Bottom of feet burning

[Pgohil]

I wear Crispi Idaho II's with the superfeet guide inserts. Love em. On my second pair in fact. I've made two 18-mile hikes in these boots with a light pack of about 15-20 lbs recently. Never had any issues. This weekend I did the Virginia triple crown in a day and a half. First day was 24 mi second day was 11. My feet got toasted. By mile 8 on day one, the bottom of my feet were on fire.
It actually felt like a torch was being applied for my toes to my heels mostly on the inside half, but I could feel it all the way across. I stopped, taped the bottom of my feet with leukotape, and kept hiking. My feet were extremely painful for the remainder of the trip.
It really sucked. Took away from a lot of the pleasure of the hike. Never had that happen before.
The only thing I can find different was it was a lot of very hard and rocky terrain. Whereas normally I'm in dirt, mud and woods, this was a lot of rock hopping and very solid surfaces.
Any idea what caused this or what I could have done different? I have noticed that a lot of downhill descent with a heavy pack will also produce the burning sensation. I normally tape up and move on without a major issue. I'd really like to figure out a permanent solution that did not involve taping my feet regularly. I've even tried hiking through it hoping my feet were toughen up but to no avail.

Appreciate any help and input.

PGohil
WV

 

[matthewmt]

I've experienced similar as well but mine have been a constant throughout the day and worsened with certain foot wear. Burning on the pads of my toes.
I've worked on my feet in uneven terrain for the last decade and have never dealt with what I have going on now. Nothing in particular to pinpoint why it started but it was around the time I tried some crispi nevadas with a variety of insoles, not to blame them but ironic I suppose. I bought a variety of other boots since. A trip to the doc is in short order for sure.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

[xcutter]

I've had trouble with this. For me it was that my boots were too wide and letting my feet slightly slide around when hiking.

 

[Huntingpreacher]

Do you have the same issue when hiking in boots with more cushion? If not I'd bet that's the culprit. I've owned several Crispi boots but never could get used to their lack of cushion.

 

[Pgohil]

I don't hike in anything other than my crispies. I've always been more of the mindset that you have to break your feet into the boot not your boot into your feet. Maybe I'm wrong about that. But anytime I'm hiking I always wear my crispies.

 

[5MilesBack]

What socks are you wearing? If I wear merino wool socks by themselves my feet feel like they were soaked in gasoline and lit on fire, and the bottoms of my feet will be bright red. If I wear my poly liner socks under merino, they're fine. The only reason I tried wearing the merino socks by themselves was because of so many guys swearing by that. Ya, I was swearing by that too.......or maybe I was swearing AT that. I've always worn poly liner socks under some sort of wool socks since the early 80's and have never had any boot or foot issues regardless how many miles I've put on while elk hunting with that setup.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Wile scouting northern AZ last week I stopped wearing my Crispis in favor of my MOAB Ventilators but my dawgs still ended up looking and feeling like burnt pancakes. Temps were 107-111 degrees and my medium Darn Tough socks were totally dry. In that kinda heat I question if anything would help, I literally felt like i was dying. But I narrowed my five unit archery elk tag down to a 9 mile area so that's good. Had to let air out of my tires 6 times cuz the pressure kept building.

 

[Pgohil]

What socks are you wearing? If I wear merino wool socks by themselves my feet feel like they were soaked in gasoline and lit on fire, and the bottoms of my feet will be bright red. If I wear my poly liner socks under merino, they're fine. The only reason I tried wearing the merino socks by themselves was because of so many guys swearing by that. Ya, I was swearing by that too.......or maybe I was swearing AT that. I've always worn poly liner socks under some sort of wool socks since the early 80's and have never had any boot or foot issues regardless how many miles I've put on while elk hunting with that setup.

I wear my darn tough hunters everywhere. Every day unless I'm wearing dress shoes. I've never tried wearing a poly liner, but it may be worth a try. I always figured the two fabrics rubbing would cause more slippage... And extra heat in your feet.

 

[5MilesBack]

I wear my darn tough hunters everywhere. Every day unless I'm wearing dress shoes. I've never tried wearing a poly liner, but it may be worth a try. I always figured the two fabrics rubbing would cause more slippage... And extra heat in your feet.

My liners have kept my feet cool, comfortable, and blister free for 40 years.

 

[Huntingpreacher]

I don't hike in anything other than my crispies. I've always been more of the mindset that you have to break your feet into the boot not your boot into your feet. Maybe I'm wrong about that. But anytime I'm hiking I always wear my crispies.

I'd try some different boots. I've had the same issue you describe and I've found it's a result of insufficient cushioning.

 

[Szwampdonkey]

I know this is an old thread but wondering if you ever changed boots and if so did it help?

I’m going through this right now. Also with darn tough merino socks and Crispi Nevadas? Bought them in 2022, noticed the start of this last year in 2023. Got it checked out and Doc thought Metatarsalalgia so i stayed off my feet last winter as best i could and it sort of went away.

This late summer until now i’ve of course been in my Crispis and Darn Toughs again and the burning soles are back. FINALLY the light went off that it might actually be my highly touted Crispi Nevadas as i don’t recall EVER having anything like this prior to 2023 and those Crispi boots.

I actually bought a $100 pair of Under Armour Hunting boots with a lot of cushion akin to a running shoe just to see if that could be it. But ive only got a few miles on em so hard to tell if it is helping as my feet were pretty wrecked when i made the switch.

So really curious what your end result was cause this has really sucked! Also sucks to think my bullet proof $400 boots need to be scrapped but i do think it’s those Crispi boots.

 

[Pgohil]

Nope, never got it resolved. Use a lot of leuko tape and pretend I'm tough.

 

[Szwampdonkey]

Well that sucks i was hoping to hear ya got it figured out. I’m pretty much in the same boat and flat refuse to quilt hunting but man i’m telling you sometimes it’s like they’re on fire to the point of unbearable so something’s gotta give.

I’ll report back after i get some miles on these cheap but highly cushioned Under Armor boots. Cause if it goes away it’s gotta be those Crispis then as far as i can tell. $100 seemed more than reasonable to experiment and if it works i figure i’ll look for a more cushioned but better built hunting boot.

 

[Poser]

The burning ya'll are experiencing is from your foot sliding around inside of the boot and creating friction. Either your boot is too long, too wide, or you have too much vertical volume or all 3. Either you are wearing the wrong sizing or the brand is not a good fit for your foot.

 

[Fisherhahn]

Had a similar issue with a couple hot spots in boots that I felt fit me perfect. Was at podiatrist for unrelated issue and asked about it. He recommended using tincture of benzoin on the bottom of my feet before putting socks on. Made my foot tacky and my socks seemed glued to my foot. With boots on, felt exactly the same, but never had a hot spot again. I use it any time I anticipate a hike over 5 miles, less than that and it never shows up.

 

[Ron.C]

I've experienced the same on occasion with boots I have worn for several years. Seems to occur on my first back to back long training hike of a season or every now and then on the second or third day of a hunt where I am putting a pile of mile on. Leukotape or thin poly liner socks takes care of it. Of the 2, I prefer the liner socks and now leave a pair in my pack (just in case).

 

[JoshOR]

I’m in the camp of sweaty feet and sliding around. I’ve had episodes of this. Think it’s a friction burn. Gotta fix the fit.

 

[JNDEER]

Nobody has mentioned this- but my belief is it is the early stages of athlete feet. I have super sweaty feet and can wear my boots with no issues, then sometimes I get the same burning sensation everyone here has mentioned.

I use gold blue powder in my boot to help with moisture.

I spray my feet with athlete feet spray as well as the inside of my boot

When really burning I wash my feel really well with soap and water and let them air dry.

This has always taken the burning away while on a hunt. If a backpack hunt I bring a small bottle of the blue and some soap to wash my feet if it gets bad.

 

[Pgohil]

What poly socks are you guys wearing under your marinos that do so well? I'd be more than happy to give them a try.