I Got My Feet Wet!

Welcome to the club!

And survived to tell the tale!

> The rest of the time they felt great. Bonus, no blisters when I got home!

Yup.

Cheers

Wish I knew the trick to making this work for me. I tried a month ago and ended up with two nice blisters on the outside of each heel.

Day 1: 14 miles + no streams = no blisters
Day 2: 19 miles + 3-4 streams = 2 nice blisters

Back to taking the shoes off for stream crossings.

Brad

I think it's important to make sure your socks fit well. Most manufacturers have their socks in various size ranges. ie 8-10, 11-13, etc. Try to buy (wool) socks that are just big enough. Excess fabric can be a cause of friction/rubbing/blisters when wet. I often remove my socks for a single river crossing on a dry day. If it's a wet day, i don't bother.

I haven't gotten a blister since starting to use these guys, wet or dry. Well fitting (loose) shoes also help.

edit: Sorry Brad, reread your post. This obviously won't help your heels any.

Brad, have you tried pre-taping with Leukotape or using Hydrpel?

Okay, I'm being somewhat facetious, but I've just never had problems with blisters. Not when I used to carry a heavy pack and wear full leather Danners with Goretex; not now, with a light pack and trail runners. Wet feet from stream crossings cause no problems. I've never done anything very special–at this point, I carry moleskin out of habit, and should probably get rid of it.

Do some people's feet have a greater tendency to blister, regardless of conditioning, footwear, etc? I'm introducing a couple friends to backpacking–I'd hate for them to suffer with blisters just because I don't think prevention is very complicated (or, in my case apparently, even necessary). Are there certain foot/body types more vulnerable to blistering? Things to look out for (other than ill-fitting shoes and hotspots)?

Sorry if this is a bit of a thread drift, but I'd hate to tell a friend stream-wading will be just fine, if it only works for some people's feet.

I did notice that when my socks were completely dry, I didn't feel the friction on my toes, so I do believe that the moisture contributed to the friction. The hills were pretty steep, ~ 6 miles with 4,000 ft decent. I was wearing a pair Darn Tough 1/4 crews. I am wondering if the Injinji socks might make a difference. More to buy…?

Brad, I did buy the Cricket as a mother's day present to myself. Now just have to be patient while I wait!

I definitely think that genetics has a lot to do with it. Some people tend to get blisters no matter what socks/shoe combination they use others never get blisters even when they seemingly do everything right.

I haven't really ever had a problem with blisters on my toes (for which injini socks help many people), but got a few on my heel a couple of years ago. I started pre-taping my heel and knock on wood haven't gotten a blister in about 1400 miles of hiking. I do some trips with a lot of crossings (21 at least knee deep on one day this year) and live in an area where things never dry so I have gotten used to damp feet without any real issues.

I rarely get a blister when hiking and never get them when road running. I have run marathons and done a lot of training without a single blisters. I use thin defeet running socks and they work great. The stream crossings were the only variable, so pretty confident that was the issue.

I do use sportslick as a preventive step, but not always. I will probably just pre-tape next time around and hopefully that will do the trick. I also bought some Wright double socks to try.

I didn't have any issue with hiking in wet shoes and that will be my preferred method as long as I can get the blister thing solved.

Brad

I was a little skeptical of the hype and even more so due to the price. Last year we did a trip that required 70+ stream crossings in a 20-ish mile stretch, so I broke down and bought some. Our (wife and I) feet were soaking wet for almost two days straight and not even a hot spot. I'm not going to chalk it all up to the Hydropel, we had good socks and meshy shoes that fit correctly, but I am now a convert. I carry a small balm jar full of the stuff, I've found a little goes a long way. If your getting blisters due to wet conditions, I recommend giving the stuff a try.

I've never really had an issue with blisters either and I don't do anything special as a preventative measure.

I will say I do wear wrightsocks and love them. They aren't the toughest socks unfortunately and wear out pretty quickly, but I've never even had a hot spot wearing them so I'll keep with them.

I also think they wear out quicker if you abuse them in a row. I've wore a pair two days straight and they seemed considerably thinner, however washing and alternating every day seems to help them last a lot longer.

When I went running all the time I could still get blisters as running only made the ball of my foot calloused.

When I played basketball, I would still get blisters when I played in socks only.

Wearing Mountaineering stiff boots I would get blisters Until I simply started by putting a layer of duct tape on each heal and have not had a blister since. I always carry duct tape if for no other reason as its a great way to repair clothing though it doesn't work on silnylon tarps.

In trail runners, I have never had a blister unless I had baby feet because I was out of shape. Like others have said, wear VERY close fitting socks. They should be difficult to put on and near impossible to take off. A loose sock will give me a blister on my heels fairly quickly. WHY I don't wear smartwool socks as they fall down quite easily usually. I wear socks with less wool and more lycra/polyester content. I also wear bags on my feet quite often to keep them dry if in spring conditions with raging creeks.

BUT: When I went to shoes with holes in them and dirt in my socks all the time, I never had a blister. I had very tough caloused feet instead. I could go running without shoes on. Guess this is an option… Wear normal shoes filled with sand, =)