Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Blister proofing the feet

Blisters always got me down by around 6th or 7th day of hiking (carrying 40 lbs or less) and last year I did not have any as I started practicing a trick I learnt from a hiker we met at the last tern camp north of Forrester pass.
1. At the end of the day, before going to sleep, He took off his toe-separating socks, and used one wet-one sheet to clean each foot with lots of TLC.
2. Then carefully greased each foot all around with Vicks Vaporub and put a night sock on each to avoid dirt.
3. Next day before the hike, used another wet-one sheet to wipe the foot clean before inserting into toe-separate socks.

I started the same routine at the end of each hiking day and the feet did not bother me.

Of course other little things like light weight hiking shoes, lighter pack also would help:) Any more ideas?

blisters where? toes? heels? foot pad? makes a difference.

liner socks are a must in my book.

Body Glide (REI) is great for the sides of your feet, and the toes. For my heals, I put on a thin blister bandaid type covering which works well. Also changing your socks after lunch . I have done a lot of Grand Canyon hiking without any problems.

I've found that when my body weight exceeds 240 lbs I get blisters. Under 240 and they don't seem to happen. Distance or days on the trail don't seem to be a factor. My pack usually is about the same weight every trip so it is a constant.
(I'm 6'4" so 240 is overweight and not obese, so I tell myself)

For me, blisters on the back of the heel are a sure sign of foot slippage in the boot, so a combination of expedition/trekker wt socks & a non-latex band-aid over a Nu-Skin blister pac solves this problem.

Blisters on the bottom of the feet (for me)usually results later in the day/trip when socks are moist and hot spots occur. If the simple solution of changing socks/body glide does not work, the usual combination of 5 different insoles (using two at a time) will usually turn up a more permanent solution. I do not like to approach foot-sole blisters with any sort of bandage, because it creates an uneven surface that can (for me) lead to secondary discomfort.

I have never experienced blisters on my toes, which (to me) would indicate a fit problem with the boot (too shallow toe box)(forward movement on the downhills)

Something tells me that greasing each foot with Vicks Vaporub before I go to sleep is not a good idea. If all smellables are supposed to be kept in a bear vault, but my feet smell like Vaporub, I'm afraid the bears might play "this little piggie" with me in the middle of the night.

Wee, wee, wee all the way home.

Brent N

Having had Achilles' tendon repair surgery back in 1985, my right ankle and heel have a pretty bulky scar thanks to that little episode. I have found that doubling up on liner socks helps by giving a couple more "slip" zones between the socks instead of between the socks and my feet. Polypro liners next to my feet, thin wool socks and then my regular heavy wool hiking socks.

The comments above about boot fit are also spot on. Loose heels are a common problem...my son has narrow heels and until he found a really good boot fitter at one of the local shops, he always had issues. The fitter also taught him some lacing tricks to better lock his feet down into the boots and keep his heels from riding up. Two 10-day treks at Philmont and no problems showed that he is in good to go.

I still have occasional problems with blisters between/under my toes on long downhill stretches. If I tighten up the laces to keep my feet back in the boots, that generally helps (without resorting to Ronald McDonald toe boxes on my boots).

With most of these things, a combination approach is often needed because the location of the blisters may vary depending on terrain (up versus downhill) and load you're carrying.

Beside the great suggestions above I would add: going barefoot whenever possible for a couple of months before your hike. It should toughen your feet.

One other suggestion...use two pairs of marino wool socks and skip the liner. Marino wool provides cushioning and keeps your foot relatively dry. (I use low cut hiking shoes that are slightly larger/wider than my running/cross-training shoes to accommodate these socks.)

Good luck!

Brent:
Bears! What bears? I have not seen a single bear in Whitney zone in the past 4 years! We had a bear attack on our food bags (before the bear-proof cannisters) in 1992 at Guitar Lake when a mama bear took Ross Morgan's food sack that contained a large bottle of peanut butter!

I like Ezeefit booties for heel blister reduction - link for Ezeefit
They are also helpful on walks where you would be hiking in and out of sand and water

We try and trim our toenails a few days before the hike. Toenails can be a serious pain if too long.

Cheers & happy travels
C~

Krishna, you lose points for ruining a perfectly mediocre joke. As long as you are asking, I'll bite. I have only seen one bear in the sierras and it was at the Whitney Portal three years ago. There is a pretty good discussion going on though of other bear sitings on the message board now. For the bear's sake and mine, I don't think I'll coat my toes with smelly eucalyptus oil before I climb in my bag..

Brent N

Brent:
Sry about that:) Seriously on JMT org there is a thread that talks about Pinesol sprinkling around tents and cabins which are deterring bear sniffing around. Actually I did use very smelly Methyl salicylate (vicks vaporub main ingredient from eucalyptus trees) and not a single critter came close (including my tent mate:)

Krishna, LOL.
I have picked up on the Pine-Sol trick. Because I think you are right about bears hanging out at populated areas like the Whitney Portal Store probably usually to the near exclusion of the trails, I usually bring up a bottle of Pine-Sol in my car. I sponge pine sol onto my windows where I think a bear might peek and sniff, and I leave a few zip lock bags with Pine Sol open in pockets in my car. After baking in the son for a day or two, my car smells like a freshly cleaned hospital floor when I get back in, but I always that worry that with my four kids, as hard as I try to get every crumb out, I'm sure I have missed something. I'm hoping that the Pine Sol overpowers whatever syruppy crumbly stuff remains in the crevaces in my car.

Maybe you have stumbled on something--after coating your feet with vicks vapo rub, you can soak them in Pine Sol.

Brent N

Rubbing on a good layer of vaseline before putting on liners has always worked well for me and it is odor-less.