One Foot Shot, the other Not

[OregonSteeler]

I am wondering if anyone has big problems with one foot and not the other? I have a pair of Crispi Nevada Legends and my right foot gets absolutely torn apart after 5+ days of hard hunting. 2 things happen. One, I get a blister on my heel, and the other my pinky toe rubs because I walk like a duck and rubs it raw. Oddly enough, my left foot was completely fine.

I've had these boots for about a year and well over 75 miles on them, yet this still happens after 3 days of hunting. I can get away with 1-2 days of hard hunting or longer walks; but once I starting hitting up and down elevation, this is when my foot gets ripped up.

My buddy recommended I get a more flexible boot like the Laponia. I'm looking into that.

Does anyone have any suggestions or have had the same problems?

Thank you!

 

[Mikido]

How did they feel out the box?

 

[MattB]

Your feet are probably different sizes which is pretty common. I would just use leukotape on the problem area before you start hunting and see how that goes.

 

[OregonSteeler]

They felt fine.

How did they feel out the box?

The felt good. It's always hard determining how a boot will perform when in a store.

I keep going back to thinking the boot is too stiff. But I'm going to try the leukotape first.

Outside of the issues of my feet, I love how the boots perform. I'd love to keep them if possible.

 

[OregonSteeler]

Your feet are probably different sizes which is pretty common. I would just use leukotape on the problem area before you start hunting and see how that goes.

Gonna try this for my next hunt in October. Thanks

 

[fishslap]

I have one foot that was wrecked in high school playing basketball and it is flatter, longer, and higher volume than the other. It’s also way less flexible than the other foot. Going to throw out several ideas:
1) Do some ankle/calf stretches and see if things are tight above your problem foot. If so, it will cause more heel lift on that foot and likely change the mechanics of how it’s moving in the boot. Get a strongtek slant board and stretch it more. Find some other foot/ankle/calf stretches.
2) Try to determine if one foot is smaller than the other by either length or volume. Size your boots for the larger foot then use different sock/liner combos on the small foot to make up. I wear a thin sock on my larger foot and thick on the little guy.
3) Get supportive insoles, custom if possible. I use sheep feet. I’ve tried L&S and it was a waste of money.
4) Leuko tape
5) see if you can use lace locks to adjust the pressure in different areas on the problem boot. This is only option on this list that didn’t do much for me.

Moving from flexible lowa renegades to stiffer scarpa kinesis pro also fixed my problem. High cushion interior, full leather without weaker flex points, and the stiffness keeps my foot in place.

 

[Wapiti1]

I would suggest liner socks from Injinji. Along with tape on the heel.

Then I would change out the insoles. I have yet to own a pair of boots that had good insoles. I like Spenco Original, but there are many decent ones out there. Good insoles will hold your foot in place better.

Jeremy

 

[OregonSteeler]

I have one foot that was wrecked in high school playing basketball and it is flatter, longer, and higher volume than the other. It’s also way less flexible than the other foot. Going to throw out several ideas:
1) Do some ankle/calf stretches and see if things are tight above your problem foot. If so, it will cause more heel lift on that foot and likely change the mechanics of how it’s moving in the boot. Get a strongtek slant board and stretch it more. Find some other foot/ankle/calf stretches.
2) Try to determine if one foot is smaller than the other by either length or volume. Size your boots for the larger foot then use different sock/liner combos on the small foot to make up. I wear a thin sock on my larger foot and thick on the little guy.
3) Get supportive insoles, custom if possible. I use sheep feet. I’ve tried L&S and it was a waste of money.
4) Leuko tape
5) see if you can use lace locks to adjust the pressure in different areas on the problem boot. This is only option on this list that didn’t do much for me.

Moving from flexible lowa renegades to stiffer scarpa kinesis pro also fixed my problem. High cushion interior, full leather without weaker flex points, and the stiffness keeps my foot in place.

Appreciate the advice. I do have some good custom insoles which helps with the soreness on the balls of my feet, but didn't do much for the blister or pinky toe.

I really think the leukotape will work for my heel blister area. But the pinky toe is really where the major problem is. I even had it pre-wrapped with a toe bandage before I started hunting and it still was painful after about a day. I may try to see if I can take it somewhere and have that specific area expanded a bit. I think that would help. It may be because I naturally walk with my pinky toe extended away from my other toes. If you look at my boot tracks, I walk like a duck.

 

[OregonSteeler]

I would suggest liner socks from Injinji. Along with tape on the heel.

Then I would change out the insoles. I have yet to own a pair of boots that had good insoles. I like Spenco Original, but there are many decent ones out there. Good insoles will hold your foot in place better.

Jeremy

Will look into the liner socks.

Thanks!

 

[HoodooHunter]

I have had issues this summer that limited the miles for backpacking, but hve it dialed in now, with much of your same problems. Now religious with pretaping typically with moleskin to my pinky toes and heels. I use leukotape k over the moleskin on my pinky toes and leukotape p over the heel moleskin and have been good to go. If I get lazy about either, blister occur, so I stick to it. Also switch out socks if I am on a long hunt/hike. Have tried the toe socks and for whatever reason just don’t work for my feet.

 

[OregonSteeler]

Quick update.

I wore my Crispi Nevadas for my deer hunt. I did 2 extreme elevation gain hikes and 2 extreme elevation loss hikes with heavy weight.

Thank you everyone for the recommendation of Leukotape. I taped up religiously before all of my hikes and didn't have 1 blister or hotspot.

UNFORTUNATELY, these boots just do not fit me well and my feet must of been too loose in the toe box. My big toes slid into the front of my boot so much that I am about to lose my big toenail on my right foot and almost the same on my left big toe.

These boots are for sale here locally and I'm looking into another boot. I'm frustrated that these boots come so highly rated by everyone, but they are just not right boot for me. I'm done with the issues every time I use them.

FYI: I put on my old Danners halfway through the trip and it was like night and day. No issues whatosever and extremely comfortable. Only reason I need a new boot is because my Danners have like 2 bobs left on the bottom of the soles. Soles are absolute toast.