[philmont] Blisters

I don't think enough can be said about the difference in general hiking that most of us 'flatlanders' do and the rugged hiking that you will experience at Philmont. There is a difference and it will affect your boot/foot interface a lot more than I would have ever anticipated. When I went to Philmont in 2003, I had a big blister problem on trail day 2 hiking from Cathedral Rock to Upper Sawmill. There is more cross slope to the trails than any trails I hike in the Midwest and while I had on hiking boots that had been used moderately for over a year, I still developed blisters on the 'back corners' of my heels. These weren't your standard 'on the back of your heel' blisters that are centered on your heel, they were about halfway around to the side of my foot. I got moleskin on right away when I noticed the hot spots but with sweaty feet, it apparently didn't adhear to my feet very well. I fought moleskin, bandaids and duct tape for the next 3 morning with very little relieve
 and ended up going to a 3 sock set up (originally had poly pro liners and smart wool socks, added a layer of merlino sock) and toughed out the rest of the trek, by the last several days of the trek, I had some pretty amazing donut shaped callouses built up around the original blister sites. It took about 3 weeks for these to heal after getting back home.....
   
  So, needless to say, lesson learned here.
   
  Training for next time will include hiking cross slopes with pack weight.
   
  I also hadn't heard the idea of using anti-perspirants on feet to keep them dry, this may be something that could help reduce my sweaty foot problems. I will also be looking into the second skin stuff.
   
  Thanks!
   
  Kevin Mineart
  2003 802-B3
  2007 619-?
   
  

rdalnekoff@comcast.net wrote:
    I agree with both. I use the two-sock system and it generally works better than a single sock, although with the rugged hiking at Philmont, you can still get blisters. Which brings me to my second point: I developed a silver dollar-sized blister on my heal enroute to Sawmill camp 7 years ago, and Second skin worked so well, it enabled me to keep going.
   
  Randy
   
  -------------- Original message --------------
From: "Garrett, Russ" <Russ.Garrett@bullivant.com>

> Our scouts all used a two sock system. Smartwool and coolmax have liners
> that are sold alongside their variety of socks. Sole inserts are also a
> help. One of my friends and co-advisors uses, still, a 3-sock system.
>
> Plenty of time backpacking in the boots before Philmont will toughen up the
> feet and help as well in learning of hot spots early. That kind of
> preparation can lead to experimentation with different systems.
>
> --------------------------
> Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld
>
>
> Russ Garrett
> Bullivant|Houser|Bailey PC
> 805 Broadway Street, Suite 400
> Vancouver, WA 98660-3310
> mailto:russ.garrett@bullivant.com
> direct dial: 360.737.3363 - fax: 360.695.8504
> http://www.bullivant.com
> Seattle . Vancouver . Portland . Sacramento . San Francisco . Las Vegas
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Daniel Preston
> To: philmont List Member
> Sent: Thu Jul 20 07:14:32 2006
> Subject: [philmont] Blisters
>
> I am rather old school when it comes to blister prevention. The
> current technology in sock manufacture is for a single sock like
> Smartwool that does it all. However, it seems to me that a single
> layer sock cannot prevent friction between the sock and the foot.
> However, a snug-fitting sock liner with a wool (or mohair) sock allows
> any friction to occur between the liner and the sock rather than
> between the sock and the foot. I have had no luck convincing any of
> our scouts of this concept but it has worked for me for many years.
>
>
> Dan Preston
>
> Louisville, KY
>
> On Jul 20, 2006, at 12:43 AM, James H. Moss wrote:
>
>
>
Arial

0000,0000,FFFF
> >Volume
> 23, Number 3, Summer 2006 of the Wilderness Medicine Newsletter of the
> Wilderness Medical
> Society
> (
0000,0000,EEEE
http://www.w
> ms.org/
0000,0000,FFFF
) had
> an interesting article on Blisters. It is an article, not a research
> paper. I'm just going to hit some of the high
> points.
>
>
>
>
Arial

0000,0000,FFFF
> >1.
> Most important thing is to fix it immediately
> (duh...)
>
>
>
> Arial

0000,0000,FFFF
> >2.
> Thin skin is unlikely to blister . Thicker skin blisters more
> easily.
>
>
>
>
Arial

0000,0000,FFFF
> >3.
> Dry skin has a lower incidence of blistering. However wet skin has a
> lower incidence of blistering then moist
> skin(?)
>
>
>
>
Arial

0000,0000,FFFF
> >4.
> The article mentions duct tape in the same line as other commercial
> blister barriers for stopping the friction.
>
>
>
>
Arial

0000,0000,FFFF
> >5.
> skin adhesives such as tincture of benzoin or mastisol can help k eep a
> barrier in place
>
>
>
>
Arial

0000,0000,FFFF
> >6.
> Adhesives should only be used when the blister is forming as if the
> blister has all ready formed the adhesive will tear the top of the
> blister off creating more problems.
>
>
>
>
Arial

0000,0000,FFFF
> >7.
> This was the interesting point. Petroleum jelly and drying powders
> work initially or for short periods of time, but for longer periods
> (more than 1 hour) that increase the likelihood of
> blistering.
>
>
>
>
Arial

0000,0000,FFFF
> >8.
> Antiperspirants containing aluminum chlorid e hexahydrate work if used
> over a period of days prior to the long hikes. (Old mountaineering
> trick was to get prescription antiperspirants and use them to keep
> your feet dry and warm.)
>
>
>
> "Bullivant.com" made the following annotations on 07/20/06, 06:34:47
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Received on Thu Jul 20 11:20:46 2006