Blisters when Bush Walking

If there's one thing that will ruin your day on the trail, it's the infamous blister!

Blisters are caused by friction, this friction generates heat and this heat initially creates hot spots which if left untreated, pretty soon progress into blisters. The blister itself is a fluid fiulled sack (the fluid is plasma). Blisters occur when things all gets out of whack: your boots could be too stiff so they don't move when your feet move, or your socks ruck up in your boots causing creases which rub. The foot sock and boot should all move as one. Common areas affected by blisters with walkers are the heels (pictured), tops and pads of the toes, and also under the ball of the foot. I would say the heels are the most commonly affected area for walkers.

Seems there as many treatments for blisters as their are hangover cures, so I won't be postulating one all embracing cure-all here; if it works for you, keep on doing it.

Predictably the best treatment is prevention. If you don't get blisters in the first place, you won't need to treat them, so let's have a quick look at what we can do to stop getting blisters in the first place.

1. Break your boots in before you go on your walking trip. I grew up walking in the 70's when walking boots were all made of leather. Out of the box they were as stiff as a board. Try walking in those for five days with a 20kg pack and pretty soon your feet started sporting a nasty assortment of blisters. The trick we learned was to break them in by doing lots of walking in them first: walk around the house, down to the shops, around the park, etc. Softening the boots up was also popular: after walking in your boots the trick was to stuff them full of tissue paper and leave them in a tub of water overnight. Then walk in them again the next day, then repeat. Of course doing the 20 odd river crossings of the Wellington River into Lake Tarli Karng tended to have the same effect! Modern boots aren't all stiff leather (though a boot like the Scarpa SL with a stiff shank certainly needs all this preparation) nevertheless it pays to break all boots in a little. If you don't, you take your chances . . .
2. Take care in choosing your socks for walking. Back in the 70's we really only had one choice: the good old Explorer. Now we are spoiled for choice. Make sure your sock is a firm fit and has good quality elastic. You do not want your socks falling down inside your boots. Should you wear two pairs of socks when walking? Old school thinking said yes, with some advocating a thick / thin combo, I used to wear two thick. Now I wear one thick. In my ski boots I wear one pair of long super thin socks (so I can feel the ski through the boot, it's a skier thing). Whatever your choice, make sure you have your boots properly fitted with the socks or sock combination you intend to wear walking.
3. Pre-tape. If you have been prone to blisters in the past, then it's a good idea to pre-tape using a compund such as Compeed or Spenco which you use to cover your blister prone areas. Personally I always do this on an extended ski tour as my ski boots are stiff and after all the effort prepping for the trip I don't want my trip cut short by blisters (really I don't want my buddies poaching my fresh trax!) . I rarely pre-tape for walking as I use soft boots and they're always well broken-in so I tend not to get blisters when walking.
4. Don't borrow or hire boots. On a walk / ski tour your feet are your most important item. If you get foot problems, chances are that's it, your walk's over. So if there's one bit of kit we should all purchase, it's a good pair of walking boots. Even for skiing if you're going to at all get into the sport, buy your own boots and have your inners specially moulded to your foot. Even the plastic shell moulds to your foot. If you borrow someone else's boots, you're setting your self up for more of these:

5. Look after your feet. As soon as you start to feel a hot spot developing, stop and treat it. Initially this might just require taping up using a gel pad like Compeed, a slippery frictionless tape like Sleek or using a gel based treatment like Spenco (the duck's guts!) If you don't stop and treat it, the hot spot will turn into a full blown blister. So don't worry about slowing your walking party for a tiny hot spot. Down the track you'll hold them up and cause much greater problems if you get full on blisters. So when you're with a group, think of blisters as a group issue not a personal issue. In this sense you owe it to the group to look after your feet and every group member should share this commitment. Also check your feet in your tent each night, look for hot spots, anmd importantly, trim your nails - you don't want them too long as they'll cut into the adjoining toes and give you more grief!

I'll leave treatment for another blog, so stay tuned!

Happy Trails!

AVOIDING BUSHFIRES WHEN WALKING

With the summer walking season well and truly upon us it is timely to look at how we can avoid bushfire danger on our walks.

With a bit of forethought, a modicum of technology and a healthy dose of common sense this should not prove that difficult.

1. Take heed of fire warnings. Following the disastrous fires of February 2009 Australia now has a raft of fire warnings. Take heed of these and avoid walking on days of:

CATASTROPHIC fire danger
EXTREME fire danger

2. Obey all warnings and instructions from regulatory bodies. For example, last summer in Victoria on particularly hot and bushfire prone days Parks Victoria (the regulatory and controlling body of all National Parks in Victoria) would not allow commercial operators to conduct tours in the Parks and advised all private walkers not to enter the Parks and if already in them, to reconsider their walking plans and seek to vacate the Park.

3. Do not wait to be told of a fire risk. Use your own common sense and judgement to assess the fire risk. If it is obviously hot and if these conditions are associated with strong, hot, dry winds, the the bushfire risk is obviously going to be great. Do not walk and make plans to leave the bush early. If you have no transport, consider your options. For example, you may be able to head to an open beach or rock platform which may be the safest place to be. Remember, the bush is dry and burns hot and fast. Do not be caught in the bush when fire hits.

4. Check the weather forecast before you go. If the forecast is for hot & dry weather, reconsider your options. The walk can always wait till later. It may be that a swim at the beach is a safer (and cooler) option.

5. Find out about the weather when you're in the bush. You have many options these days so consider the following:

AM/FM RADIO - the ABC has the strongest signal strength and is the official broadcaster of bushfire alerts and information. Pack a small portable radio and tune in to find out.

MOBILE PHONE / PDA:
a. RING THE BOM (Bureau of Meterology) to find out.

BOM WEATHER WARNING NO: 1300 659 217

TELSTRA has by far the best phone coverage in Victoria. You have more chance of getting a signal with Tesltra than other carriers. Be aware that even though your carrier claims your phone will default to Tesltra if they have no coverage this does not always occur.

b. PHONE A FRIEND to find out.

c. TEXT: text a friend to find out OR arrange for a friend to text you when a
pre-determined TRIGGER weather event occurs. This trigger should be concrete and easy to find out.
It could incude:
SEVERE WEATHER WARNING (for your area)
TOTAL FIRE BAN
EXTREME FIRE RISK
CATASTROPHIC FIRE RISK

SATELLITE PHONE: Consider hiring a satellite phone for your walk so you know you will have a communication device that works where you're planning on walking. These are usually pretty cheap (around $20 - $25 a day to hire - cheap if split a few ways and what price safety?)

WITH ALL BATTERY POWERED DEVICES :
- Know how to use them before you find yourself in an emergency. E.g. practise using your satellite phone before you head out; if it requires a PIN number then record it somewhere where it won't get lost
- carry a small laminated CONTACTS LIST of all possible emergency contact numbers and hand one out to each member of your party
- program this list into your phone (backups buuild redundancy into your plans - less chance of stuffing up in a real emergency)
MAKE SURE YOUR DEVICE IS CHARGED
CARRY SPARE BACK UP BATTERIES
DO NOT LET YOUR EMERGENCY DEVICE RUN OUT OF JUICE!!!

6. Avoid walking in bushfire prone areas at times of known hire fire danger.

A sobering thought: bushfires are real and people do die.

Respect the bush, respect the weather and mother nature and follow the SIX Ps at all times and you should be able to enjoy your walking year round without getting caught in the bush at the wrong time.

Happy Trails!