ow

[sebastienne]

Over a year after I wore out my last pair of DMs (purple spider-web design) through wearing them every day for two months to shore up a sprained ankle, I finally got around to finding a new pair that met my exacting standards (ie, I had never seen them on the feet of anyone cooler than me. anotherusedpage, foreverdirt, chiasmata, robot_mel, many others, you have all been responsible for making me feel that a particular colour of boot is forever off-limits). The new ones are neon-pink-and-black spray-paint design, and are proving very, very difficult to break in. I've been wearing them one day in ten and cursing the blisters.

So of course, it's sod's law that I'd go off my platforms again last night and need to wear nothing but DMs for a while. The only way to heal this ankle is to walk a lot in these boots. I predict a significant amount of pain...

(The last time I wrecked an ankle I was stomping home from the abomination that was Valentines-Intrusion-2008. Last night I was in a perfectly lovely mood but still managed to fall off a kerb. I blame the cider.)

Top tips for breaking in boots without breaking my feet much appreciated, at this point!

(Apart from the ankle I am feeling very, very good this afternoon. Work is not, perhaps, happening as fast as it could be, but taking time out to stay in bed until 2pm is sometimes both necessary and fun.)

Psst - Borderville are playing the Wheatsheaf on Wednesday, and are being supported by a band who look like the British Dresden Dolls and sound like darkness and lust. Highly recommended.

Comments

[hathy-col.livejournal.com]

I broke in my Docs by going on holiday to NY with college and wearing them every day for ten days. ALthough I went through my own body weight in plasters, they are now the comfiest boots in the world.

(And mine are just bog-standard black ones without even any fancy laces or anything.)

Superfluous comment

[sir-rosealot.livejournal.com]

http://store.drmartens.co.uk/p-1654-1460-w.aspx

I love these ones!

Re: Superfluous comment

[sebastienne.livejournal.com]

oh, *wow*! they'd get grubby in five seconds were I to actually wear them, but *wow*!

(you are, of course, also on the list of people-whose-boots-I-could-never-wear for those fantastic red snakeskin ones)

Re: Superfluous comment

[sir-rosealot.livejournal.com]

Do you have a picture of the ones you got?

I love those red ones, and they were very useful for trekking around Pompeii (especially after I read that the soles can withstand lava for 17 seconds, which would come in handy if Vesuvius erupted again).

Re: Superfluous comment

[sebastienne.livejournal.com]

Not the world's best picture - they are significantly more neon - but here they be.

Re: Superfluous comment

[sir-rosealot.livejournal.com]

Wow! They are awesome.

Re: Superfluous comment

[shimgray.livejournal.com]

My father used to swear by them for walking on top of steam boilers.

(I have no idea how he survived his apprenticeship, in retrospect)

[shimgray.livejournal.com]

I remember someone saying that if you beat the lower back of the heel with a hammer for a bit, it helps soften it.

(disclaimer: I have not tried this. I tend to just break them in with thick socks and many plasters)

[deathbyshinies.livejournal.com]

There is a trick from the Army in WWI that involved applying 'sweetpea mixture' to the boots and leaving them overnight. Apparently it really does work, but you probably don't wanna use it.

Plasters on the key blister sites, followed by one pair of thin socks, one pair of thick socks, tends to minimise the horror for me. Good luck!

[ayaron.livejournal.com]

Seconded. Thin pair of socks under a thicker pair of socks. Thin pair stick to your foot, thin pair stick to shoe (or not at all). All rubbage is between socks or between sock and shoe. That's how I avoid blisters at LARPs events...

[anotherusedpage.livejournal.com]

Compeed blister plasters. *nodnod*

[grignoter.livejournal.com]

No suggestions but sorry you are hurting :(

[robot-mel.livejournal.com]

I've heard that in the US army you're supposed to get them totaly wet and then wear them till they dry and there supposed to be fully broken in. I've never actually tried this however and can't say how well it'd work or if it'd leed to odd smells.

I feel your pain. I've started breaking in my new purple ones. (They are so pretty!) I find wearing thicker socks than normal helps, or two pairs of normal socks with plasters underneath on your heels on areas that will/are blistering. I did this today for "day 2" of my breaking in and one was already comfy and the 2nd was slightly sore.

Good luck!

[janetmweiss.livejournal.com]

:( But why would you want to wear shoes that give you blisters?

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

They only give you blisters until they're broken in. They're fairly comfortable thereafter.

[sebastienne.livejournal.com]

Because, in my experience, once they're broken in they are the most comfortable shoes in the world. They will fit my feet perfectly.. eventually.

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

I've heard that breaking-in can be sped up by wearing the boots in a hot shower, but I've never tried it myself. I've also given up on DMs: in my limited experience, German army para boots are more comfortable, more waterproof, and don't have such a painful breaking-in period. But you're more fashion-conscious than me and have already bought a pair of DMs, so that's not very helpful advice :-)

For blisters, I use a white fabric tape that a friend brings back from Switzerland. I believe physiotherapists use it over here: climbers' fingertape is probably the same stuff. Proper gaffer tape (the close-woven stuff, not duct tape) would probably do as well: the important thing is to stop the rubbing against your skin. Ideally, apply the tape when you feel that localised hot sensation that signals the onset of a blister rather than waiting for the blister to actually appear. Compeed plasters, as recommended by others, are great but rather expensive. I've always found that wearing two pairs of socks makes blisters worse rather than better, but YMMV.

[mentalfirewall.livejournal.com]

Zinc Oxide tape would probably work just as well instead of gaffer tape. When I broke in my walking boots I layer it on my heels to spread out the area that rubbed and stop it causing blisters. Having worn them with and without the tape I can say that it protected my feet.

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

ZnO doesn't stick to human skin as well, so you'd need to replace it more often, but it should indeed do the trick.

[mentalfirewall.livejournal.com]

Fair point. I used it for DofE walks and layered it on in excess and it held for a day of hard walking with reapplication in the mornings.

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

I'm impressed that it lasted that long! :-) Gaff lasts about three days, and Swiss Mountaineering Tape lasts over a week - but be careful about wearing either in the shower! The glue gets washed out and deposits itself all over your bath, from whence it's very difficult to remove.

I could never get duct tape to stick to feet for more than half-an-hour at a time, but according to this thread on my moblog (http://moblog.net/view/128991/verruca-treatment) (warning: unpleasant photo) other people don't have the same trouble.