Re: Feet treatment

[dude@fastmail.ca (dude)]

--
I am not so sure that either point of view(boots vs shoes) is "the
right" view.  I wear boots when I climb or hike in areas where I know
I will have to kick steps or walk in snow that will melt and keep my
feet wet all day.  When I hike, I prefer to go ultra-light and wear
running shoes.

I have been reluctant to post on this issue because I never get
blisters.  I don't get them in boots, and I don't get them in running
shoes.  I don't have to toughen up my feet, even if I have been
sedentary for months.

IMHO, some people's feet are tough as nails and they never get
blisters and other people's feet are literally "tenderfoots" and
they get blisters no matter how much they try to toughen them.  I
have a friend who ultraruns with me all the time.  I usually run one
really long run every two weeks and run about 3 miles every other day
between the long runs.  Conversely, he takes log runs twice per week
and typically runs farther than I do, and also runs more like 6-9
miles per day between his long runs.  When we go do ultras, he gets
blisters and I don't...every time.  Therefore, I believe that some
people are lucky and some are not.

I am curious to see John Vonhof's survey results.

peace!
dude


> YOO HOO  OVER HERE. I hilked the entire PCT (99) in Red Wing
> Hiking BOOTS and had no blisters!! 110 mile hike this year in the
> Grand Canyon in non-blistering heat IN THE EXACT SAME BOOTS. (
> They last as long as TWENTY PAIRS of N.B. 80-whatevers) Ditto for
> a 100 mile trek offtrail in the Olympics. Luckily, there were no
> ultralites in shoes lurking near the steep snow slopes, waiting to
> plead people in BOOTS to kick steps for them. NO BLISTERS. And I
> carry no "camp shoes" because the  Red Wings are so damn
> comfortable that I don't even THINK about taking them off until I
> crawl into my sleeping bag. Meanwhile the plastic wrappers from
> all the foot fix products, and  odorous, fluid soaked pads of all
> sorts are filling the trashbags of those "toughening up their
> feet" So, ultra lite  feet trashers, know for certain that
> blisters are NOT a certainty and that one CAN INDEED have happy
> feet in hiking BOOTS!  Now, delete this message, pretend I don't
> exist and go right on scabbing over your blisters to "toughen up
> your feet. " Serves you right for being so stubbornly revisionist
> as to throw out the baby with the bathwater. I mean, like,
> everbody KNOWS using Hiking Boots for hiking is SOOOO 19th century
> that they aren't even contemplatable.
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