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Post by LowKey on Sept 7, 2017 13:11:01 GMT
If any of us even end up having to hike out of a problem area those two lumps of meat at the end of our legs are gonna be pretty important.
That in mind it would behoove us to take good care of them.
This is a thread to share and go over tips and tricks for taking care of Shank's Mare.
Everything from how to deal with blisters, broken toes, to daily foot hygiene.
Exciting topic, I know, but messed up feet will seriously screw you up when you need to move.
I believe we have a few former grunts around here, and they're likely to have all sorts of advice about foot care that a lazy old tread head like me had no need of, so I hope we get some good info from them.
I'll start with a base of care-
Change your socks often. If your socks are sweaty, swap them out for a dry pair...even a dirty dry pair.
BTW...I've found the best cure/preventative to athlete's foot if you spend lots of time wearing boots. Put rubbing alcohol into a spray bottle and mist your feet after you take a shower. Done. No fungus, and your boots no longer smell of "foot".
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Post by omegaman on Sept 8, 2017 2:19:15 GMT
Clean dry socks!!! I swore by Fox river socks whilst in my grunt days. Civilian brought the wonders of merino socks. My favorites for long days on my feet are still ragg wool. Pack plenty and then some. Keep a pair easily accessible in your pack. During forced marches, we would hump for 50 mins, break for 10 mins. I made my Marines remove their boots and socks, air their nasty feet, have doc check on them, apply foot powder, and rotate socks. As lowkey mention, dry dirty socks are better than any wet sock.
Oh, and stay active! The best alpaca pussy hair socks and Danner boots won't mean much if you're not physically conditioned.
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Post by dannusmaximus on Sept 8, 2017 3:10:35 GMT
Misting the feet with alcohol. Smart. We have a communal shower room at the fire station (think of your basic high school gym setup), and although I have never ended up with athletes foot as a result, that's a bit of cheap prevention right there. I like it! I will start tomorrow at home by taking a beer into the shower with me and spilling a little on my feet. Beer in the shower - - another reason it's great to be an adult!
Ditto the clean dry socks thing, and a canteen cup shower of the tootsies prior to bed. During my trip to New Mexico a few years ago I was the 'doc' for my group of scouts. After about 4 days on the trail, blisters started popping up on the kids. We were averaging 15 miles or so a day on mountain trails, and I was starting to spend the first hour of each day taping kids feet. Irritating. I basically told them that I wasn't going to do it anymore and they could just suffer, because blisters after the first day or so meant they had bad socks or boots (not necessarily their fault), but blisters after 5 days were happening because they were just being disgusting and not washing their feet and changing socks like I had told them to (REPEATEDLY!). Finally ended up having supervised 'foot bath' and sock washing time before we sacked out at the end of each night, and the problem started to go away. Dirty, sticky feet are going to get blisters, and dirty, sticky socks can't do their job. Also, teenage boys are gross.
I've been lucky and never had much in the way of foot issues, probably a combination of having size 12 flippers that are genetically predisposed to taking abuse and the good sense to wash my nasty tootsies at every opportunity. Some tips I've found that have helped keep things bearable:
1. Unless you really REALLY need the support (like you're hiking seriously rocky trails or carrying very heavy loads), hike in sneakers or cross trainers or low top 'light hikers' like Merrels. Easy on the feet, and surprisingly supportive for most hiking.
2. If you have to hike in heavier boots, bring a pair of lightweight sneakers or flip-flops to change into when you get off the trail for the day (or during extended breaks). Gives your feet a welcome break and lets your primary footwear air out as much as possible. I like Teva sandals, but honestly spend most of my time in Birkenstocks when I'm camping. I've even done some light hiking in my Birks, and they wear pretty well.
3. I only put on foot powder at night, if I use it at all (and I usually don't). It seems like foot powder applied before hiking just turns into toothpaste in my boots. YMMV.
4. Keep your feet used to carrying weight, if any of your contingency plans call for that sort of thing. Feet, back, legs all get deconditioned pretty quickly when it comes to rucking. Swapping out one of your regular runs or walks every few weeks with a ruck walk instead will keep you used to doing it.
5. I've never had much luck with using liner/sock combos. It didn't cause problems or anything, it just never performed the kind of magic for me that others swear by. I basically use a mid-weight hiking sock made of Smartwool or something similar, and call it good. Again, YMMV.
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