How to Buy a Pair of Hiking Boots and Keep Your Feet Blister Free

How to Buy a Pair of Hiking Boots and Keep Your Feet Blister Free

Have you ever went out to your local outdoor equipment outfitter and purchased a high end pair of hiking boots, only to suffer miserably when you wear them during your next day hike or extended backpacking trip? If you raised your hand, then you're not alone . Every year, countless numbers of people in America and abroad lace up a brand new pair of hiking boots that they thought fit them correctly, only to discover that those same boots did not fit them at all, and received numerous blisters in the process. The majority of this problem stems from a severe lack of knowledge on the part of the store associates that "help" us select our hiking boots, and a lack of knowledge by those of us purchasing the boots as well.

I know you're probably saying to yourself right now that it's inevitable that someone walking or hiking a significant amount of miles will receive sore feet and blisters in the process. That sentiment makes perfect sense if you haven't had an opportunity to educate yourself on proper boot fitting techniques, and as most of us haven't been able to do that, many people suffer from these negative effects as a result. That's not to say that I know everything there is to know about proper boot fitting techniques. On the contrary, I myself have suffered enormously from countless blisters on numerous backpacking and hiking trips, however I have been lucky enough to have received solid training in this area recently, and feel a strong need to pass this information on. Many of the techniques I will share with you in this article are tried and true methods used by many hikers and backpackers all over the United States and around the world, but some them are my personal methods of keeping blisters off my feet and may or may not work in all situations. I am not a podiatrist, nor do I claim to have any sort of medical background in podiatry, however I do have significant hiking and backpacking experience to back up my techniques so feel free to use my methods or not use them at your own discretion.