Welcome to the AppalachianTrailCafe.net!
Take a moment and register and then join the conversation

Strategic retreat

    This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse this site, you are agreeing to our Cookie Policy.

    • Strategic retreat

      Left to right: old Vasque Breeze, New Balance 659, new Vasque Breeze.

      The old Breezes served me well in my 2006 section from Bear Mtn. to Palmerton. The NBs are tired and worn out after about three or four hundred miles. About half of that on the northern LT. The new pair of Breeze was on sale at REI yesterday. They have a Goretex liner, for what that's worth. I'm hoping they keep my feet dry in Maine a couple weeks from now.

      Concerned a bit about how my legs will react to 21 oz. instead of 13 oz. boots. I've gotten very used to light footwear.
      Images
      • boots.jpg

        92.05 kB, 800×450, viewed 488 times
    • rafe wrote:

      Left to right: old Vasque Breeze, New Balance 659, new Vasque Breeze.

      The old Breezes served me well in my 2006 section from Bear Mtn. to Palmerton. The NBs are tired and worn out after about three or four hundred miles. About half of that on the northern LT. The new pair of Breeze was on sale at REI yesterday. They have a Goretex liner, for what that's worth. I'm hoping they keep my feet dry in Maine a couple weeks from now.

      Concerned a bit about how my legs will react to 21 oz. instead of 13 oz. boots. I've gotten very used to light footwear.
      what's your thought on sizing? Did you have to go up or are they true?

      Lest we forget.....



      SSgt Ray Rangel - USAF
      SrA Elizabeth Loncki - USAF
      PFC Adam Harris - USA
      MSgt Eden Pearl - USMC
    • rafe wrote:

      There was no foot-waxin'. I went barefoot in camp, though.

      That didn't help me any with the mud on the NPT - which soaked my socks within minutes of starting to walk each day. I washed socks and feet at least twice a day, but of course didn't have dry ones to put on. I went barefoot or in Crocs in camp, and that still wasn't enough to keep the skin from breaking down. I had trouble with that in the 70-ish miles I did last Autumn, and the 37 that I did in July. Each time I got off trail, there were spots on my feet that were like hamburger.

      I've tentatively declared Gurney Goo to be a winner. My last 30-ish mile section, in mid-August, I put it on the night before hiking, replenished in the morning when getting socks on, and each time I washed my feet. No skin breakdown. I found out about the idea from 1azarus, who got it from Andrew Skurka. Skurka recommended waxing feet with a product for which he's the retailer - no, thank you - and 1azarus recommended some stuff that isn't being manufactured any more. (He stocked up. How nice for him.) I did some research and chose a product with nearly the same ingredients that were in the stuff 1azarus used - beeswax, petrolatum, cycloomethicone and tea tree oil.

      I should have also used it where "'tain't what's before and 'tain't what's behind." Because while I didn't get trench foot on that wet section, the horribly humid weather gave me quite an uncomfortable case of monkey butt. (I got Desitin on it once I finished the section, and that cleared it up.)

      Given the results of this experiment, I think I'm going to try continuing with UL trail runners (in my case, New Balance MT610v3), rather than go back to not-really-waterproof boots, at least in warm weather. (Of course, when the snow comes out, so do the boots.) I'm willing to have an ounce or two of wax on my back to save ten times that weight on my feet, and I've had problems with trench foot in soaked boots before.

      I should probably promote this message to a product review and put it in its own thread. Maybe over the weekend. I ought to do a review of the stuff I found for deerflies, too.
      I'm not lost. I know where I am. I'm right here.
    • rafe wrote:

      Ended up with 9W just like before.
      I usually have difficulty with sizing when changing brands. I'm a half size larger with Merrell than with NB and Danners. I 'm wondering if you found Vasque brand true to your NB sizing.

      Lest we forget.....



      SSgt Ray Rangel - USAF
      SrA Elizabeth Loncki - USAF
      PFC Adam Harris - USA
      MSgt Eden Pearl - USMC
    • rafe wrote:

      There's also this stuff called Bag Balm, intended for cows' udders, but recommended for chafing issues while hiking. I wonder if it would work. I think I have some of this stuff, though I never actually used it.
      I needed waterproofing more than lubrication or moisturizing. I'd used Body Glide before. Didn't work in that humidity. Skin still pruned up and started to shear. The Gurney Goo stopped the pruning,
      I'm not lost. I know where I am. I'm right here.