[pct-l] Foot Expansion

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good afternoon, Mark,

As a young man I was perfectly comfortable wearing 10.5 medium shoes/boots,
with “medium” usually meaning a “D” width, and I wore heavy wool socks in
the boots.  After having engaged in long-distance hiking for a number of
years, I now wear 12.5 or 13 in a 4E (EEEE) width, else I begin to get foot
pain from the crowding across the ball, blisters, and damage to the nails
from downhill walking; all while wearing thin, light socks.

Many female hikers buy men's sizes because they are inherently wider for a
particular length.

Your results may certainly be different, but start out loose and prepare
for the distinct possibility that more changes will occur.  Currently my
hiking sneakers have a total of about 1 inch extra length, and are as wide
as I can buy.

Even with larger sizes I keep then loosely laced and tied, often with a
hard knot about half way up the lacing so the lower portion can be very
loose all the time, while the top can be tightened if a long down-hill
stretch is encountered.  I almost never untie my shoes:  If I can’t just
slip into them, I believe they are too tight.  The slip-n-slide,
flop-around feeling quickly goes unnoticed.

My size has been stable for years now, but if I were a new hiker I wouldn’t
buy 5-6 pairs ahead of time based upon what feels OK now, and I would not
listen to what the average shoe/boot sales clerk says about fit.

Traditional heavy leather hiking boots are particularly bad in this respect
because bought ahead they will probably soon be too tight.  Regardless of
the additional weight, who wants to try to break-in new stiff leather boots
on the trail, and who wants to buy-ahead several pairs of $200 boots only
to find they won’t fit after 4-500 miles?

Many on-line shoe peddlers will respond quickly to ship your size – or your
new, larger size – to addresses on the trail which I think is a much better
option than buying-ahead.  Most sneakers require very little break-in,
particularly if they are loose to begin with.

Steel-Eye

-Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye
http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09/

On Wed, Jan 30, 2013 at 2:12 PM, Mark Halverstadt <markhalverstadt at gmail.com
> wrote:

> Afternoon PCT-L,
> I have recently started to research hiking shoe options for my
> thru-hike this spring and have come across reports of past hikers
> having their feet expand during their hike. I am wondering if any past
> thru-hikers could expand on this. Some reports I have read say that
> their feet flatten out or they grow up to 1.5 in size! Does age or
> gender matter at all (I am a 28 year old Male btw)? What is the rate
> of expansion? Should I plan to buy, in advance, a 1 size higher in my
> shoes for the latter part of the hike? Please let me know what you
> have heard or your experience with this subject. Thanks!
>