Don't let your Feet, Foot the bill!

Killarney provincial park "the Crack"

The Journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step

A familiar mantra that we have all heard at least once, but the truth of this old proverb cannot be understated when it comes to hiking great distances but what is the first step? where should we begin our journey? in my experience and opinion the most important place to start is;

Your Feet!
Without proper consideration of these two very important appendages you could end up in a world of hurt after a few kilometers on hard terrain. But what do you need to consider? what equipment do you need to obtain? what do you need to take care of them? what are things you need to be concerned about?

1.  Considerations

When planning a hike it should be common practice that you do whats called a detailed map study, this should be done with a topographic map or satellite imaging that shows elevation and type of terrain. The reason you need to know what your getting into is so that you can pick the best tool for the job, and the tools in regards to your feet are your footwear, now there is also a level of personal preference that can come into effect here but a basic question that you should ask yourself; do I need ankle support for this hike? if the answer is yes, based off of distance, elevation, terrain, and the time its going to take you to conquer all three, then you should be wearing a hiking boot that will mitigate the chances of you rolling your ankle, causing sprains, stress fractures, hairline fractures, or even breaking the ankle all together leaving you in a potentially dangerous situation. More considerations are fresh socks, foot powder, and foot care, but I will address these later.

       2. Equipment

This topic is very debatable among soldiers, construction workers, hikers, or whenever you are mandated to wear specific footwear for a job, so I will tread lightly but at the minimum there are two crucial pieces of gear that you need in order to come out of a long distance walk or work day with your heels intact and those are socks and shoes/boots. Socks are what separate you from your footwear and picking the right socks can determine how much your feet will sweat and develop hot spots(which I will cover in foot care) that can potentially turn into the dreaded blister. In the Canadian Forces we were issued a sock system consisting of a thin nylon sock and a thicker wool sock, the thought process that went behind this(or at least what I was told) was the thinner sock would take the brunt of the friction of the inside of boot and the thicker sock with fill the space causing the foot to move less thus reducing blisters which are the enemy in the world of walking long distances with heavy things on your back. this would be combined with foot powder to reduce moisture on the foot thus preventing skin irritation and ultimately friction blisters. Even though this sock system was issued to soldiers it does not mean this is the be all end all of socks, in fact I chose to move away from that system and started wearing merino wool socks, which in my opinion were the most comfortable to me the brand that I fell in love with was Smartwool https://www.smartwool.com/best-socks-finder.html (I am not sponsored by this company in anyway but I cannot recommend this brand enough) they have socks for every type of activity and they absolutely hit the nail on the head when it comes to sizing, which can be overlooked and can cause hot spots and blisters i.e. if your socks are too big you can get creases and folds in the bottom of the sock making a pressure point and if your socks are too small you can squeeze your toes together causing blisters between your toes. At the end of the day you will find whats best for your feet just ensure they are the appropriate size. 

Shoes and Boots... the great debate, which is better? what company is superior? how long will they last? whats a decent price? are they water proof? how fast do they dry? the amount of questions that arise from the great footwear debate can be endless and at the end of the day personal preference will win but for this blog entry I will use what has worked best for me starting with shoes and my company of choice is Merrell https://www.merrell.com/CA/en_CA/home. I have owned 3 different pairs of shoes over the last 6 years and the third pair is specifically for winter hiking(which I combine with the overshoe NEO's but i will touch on those in a different post) the other two are my everyday/hiking shoes and the first pair I bought are beat up but are still in my car as back up shoes. Which goes to show that these shoes are durable as I am not easy on footwear.

Last but certainly not least are boots... these are a heavy topic of conversation among soldiers in the infantry due to the price and overall comfort of walking with heavy things on our backs. When I joined the army in 2009 it was forbidden to wear anything but issued boots and if you were allowed to buy your own boots it was for medical reasons and you had to carry around a medical piece of paper called a "Chit" to prove that you were allowed to own them, but as time went on and things changed you were eventually allowed whatever boots you wanted as long as they were black, polish able, and were 7 inches high, this narrowed your options but nowadays the Canadian army allows its members to buy their own boots and will reimburse the soldier for the boots but again with some restrictions but are much more lackadaisical. As for my personal preference my choice for the last 5 years has been Lowa's https://www.lowaboots.com/  these boots have an excellent track record and 1 pair has lasted me hundred's of km's over 5 years with heavy use in the military and recreational hiking.

Slight damage over 5 years

This brand of boot has been issued to special forces units in Canada for several years and has a great track record for being very water resistant. Though I will be retiring these boots soon I have walked very far in them and appreciate the craftsmanship and quality, and will remain my favorite boot for tough conditions. Like I said in the beginning personal preference will rule the day and there are many brands out there that are excellent footwear like Soloman's, Danier, Rocky, Oakley, and Bateman just to name a few but ultimately the choice is yours and through extensive research and trail and error you will find the right fit for you!

      3. Foot Care

Arguably the most important part of walking with heavy things on your back, taking good care of your feet while on the move can save you a lot of angst and suffering on your travels. A ritual that I do before walking for a long time is applying a generous amount of foot powder on my feet(rubbing the powder all over the foot) and in my socks to keep my feet dry, then pull my socks up tight around my calves so that there aren't creases or folds in the socks on the bottoms of my feet,then I tie my boots snug, not so tight that circulation is cut off to my feet but tight enough that the shoe or boot will not move around my feet causing friction blisters. *Pro tip of the day* Gentlemen this is directed towards you, foot powder can be applied to your....uhhh... dangley bits to reduce chaffing between the thighs, if you don't believe me try it... it feels great trust me(avoid the foot powder with menthol for this application...its a little "spicy"). Bashing on; you should always carry a first aid kit, this goes without saying but you should also carry extra foot care supplies, such as;

• gauze
• large band aids
• moleskin/new skin
• blister tape 
• Alcohol swabs
• polysporin(or other topical antibiotic cream)
• needle and thread
• flip flops     

 Now those last two might seem a little odd so let me explain. As a hard and fast rule you should never pop your blisters, even though they can get large and may pop on their own through walking what you should do is drain them by washing the area, using a STERILIZED needle with thread attached, poke needle into the blister and allow the fluid to drain through the thread, wash the blister again, smooth out the skin flap, apply antibiotic cream or ointment, and bandage accordingly(if you don't know how to bandage a wound stop reading and sign up for a first aid course) DO NOT pop the blister and tear the skin off exposing flesh...this is asking for infection and your shoe/boot is not exactly a sanitary place. Which leads me to flip flops, airing out your feet after a long day of hiking will do wonders for blisters, if you do have large blisters try to stay off your feet as much as you can.

     4. Tips & Concerns 

If your feet aren't hardened through clauses from lots of walking or hiking, blisters will happen, but there are signs that you can preemptively attack before they get worse such as the hot spot. Hot spots will show themselves as the first sign that a blister is forming normally a white patch of skin that you can see and sore spot that you will feel with your boot/shoe on. When I encounter this I normally apply foot powder, apply a bandage or blister tape, and change my socks. Letting your feet air out for a while can help prevent the blister from forming also but only if time permits. 

KNOW THE SIGNS OF INFECTION - for that there is the acronym SHARP

S - Swelling

H - Heat 

A - Aching

R - Redness

P - Puss

Also if there is a foul smell(other than your feet after a long hike) then the blister is more than likely infected and you should seek medical attention, but if you are far away from medical attention the best way to treat this wound is to Clean the affected area, Soak the wound in a homemade saline solution( 1 tsp salt to 1 cup of warm water), after washing your hands and the wound apply topical antibiotic ointment, take an over the counter anti inflammatory such as ibuprofen for pain and swelling. https://www.healthline.com/health/infected-blister 

*Disclaimer* I am not a medical professional, these are all tips and tricks I have used on myself in the past and the information about medically treating wounds should be done as a last resort and a medical doctor should be observing your care if you do get an infection. *Disclaimer*

I hope you find this information helpful on your travels, if I have missed anything of importance please let me know and I will update this post. 

Cheers,

Jimmy