So I bought some leather boots....HELP!

[slparker]

There is a facebook thingy about the best way to tie bootelaces & trust me ,it works 100%...It is by a young lady hiker, who knows her stuff & for the life of me,I cannot remember her site/name.....the idea is to leave the first four or five lacings fairly loose,to maintain upper circulation ,then tie a knot & from there up, have the lacings tighter,which gives a bit more ankle support & keeps the foot into the boot,causing less (supposedly) friction between boot & foot.........a bit of fiddling about with lace pressures etc, certainly worked for me , I walked 600ks in 8 weeks& not 1 blister... ....

I use a similar strategy; rather than tie a permanent knot above the arch of the foot I tie a running shoe tension knot ( a kind of pulley) at the point where the shaft of the boot starts. This allows a loose tie around the toe and foot arch, a tight clamp over the ankle (which locks the heel in) and a firm but not tight lacing over the shin.

It's really easy to adjust and works for shoes as well.

I think thta this site explains it:
http://walking.about.com/cs/shoecare/l/aa120600b.htm

and this illustrates it well - but with a boot of course you continue the lacing above the heel lock up the rest of the boot.
http://www.rockrun.com/wp/lacing-tips-f ... ing-shoes/

[aloftas]

Things I notice about the Sella.
They ARE heavy, you know you have them on, so it is important to lift them. Good training boot; designed to carry heavy loads, hence the construction.
They are high, and are good for mitigating the muck.
They lock in above and below the ankle joint and so I would suspect a snug fit would be essential.
And so, the epic light weight boot versus the clodhoppers saga begins.
Im thinking a vibram sole on doc martens?

[slparker]

And so, the epic light weight boot versus the clodhoppers saga begins.

It is interesting that the OP reversed the trend to go from heavy to lightweight. It will be interesting to see Danshell's opinions on using heavier footwear.

[aloftas]

And so, the epic light weight boot versus the clodhoppers saga begins.

It is interesting that the OP reversed the trend to go from heavy to lightweight. It will be interesting to see Danshell's opinions on using heavier footwear.

I don't get it.
When I was a cadet/scout....dry boots was the story of the day. A LOT of effort would be made to keep things dry and sanitary.
I know its not always possible but steps can be taken.
It follows, that if goretex needs to be clean to be effective, then it isn't going to remain effective after 5 days in the slop.
Leather boots 2 pairs of sox...lol when I was riding a motorcycle bread bags in between two pairs of sox was the go

id use the bread bags with the holes fer breathability< err no.

[DanShell]

Ill report back on the weekend, I am heading out for a few days walk in the morning in what I suspect will be quite damp terrain in places, if not a bit of snow around.

[flyfisher]

My AKU all leather boots are 1kg each dry and when new, although they felt comfy enough gave me a hard time on the first real walk.

We walked from Rowallen to Junction lake and down through the Never Never then down to Lees Paddocks and out .

By the second day I had 2 thumnail sized blisters which didn't really add to my enjoyment.

Once worn in the are really good although I still tape my heels before starting.

In snow, with a good coat of snowseal the leather just repels snow, great.

Hope you have a great trip danshell. Don't forget the trip report and pics.

FF

[Travis22]

Hey Dan, sorry just caught up on this thread and the method ive found which 'saved the day' for me is as per the 'heal lock' diagram as shown in slparkers link.

I went and took a few quick pics before seeing the link so ill stick them up anyways lol.

Hopefully you can find a workable solution that doesnt require the a different pair of shoes!

Travis.

Attachments

I keep my laces pretty loose up till the lace locking tabs here.

Thanks to the lace locking tabs on the SL Activ's (my M3's dont have these) i can then lace up the rest of the boot without effecting the tension below.

[DanShell]

Thanks, I will give that technique a go. I am reasonably confident that I can get past the blisters on my heals but my main concern I think is the weight. I was really beat up after my last walk but I am not sure if it was the boots or the awkward terrain and my lack of match fitness, so only time will tell.

I bought some of these http://www.blisterprevention.com.au/eng ... ches/shop/

That site has some interesting info which I can relate to. My right foot was lightly blistered from the start so I put some padding on it and duct taped it. Later on the first day after about 10 km's or so I could feel a hot spot on my left heal so I used a padded type of elastoplast. Now it was my left heal that ended with the lid torn off the blister and in a terrible way, yet my right foot even though the small blister was slightly larger it was actually ok under the duct tape.

I put this down to two things. The duct tape on my right foot actually allowed my boot to slip slightly and when I had wet feet for the most part the duct tape didn't get effected. However the elastoplast on my left foot didn't allow the slip so it was rocking the skin on my heal instead of slipping, and the elastoplast when wet was still grippy.

Im not sure if any of that makes sense but this article pretty much sums up what I am trying to explain happened to me in the real world. http://www.blisterprevention.com.au/wha ... s-blisters

I really like these boots, they are beautifully made but they do have some other pro's and con's compared to my runner style boots.

These are water proof, really water proof. But when they do get water inside them from being over ankle depth they need to be removed to get the water out. And once they are water logged inside and out (leather inner as well) they are very difficult to dry. I have had them inside nearish to the wood heater for the best part of 24 hours and they are still very wet.

I like how water ran out of trail runners as quick as it got in. But for the most part my new boots will be better for keeping my feet dry.

The leather boots are more than twice the weight. I haven't done any research on the weight of boots vs fatigue in the legs but as a guess I am going to go out on a limb and say it played a large part in the fatigue in my legs after my last walk.

I am confident it will be a lot harder to get an ankle injury in the big leather boots which is a good thing for me because I have in the past had several little tweaks to my ankles in my older boots. So the support is a great thing.

Ill give them some more time and reserve my final judgement after a few more walks.

[simonm]

Hey Dan - just read your trip report and this thread. I bought my first leather boots not long ago as well, and I found they were just not for me. So I went back to what I know works for me, which is a lighter boot.

[corvus]

Dan stuffing newspaper inside the boots really helps to dry them out and I have also had success in the past with "duct tape" I used cling cloth tape and it prevented any heel blisters forming,clean the area with an antiseptic wipe this will remove sweat and helps it to stick.

[Maaxxx]

Hi!
I suspect the Youtube Vid vicrev was referring to, on the previous page, regarding lacing might be this one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOE28brAcEc
Worth a look!
Max.

[Moondog55]

Clodhoppers? Those are bedroom slippers for some of us
I can't say that the hot water method has shortened the life of any boot I've ever used it on and I wear and keep my boots for decades Dear Scarpa Please bring back the original XL Trek

[vicrev]

Hi!
I suspect the Youtube Vid vicrev was referring to, on the previous page, regarding lacing might be this one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOE28brAcEc
Worth a look!
Max.

Thanks Max.......

[DanShell]

Thanks Gents Ill try everything I can before I concede these boots are not for me!

[slparker]

The leather boots are more than twice the weight. I haven't done any research on the weight of boots vs fatigue in the legs but as a guess I am going to go out on a limb and say it played a large part in the fatigue in my legs after my last walk.

I can't get access to the original articles - but here's a couple of abstracts on studies done in the 80s. The sample size was very small, so the figures aren't gospel.

In essence, these studies found:
'for each 100 g increase in weight of footwear there is a 0·7-1·0% increase in VO2 (oxygen consumption).

'... it was 6·4 times more expensive (in energy terms) to carry weight on the feet as compared to the back.'

'The VO2 for women wearing boots were significantly higher ... than for shoes for both walking and running, with the exception of the slowest walking speed. The average increment in energy cost was 1·0% per 100-g increase in weight per pair of footwear. These results are similar to those reported for men from other studies which found increments in energy cost of 0·7 to 0·9% per 100-g increase in weight of footwear.'

using this formula a kilo on the feet is equivalent to 6.4kg on the back - which sounds a little extreme to me...but it could be true.


http://www.researchgate.net/publication ... Ergonomics
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1 ... ode=terg20
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1 ... ode=terg20

[flyfisher]

Hi Dan,
How are those boots going mate, have you given them another outing yet?

FF

[DanShell]

Hi Dan,
How are those boots going mate, have you given them another outing yet?

FF

Not yet, my heels have only just healed Ive been out in my old faithfuls though...with no issues.

Im going to wear them on day walks from now on until I can walk 10 or so kays without feeling hot spots. Im pretty confident they will be fine.

[DanShell]

Just a quick update on these boots (mainly for the sake of anyone researching them), I have now used them several more times and love them.

I recently gave them a real workout on some really tough terrain over 20 odd kilometres and I now couldn't imagine going back to my old runner style boots. My only negative is they are heavy but I must be getting conditioned to them because my feet are feeling great. No more blisters (mind you I put some of those blue slippery blister things in the back of the boots), I am loving the support and waterproofness.

In hindsite I would say my initial blisters were more caused from having wet feet in them all day. I am now 99.99% confident I will not get blisters in them.

[Strider]

No more blisters (mind you I put some of those blue slippery blister things in the back of the boots)

Tell me more!


Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

[north-north-west]

Gel pads?

[DanShell]

These things. Expensive but the lady sends another packet for free when you leave feedback on her Facebook page!
http://www.blisterprevention.com.au/eng ... -heel-pack