Hydropel being discontinued?!

[Steve Mitman]

Numerous retailers are reporting that Hydropel has been discontinued by the manufacturer! Freakin’ out a bit here….. what is ‘plan B’?

[John S.]

Maybe bodyglide liquified powder or some of the beeswax formulations out there. Skurka sells a beeswax product. Even Walmart carries a beeswax product I think.

Lately others are reporting that zinc oxide works too. It may be harder to find non scented type. Desitin original paste even contains it at 40% concentration.

[Cayenne Redmonk]

make your own.

1) hit up the sex shop for water play lubricant.
2) head to drug store for creamy Vaseline, and regular pj.
3) blend to desired consistency.

For Dual use as a chaffing treatment, add zinc oxide and neosporin to the mix.

[Link .]

https://www.bonniesbalm.com/Handmade_Product_List.html

http://andrewskurka.com/product/bonnies-balms-climbers-salve-2-oz/

[Reggie]

I've always used Aquaphor. Started using it in my marathon days. Walgreens has it and their own store brand of it. Works wonders!!

[Steve Mitman]

Great suggestions folks, thanks so much. I guess there is life on the trail after Hydropel!

[Jason Elsworth]

Here's what John at http://hikelighter.com/ had to say about Bonnie's Balm.

"I also bought some of the Bonnie’s Balm that Skurka has been pimping lately, as a potential replacement for Hydropel and after using it discovered it to be a total and absolute joke and waste of money."

Has anyone else used it? I still have some Hpel left.

[Mary D]

I've always done fine with Body Glide.

[pops c]

Bonnie’s Balm is not as good as Hydropel that's for sure

[John Almond]

Big fan of Vaseline. Don't have too much of a problem with blisters, honestly; a little Vaseline seems to do me right when I get an hot spot. Does double-duty as my firestarter (slathered on cotton balls for easy application).

[Mathew MacDonald]

I hope that Hydropel isn't being discontinued, I've been wanting to try some. I bought some Bonnie's Climbing Salve recently. I don't feel its worth the weight to carry. I've used it on a few shoulder season trips (hiking in rotten snow with creek fords wearing my trail runners) and really didn't notice any benefit over nothing at all.

Hey All,

It is indeed true that Hydropel has been discontinued. A sad day for hikers and runners.

The company that owned it "Genesis Pharmaceutical, Inc." is now a subsidiary of Pierre Fabre Dermo-Cosmétique USA. Genesis Pharm has gone completely under. Even their website has been removed from the internet. Pierre Fabre Dermo-Cosmétique has given no indication that they will continue on most of the products that GenPharm created.

Body-glide just does not come close (at least for me) to what Hydropel was able to accomplish for hiking through the mud, muck, streams, rivers, and ponds that I hike through here in the Redwood forest of Northern California.

And yeah, I did make that comment above about Bonnies Balm. It was/is a lot more natural than this other stuff we use, but it just was not able to keep the water repelled anywhere near as much as Hydropel or even Body-glide. For me, it just turned into an expensive lip balm. YMMV

So having a little bit of fun with the above suggestions:

Desitin Maximum Strength Paste (pj with max OTC zinc oxide available)
Aquaphor Ointment (monkey butt help)
Wet Light (well, you know ;)

I have to say, the neorsporin suggestion… seemed odd. However, the mixture of polymyxin, bacitracin and neomycin actually help prevent the growth of bacteria, from what I can find, so that could actually be benificial – we all know how bacteria love your feet, eh.

I can just see a pct thru-hiker trying to get back into the USA with some of this concoction in his backpack… border patrol would be "uhh, and what *exactly* is this stuff" – giggle.

[Jason Elsworth]

This could be promisng.http://www.gurneygears.com/gear/gurney_goo/

@Jason,

Could very well be the product we are looking for.

Sadly looking at over $40 bucks to get a single container of it shipped here to the USA. I was going to order some up but not at that price.

[Jason Elsworth]

I am planning to get a single sachet to use in a one foot hydropel and one foot guerny goo trial. If it works out I could potentially send some out from here at probably lower postage rates.

[George Geist]

Anyone considered using "men Degree Clinical Protection"?
It has many of the same ingredients as Hydropel,
and seems pretty effective at making skin repel water.

[John S.]

http://fixingyourfeet.com/blog/2011/09/a-new-kind-of-foot-coating/

http://fixingyourfeet.com/blog/2011/06/maceration/

[Curry]

Try Burt's Bees hand salve.

[Pete Garcia]

Yes, Gurney Goo is $40 (from http://www.pxtkayaks.com/products/GurneyGoo-Anti-Chafe-300ml.html based out of the US) but that is for a 10.1 oz jar. This, compared to $20 for a 2 oz tube of Hydropel makes it significantly cheaper than Hydropel, even when it could be found on sale. The important issue to me, though, is whether or not it works as well as Hydropel does!

[Mike M]

fortunately I have a new tube and it goes a long way- hopefully there is a product that can equal Hydropel

I'll be subscribed to the thread w/ fingers crossed

[Ryan Smith]

Gurney Goo is also available in a 3.8oz jar for $22 if you don't want to take a chance for $40. I know nothing about it, but looks promising.

http://www.pxtkayaks.com/products/GurneyGoo-Anti-Chafe-100ml.html

P.S. – IMO Bonnie's Balm is terrible at preventing chafe/blisters, but does an excellent job at healing them. I had some awful chafing on a trip a few mos ago. I'm talking the kind you take pictures of and gross your friends out with it was so bad. Bonnie's literally healed it overnight. Some of the other beeswax products may do the same though.

Ryan

[Phillip Taylor]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks to those that have made comments about GurneyGoo. Just wanted to comment that I have it in three sizes:

300ml (10.1oz) for $40.00 ($4.00 / oz)
100ml (3.4oz) for $22.00 ($6.47 / oz)
Single use sachets 10 pack for $15.00 Each sachet would be enough for two or three applications.

Compare this to Bodyglide which I see on Amazon selling between $6 and $20.00 per oz depending on the type, size, and retailer. It's about on part with similar products. A little Goo goes a long way.

Also understand that GurneyGoo is not mass produced in a factory. It is made by small business in New Zealand, developed by a guy (Steve Gurney http://www.stevegurney.co.nz), that has spent most of his life competing in extreme endurance events, so it's well tested.

I use the Goo myself for marathon kayak racing and it works well in very wet conditions…there are no restroom stops…..so that natural anti bacterial tee tree oil mixed in with it is put to good use…

Check out the info on my website and what people are sending us in feedback. http://www.pxtkayaks.com/categories/Health/

GurneyGoo is also heading south to be used on the Amazon5000
http://www.amazon5000.com

[John S.]

http://www.gurneygears.com/gear/gurney_goo/

No volume given on sachets, probably few ml's and most expensive option. Also hidden ingredients which would prevent me from buying it up front.

@Phillip,

Welcome to BPL!!

Thanks a bunch for sending me out some of the small packets.

As somebody who has already posted in this thread a few times I thought I would give you all an update on my very limited use of this "Gurney Goo".

I acquired some of the sachets from Phillip and have used it the last three days while out in some wet conditions – and initially around the house to make sure it did not have any adverse effects on my body.

Each sachets, as Phillip stated above, could easily be last two days if all you are doing is using it on your feet. Kind of a bummer that each sachets holds so much. They end up being more of a mess than anything. Think I will just stick with a bigger container that I repack into a 1oz container with a lid. If you do a whole body application (feet, hands, inner thighs, nippes, monkey butt, etc) than I can see a single sachet being used all the way.

How it compares:

So far I would say that it is pretty much identical to Hydropel in regards to wet feet prevention. By far better than bodyglide and that Bonnie's Balms stuff based on some very preliminary use. I went through a half-dozen to a dozen creeks and when I got back to my truck each time after the hike and took off my wet shoes and socks, my feet pretty much seemed the same as they would if I was using Hydropel.

Sadly the little sachets I got did not have any ingredients on them… so I still have no idea what in the heck is in them and how they chemically compare to Hydropel. Neither their official website or the one that Phillip has, nor any other website I can find, lists their ingredients. Kind of worries me – I would like to know what I am putting onto my feet – a rather important part of my body as a hiker.

Anyway, at this point I am going to keep using it to see how it will perform. The real test will come in a few months when the rain really starts to hit the Redwoods and every little creek here becomes a wanna-be river.

[Jason Elsworth]

The nice people at GurneyGears are going to send me some to try out. I have a trip planned for ten days time, which involves multiple river and stream crossing. So a good opportunity to do a one foot GGoo and one foot Hpel test. As it is made in New Zealand it expect that it will be great:).

[Author]

Posts