Blisters have always been my biggest bane on the trail. It's supremely frustrating when your muscles and joints are still in great shape but you have to quit a hike early because the bottom of your feet bear a resemblance the operating room floor of a medieval leprosy clinic. I'd say I have a higher than average pain tolerance but hobbling 20 miles a day on bloody stumps may be beyond even my limitations.
Those who have hiked the PCT or other long distance trails have a lot of great advice on blister care and prevention (although some of it is occasionally contradictory) and I have taken a couple of the more important ones to heart.
First: wear shoes which are at least 1/2 to 1 full size larger then your normal size. For some reason this never occurred to me before which probably accounts for most of my blister trouble. Your feet are larger due to wearing thick socks and when you add that to the fact that they also tend to expand by the end of a long day of hiking and it's easy to see why larger shoes are necessary.
Second: Try to keep your feet as clean and dry as you can and the best way you can do that is to change out your socks at least once a day. Wash the old ones as best you can and hang them from your pack to dry.
Third: Threading your blister with a needle and thread? Yes, many thru-hikers seem to swear by this technique although I've yet to try it for myself. Apparently you pierce the blister with a needle threaded with thick cotton thread and cut the needle but leave an inch or so of the thread hanging out. I guess this will act as a sort of 'wick' to allow the blister to drain through-out the day while keeping the skin intact. I can just picture my medical-type friends cringing as they imagine the infection potential...
Forth: You almost never see a thru-hiker wearing boots but instead they mostly wear light weight running shoes. Many "old-school" hikers and outdoor enthusiasts would balk at the thought of wearing such flimsy footwear without ankle protection but it makes a lot of sense when you think about it.
Boots are heavy and stiff so they take more energy to lift with each step and they tend to cause blisters more often.
If you were trekking off-trail into rugged back-country it would make more sense to have sturdier footwear with ankle support but for the most part the PCT is very well groomed and maintained by an army of thoughtful and hardworking volunteers.
The light mesh running shoes tend to dry much faster then boots when they get wet.
Finally, packs and gear are much lighter these days then they were 20 years ago so it's as not necessary to have the stiff ankle support as it once was.
Forth: You almost never see a thru-hiker wearing boots but instead they mostly wear light weight running shoes. Many "old-school" hikers and outdoor enthusiasts would balk at the thought of wearing such flimsy footwear without ankle protection but it makes a lot of sense when you think about it.
Boots are heavy and stiff so they take more energy to lift with each step and they tend to cause blisters more often.
If you were trekking off-trail into rugged back-country it would make more sense to have sturdier footwear with ankle support but for the most part the PCT is very well groomed and maintained by an army of thoughtful and hardworking volunteers.
The light mesh running shoes tend to dry much faster then boots when they get wet.
Finally, packs and gear are much lighter these days then they were 20 years ago so it's as not necessary to have the stiff ankle support as it once was.
Fifth and Last: I just recently discovered something called Tuffoot. I guess it was originally developed for dogs and horses to toughen their feet to prevent and repair damage but athletes started using it so now they market it to people too. Supposedly you rub it on your feet a week prior to the activity and then continue using it once a week. The bottle says it's non-toxic enough that Fido can safely lick his feet after application so I guess that means I can still lick my feet too if I feel the need. It also says that it tends to turn your feet orange?? Anyway, I'm going to give it a shot.
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