Here's what I think I know about boots:
When you buy a new pair of boots, there's a break-in period where gradually the material loosens up from bending and gets more pliable around your very particular foot shape and stride. Then you wear the boot for years and the whole time the entire boot is getting more and more shaped to fit you and your stride just right; the material buckles where you toes bend, the footbed gets smashed into the shape of your foot, the sole wears down where you put your weight, and the whole boot becomes one with your foot. Then I buy your boot and start hiking in it, and it never will work right for me because it has simply already adapted itself to your body, not mine.
Is this true?
Is there any way to buy a secondhand boot (even one that's years or decades old) and have it adapt to my body? For example, could I swap out the footbed for one that fits me?
