I’m back on my feet, in a manner of speaking. Among many other things, I perfomed shoe surgery yesterday, cutting out the offensive seam overlap that ground up my feet in the Bob last week. I put duct tape over them, a bit of glue, stuffed the toes with newspaper, and let stand overnight.

M and I enjoyed a nice hike this afternoon, ambling along, having a picnic, taking pictures, exploring. Off season stuff. It was good.

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=7256367&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=c9ff23&fullscreen=1

A word about shoe care and shaping is in order. It seems that in most corners of the enlightened, serious outdoor world, the leather boot is dead. And aside from alpine climbing and skiing, good riddance. Unless you have really unfortunate physiology, there’s no need for the rigid ankle and foot support that comes with old skool boots. Even if you do seem to need them, getting rid of that crutch ASAP is likely in your long term best interest.

I don’t lament the death of the break-in period. I do lament the semi-disposable nature of light shoes, but for the most part that is likely an unfixable problem. What I’ve discovered fairly recently, thanks to the guidance of wise men (Sawchuk and Meltzer), is how maleable fabric and rubber trail shoes can be. It may seem like a nuisance to take $100 shoes and immediately spend another $30 on insoles, then cut, melt, whack, and shape the shoe to suit your foot. An ideal shoe out of the box is nice, but in my experience it just doesn’t happen that often. Bad feet are the most miserable thing, period, on a long and serious walk. Get it right, cost and effort be damned.

Aftermarket insoles can make a huge difference. Swap insoles between shoes, try on Superfeet and others in stores. (And when trying on shoes in a store, plan on taking over an hour. If you’re not trying the patience of the salesperson, you’re being too hasty.) As someone with midget heels, I know that just a little more substance in the heel and arch can make the difference between chronic taping and a bombproof fit. Superfeet kick ass, last a good while (more than one pair of shoes), and as a bonus dry really fast.

The other problem area is the toes. I tend to wage a war between size 11 and size 11.5; the former usually gets me a good heel fit, the later usually lets my finger-length phallanges roam free. Here’s where you can get creative, and remake your shoes for free. Heat, water, and pressure are your friend. In camp on Wednesday night of the Bob trip my feet were hurtin’ bad. I heated up an oblong, baseball sized rock in the fire and used it to stretch the toebox seams on my shoes. (It also was really effective drying them.) A bottle of hot water would do the same thing. Earlier today, while wearing the same shoes around the house, I wasn’t happy with the outside of the right toebox. I wanted more room, so I heated the outside gently with a lighter, and then pressed and pinched and stretched it out to suit me. Little changes, simple work, big rewards.

Hot spots can be dealt with in ways even more straightforward. Got a spot that’s rough, hard, and sticks out a bit much? Sand, grind, or whack it into submission. A ball peen hammer is very effective in this application, and is 50 grit sandpaper. If you abrade a seam you can always put it back together later. The REI brand seam sealer is very liquidy, not good for abrasion protection of your toe rands, but useful for getting into and reinforcing fabrics.

It’s tempting to stock up on a good shoe when you find it, as companies tend to discontinue a model once they perfect it. This can be good, except that I’ve found that my feet change enough over time that what worked years ago doesn’t work today. The battle never ends.

Finally, some guidelines for my world of adventure shoes (always subject to revision):

-It must fit. See above for dealing with that.

-It must drain and dry fast. Not too much fluffy padding, mesh in the right spots. Once Goretex shoes get wet, you’re screwed for the rest of the trip.

-Laces are important. Not too fat (absorb too much water and freeze into iron) nor too thin (untie easily). Lacing systems should tie with knots. Those goofy Salomon speed laces are fine until clay gets in the camlock and makes in non-functional. Lacing eyelets should be plastic and set into the shoe. Metal abrades the lace and is heavy, fabric loops are abraded by the lace and cut, and are then a bitch to replace.

-Tread is also like goldilocks; you need enough, but not too much. Big lugs to grab hold in mud and slop, with enough space to clear mud. But they have to be close enough to provide enough rubber surface to have good friction on rock, and to edge reasonably well under the inside of the big toe.

-I prefer a low to the ground, soft shoe with a decently rigid plate under the bulk of the foot. Again, a balance between letting your foot do what it does best and helping the foot kick steps in snow, scree, and dirt.

-I like a full toe rand for durability.

The Imogene hits quite a few of these. The tread is rockin’. It could use a toe rand. It drains and dries very well, though I’m skeptical about the durability of some of the mesh (have generous used aquaseal already, to head this off). The stiffness is perfect, though I’d prefer it a bit closer to the ground. The lacing system is perfect. If the toebox were just a hair wider, I’d be very pleased. Next year, it may be something totally different.

In summary, don’t settle for less than the best. Your feet deserve it.