[Philmont]: RE: First Aid - Blister Kits

We did a 65 mile fire modified trek in 2002. We did Trek #24 in 2004,
which is listed as 70 miles. Trek #24 had great skyline views. Wilson
Mesa, Baldy Mountain, Baldy Skyline from Baldy Camp to Head of Dean, the
skyline above Dean Cow enroute to Harlan, the Vaca Trail to Harlan,
Harlan to Ute Springs, and of course the hike up Shaefers Pass and Tooth
of Time Ridge. We detoured from Upper Dean thru Elkhorn and hiked Dean
Skyline as a side hike as well. We took the hike thru Hidden Valley and
had Sunday worship at Window Rock. It's great to see the mountains and
plains for a hundred miles out of your "church window".

We had many more blisters in 2004 than in 2002, since we did not train
as hard in 2004. We live in the Houston area and did about 60 miles of
"flat training hikes" in April and May. We didn't drive to the hill
country near Austin and do "up and down" training. This was a training
mistake and our feet paid the price. There is no substitute for hiking
ups and downs with full packs to condition and toughen your feet.

Luckily we had three "small" rolls of duct tape in our repair kit from
2002, which we never touched in 02, but we started using it like crazy
on 2004 trek to treat "hot spots".

I first used duct tape on a "hot spot" on my right heel on Day 3 going
up the north side of Wilson Mesa. On Day 4 it turned into a small
blister, which I again covered with duct tape. With only duct tape for
treatment on Day 5 it was a little bigger and on Day 6 even bigger. Day
7 it was bigger and the fluid pressure was bothering me quite a bit. I
punctured it down low, drained it, and covered it with a blister pad
(Second Skin I think). I didn't quite trust the blister pad to stay on
my heel so I put duct tape over it and left it for two days. Everything
stayed in place and I had two days of no pain on the right heel. I
should have punctured the blister sooner, while it was small.

The back country trading posts usually (but not always) have duct tape
for sale. Baldy Town had duct tape. Ute Gulch was out the day we went
through. The Philmont duct tape was $3 or $3.50 per roll and we were
glad to have it at any price. It was not as sticky as the duct tape in
our repair kit and sometimes would move around under the stress of
hiking.

My recommendation is to bring the best (sticky on one side and slick on
the other side) duct tape with you. The Philmont duct tape is only fair
quality for blister use.

Larry Sims

Philmont 2004 Expedition Coordinator

Troop 1288 Katy, TX

Lead Advisor 610-C4 2004 Trek #24

We enjoyed the PRESENT! Thanks Waite!

2002 Philmont Expedition Coordinator

609-A3 2002 Trek #6FM (Fire modified treks)

718-G1 1965 (The Monsoons of '65)

IWTGBTP! But my feet still hurt.

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Received on Mon Jun 28 07:43:38 2004