RCR
Lil-Rokslider
I am one who has suffered with "ill fitting boots", "heel slip", and the resulting blisters for at least 10 years now. I noticed more and more problems after I started running regularly. I suspected my feet had changed in some way, but that the solution would be to find the right boot for my foot shape. I primarily used Danners for many years, until I started having my blister problems. I then went to Cabelas and tried just about every one of their Meindl boots. I did have luck with good fitting boots on 2 occasions, but both pairs had to be returned for quality issues. After my last return I decided to "upgrade" to a pair of Kennetrek Hardscrabble Hikers. I thought how can I go wrong with a $400 pair of boots? I just know I won't have issues if I spend that kind of money. Right? Well, I was wrong again.
I now have about 9 months in the boots, wearing them at least 2 times a week. You guessed it. I'm still having troubles with heal slip and blisters. As you can imagine, my frustration level has been VERY HIGH since I just don't have the $$$ to keep buying boots until I find one that doesn't cause these problems. I started to save for the Lathrop and Sons custom service, but that wasn't going to happen for me until next year. I decided to look locally here in the Denver area and see if there was something that could be done more affordably with my Kenetreks to get me through the year. Now comes the good part.
I found a place called The Custom Foot in Englewood ( http://thecustomfoot.com/ ) and took my boots and feet in for a consult this past weekend. The specialist (John) examined my feet and boots while listening to my woes. I was expecting a sales pitch for a pair of their $300-$400 pair of custom insoles and a new pair of boots. Instead he said I was the problem and not the boots, but I didn't need a lot to fix the problems. As it turns out, I don’t have as much flexibility in my calf as I should and that limits the ability of the foot to move with the boot when walking/hiking. I always thought heel slip happened because my foot was moving too much in the boot. As it turns out in my case, my foot isn’t moving enough with the boot when it is flexing. The cause is different, but the result is the same.
To wrap this up ... I walked out of the store with a new pair of $40 OTC insoles with better performance for my feet and their issues, the soles of my boots ground off in key points to provide more stability, and orders and instructions on how to stretch my calves. With labor for the services I walked out for about $85, MUCH less than a full custom footbed and boot system.
I'm certainly not an expert and say you have the same problems I do if you suffer the same problems,. I will say it is worth checking out if you have similar services nearby. I won't know for 3-4 weeks if the stretching and insoles help my situation, but the boots certainly felt much better when I was finished. I will post my progress and let you all know if this was a successful solution.
P.S. I have verified the boots are the correct size and I have also tried and used multiple combinations of moleskin, Leukotape, liner socks, and sock thickness/material/manufacture. I have found a combination of Leukotape, liner, and sock that has greatly reduced the severity of the blistering, but I still get the blisters. The blisters occur significantly more when climbing steeper terrain.
I now have about 9 months in the boots, wearing them at least 2 times a week. You guessed it. I'm still having troubles with heal slip and blisters. As you can imagine, my frustration level has been VERY HIGH since I just don't have the $$$ to keep buying boots until I find one that doesn't cause these problems. I started to save for the Lathrop and Sons custom service, but that wasn't going to happen for me until next year. I decided to look locally here in the Denver area and see if there was something that could be done more affordably with my Kenetreks to get me through the year. Now comes the good part.
I found a place called The Custom Foot in Englewood ( http://thecustomfoot.com/ ) and took my boots and feet in for a consult this past weekend. The specialist (John) examined my feet and boots while listening to my woes. I was expecting a sales pitch for a pair of their $300-$400 pair of custom insoles and a new pair of boots. Instead he said I was the problem and not the boots, but I didn't need a lot to fix the problems. As it turns out, I don’t have as much flexibility in my calf as I should and that limits the ability of the foot to move with the boot when walking/hiking. I always thought heel slip happened because my foot was moving too much in the boot. As it turns out in my case, my foot isn’t moving enough with the boot when it is flexing. The cause is different, but the result is the same.
To wrap this up ... I walked out of the store with a new pair of $40 OTC insoles with better performance for my feet and their issues, the soles of my boots ground off in key points to provide more stability, and orders and instructions on how to stretch my calves. With labor for the services I walked out for about $85, MUCH less than a full custom footbed and boot system.
I'm certainly not an expert and say you have the same problems I do if you suffer the same problems,. I will say it is worth checking out if you have similar services nearby. I won't know for 3-4 weeks if the stretching and insoles help my situation, but the boots certainly felt much better when I was finished. I will post my progress and let you all know if this was a successful solution.
P.S. I have verified the boots are the correct size and I have also tried and used multiple combinations of moleskin, Leukotape, liner socks, and sock thickness/material/manufacture. I have found a combination of Leukotape, liner, and sock that has greatly reduced the severity of the blistering, but I still get the blisters. The blisters occur significantly more when climbing steeper terrain.
